david rees davies (great britain)

1. tell us about your everyday environment,
your hobbies and lifestyle

2. what do you see as the point of your works?

3. tell us your thoughts on the problems printmaking is facing today ? what might they be and where's the solution?

4. do you use computers in your work,
and if so, how do they help you and what do you think of them?

5. what do you think are the best and worst sides of print art?

6. what does printmaking give and mean to you?

7. where did you get the idea from to take part
in the tallinn print triennial?

8. your favourite artists?

i live in brighton, on the south coast of england.

i work mainly from home and also at the university of portsmouth where i am employed as a senior research fellow (part-time).
i don't think i could say i do have any hobbies but the nearest thing i could offer that doesn't encroach into the activity of my work is collecting shirts and ties with relentless passion ...and it would be interesting to learn what psychiatrist/art critic would make of that admission.

the point of my work?????.............to occupy my mind;
to document my experiences; to intrigue myself in the most least boring way possible; to provoke complacency and to enlighten/entertain others in the most least boring way possible. yes, computers are very much a vital part of my work. i'm still something of a luddite when it comes to technology but i value it's a unique and indispensable communication tool.
it has altered our lives irrevocably.... for the better.
i can for instance send/receive images/texts/sounds to/from friends in the ukraine or namibia instantly and exchange ideas and viewpoints in a way that was unimaginable ten years ago.
the beauty of print is manifold. the medium is the message. recent inventions in print technology simply and ingeniously extend our vocabularies. this does not mean that traditional methods have become passe ... on the contrary. printmaking is more alive nowadays than since the days of the guttenberg press and rembrandt. it should always be simply a means to an end:
the ideas and feelings expressed through the chosen medium are intrinsically and poetically linked. prints are like fossils, they tell us encyclopaedic things about our histories.
they document our lives, our cultures. they are memories, by the very nature of 'print'. through multiples they reach audiences intimately and universally, inadvertently and deliberately; ephemerally, profoundly and poignantly. the fact that printmaking constantly challenges efforts to define itself is a very healthy one. it is a truly liberal and liberated medium. it is also an allusive oxymoron of anarchy and respect for tradition.
i heard of the tallinn print triennial through an artist friend living in the ukraine.
favourite artist(s)????? ...too many to list.