A few months back we mentioned the new movie Beautiful Losers. VBS TV has extensive video interview/pieces with Losers Thomas Campbell and Barry McGee. Aaron Rose interviewed Barry McGee on, Art Talk!, but since McGee is not a fan of interviews nor of showing his face, he took the interview and he animated it with classic McGee characters. So the interview about art actually become part of the art itself. We heart Barry.
Tyler Mason interviewed artist/film maker Thomas Campbell and here’s a glimpse into his process:
The state of Thomas Campbell’s desk says a lot about his work habits. It is covered in scrapes of paper, paint, photos, leaves, pieces of thread, books, doodles, and cups full of brushes, pens, and pencils. The pile is six inches deep and covers the entire desk, spilling onto the walls and floor and growing by a factor of 12.5 percent every day (we guestimate). He is working on so many different projects all at once we’re not sure how he keeps it all straight. Some end up getting finished, framed, and hung on a white wall, while others are dropped to the floor and maybe picked up days or years later and turned into something totally new.
Beautiful Losers is a film about a group of semi-unrecognized, yet ridiculously influential collective group of artists. The sort of losers who cherished their outsider status. The sort of creatures who’ve held tight to their respective Crayolas & paintbrushes, their skateboards & video cameras, their spray cans & Sharpies, the very badges of their inner nerd, and are now recognized and celebrated. It’s the classic story. That weird punk skateboarder, the one they’d gun for in PE, now being paid millions for his bad-ass drawings to grace Pepsi campaigns. They came together in the old Alleged Gallery in the Lower East Side, started by the film’s director Aaron Rose over ten years ago and now their work can be seen worldwide, and has been described as a “movement”. The artists in the collective include: Barry McGee, Chris Johansen, Ed Templeton, Geoff McFetridge, Jo Jackson, Stephen Powers, Harmony Korine, Shepard Fairey, Mike Mills, Thomas Campbell and Margaret Kilgallen. These artists are self-taught, employing the unrestrained Do-It-Yourself technique, their work not limited to one medium, but many. It’s not about the money or even so much the message as just creating. Being creative and inspiring those around you to do the same. This quote by Geoff McFetridge summed it up for me: “The sun doesn’t know its a star.”
