Artists We Love: Todd Atticus
- Lasharna Turner
- May 25, 2017
- 2 min read
Todd Atticus is the New Zealand based artist exhibiting physical artwork alongside digital elements. Drawing on the bold aesthetic language of advertising, Atticus displays a varied and engaging variety of pieces. We spoke to Todd about his past, present and future.
1.) Your work includes strong popular culture iconography. What various factors of culture influence or inspire you the most?
Sometimes all I need to do to find inspiration is pop down to the corner shop to buy a pint of milk. Visual language is all around us. And it's visual language – in all its myriad forms – that I thrive off.
The other day there was a black and white flyer in the mailbox for a local dog walking service, and the WordArt immediately got my heart racing. It's now scanned and archived for a future appearance in my work.
Sure, I fed myself on a diet of Warhol, Litchenstein, Koons and Hirst at art school, but right now I'm as driven by the things I see in the world. Sponsored posts that appear in my social media feeds, patterned floor tiled and animated menu screens at McDonalds – all inspire me just as much as any gallery visit.
If I manage to equate the aesthetic and cultural value of a Rembrandt painting with a Happy Meal box then I will die happy.
2.) Is there a specific message or creative agenda you intend to communicate in your pieces?
My Data Splice collages have the clearest agenda for me right now. I make them to reflect, in a very literal way, the absurdity and ferocity of our information-laden lives. They develop quite naturally from the clutter of my own surroundings.
Although I deliberately try to select content that is universal (popular brands, global ad campaigns, bestselling products), the collages end up being deeply autobiographical. At the end of the day I am the filter. The content is material that I have noticed, selected and spliced together. You might see them as a personal visual scrapbook. I guess they start out as critical and end up being celebratory.
3.) Name two of your favourite artists new and old?
From the living? John Baldessari and Roni Horn. Can I sneak in Martin Creed too? All three produce work that is so conceptually watertight that it leaves me speechless. There are no lazy assumptions about the power or effect of their work.
Historical artist heartthrobs are more difficult. Maybe the two most influential figures for me aren't artists. Bertolt Brecht, the 20th century German theatre practioner and Arthur C Danto, an American art critic who opened a window onto Andy Warhol that went beyond his pop art aesthetic.
4.) What other forms of creative culture engage you? Types of food, music?
Most recently? Meme culture.
5.) Where do you see your creativity taking you in the future?
My practice is always evolving. I often worry about a lack of aesthetic continuity but then I remind myself that culture and style are always in flux. If my work is responding to a moving target then of course it's going to move with it.
Follow Todd on Instagram at any of his two accounts: @toddatticus / @dontstaresoromantically and on Twitter.
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