James Capper
Pre the whole pandemic situation, everything seemed to be going a thousand miles an hour. Definitely within my work, and with Mudskipper [a sculpture which takes the form of a boat that can walk on land], which was all very tense because of it being delayed by lots of things. Then just as I was getting all the paint ready to go over to paint Mudskipper, everything stopped and Scott, the guy over at the Royal Docks was like, the Marina is now closed — unless you actually live on a boat in there, no one can go in.
And so, I was back in the studio, doing bits, but then the steel dealers shut. And then, this crazy thing — the airplane trails in the sky stopped. To see the economy and the world stop is fascinating. When you’re under the cosh on these big projects, you’re like, what out there can save me from probably slipping a disc out of stress? What stops the wheel? And this then went and did that.
Obviously this is a really bad situation. People have died. But for me it has allowed me to reflect and to have ideas.
No planes in the sky, and being surrounded by my research material, got me making a whole group of new drawings about hydrogen-powered aircraft that could also help in the dismantlement of offshore oil platforms.
I think that heavy speculation allowed me to stabilise. The mind can end up like a compactor, with everything crushed through different things — isolation is one, or losing a partner or losing my Mum [last year]. [But] for me drawing is quite therapeutic.
I also made these Rotary Drawings — Lucca Hue-Williams [of Albion Barn gallery] contacted me to ask if I had any drawings for an auction for the charity Covid Smart. I’d just tidied out a shipping container and found a machine I’d made called Hydrapainter which is a hydraulic painting machine. I made 101 of them with paint I was going to use for Mudskipper. We’ve sold 20 so far. The titles like “Thank you very much for that clear presentation” or “Stay alert” reference various power phrases used by the Culture Secretary in one of his daily briefings. Whoever wrote that, whether it was him or someone else, did a really good job — it was great for titles! Now I’m working on a mobile expedition studio, with an alternating tripod gait. My work is morphing a little bit more towards architecture. It’s going to be very comfortable inside!
⬤ James Capper’s Rotary Paintings for Covidsmart can be viewed at albionbarn.com
The mind can end up like a compactor, everything crushed by things like isolation or loss