Interview with Sam Peacock
Posted on April 2, 2013
Name: Sam Peacock
Discipline: Painter
Age: 36
Where do you live: Wimbledon
Where did you study: Coventry
Life ambition: Living the dream
Who, or what is your greatest influence on your life and art?
My Dad used to sit with me when I was young and let me make all sorts of things, draw all sorts of things and generally explore art and music. He was a jazz musician who left home at 15 and lived in Hamburg, so had plenty of life experiences to share when I turned up.
Who is your favourite artist at the moment?
I tend not to go to exhibitions or shows when I am creating work. However, me and an artist called Christian Doubble recently went to the Schwitters show at the Tate followed by The Jasper Johns, Duchamp show at the Barbican. David Hockney has always been an influence, maybe not in what I do, but as a British painter in general. However, I didn’t go and see him at the Tate.
Describe a typical day in the studio in no more than 5 words.
Dirty, Sweaty, Smelly, frenetic.
Spontaneity or planning?
I try and plan everything I do, right from sourcing the correct materials to use, experimenting with the colours, temperature of the heat I use to work with the metal pieces. I use a sketchbook to plan Ideas. I’m not a digital person, I prefer a pencil to the ipad.
What do you do in the event of a creative block?
Cook food, bake bread. Me and my wife are both vegetarian, I recently had a show in Firenze where I created a piece based on Italian cooking.
Do you have a favourite piece of your own work?
I swapped my favourite piece with a potter called Jill George. In return she gave me a huge white vase which sits on my bookcase at home. It was one of the first colourscrape pieces I created and spawned the series.
What is the most challenging aspect of your work?
I find at times when discussing the work, I get brain freeze and cannot correctly articulate what I am trying to say. I have never truly enjoyed the theory side to art, I am getting more into it the more I read. I didn’t really do university that well, art college was far more fun. That’s about as honest as I can be.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
I don’t. I plan a year in ahead as far as commitment to a project goes. I’m into highlighting the plight of refugee artists in this country and have worked with various organizations to make projects happen, that’s a commitment that I do not devote enough time to, stupidly. I get caught up in my own little world like the rest of us.
Please recommend one piece of essential reading.
Right, there is a good book called Fuhrer Ex by an author called Ingo Hasselbach. He was a Neo Nazi in Stasi controlled East Germany in the 70’s and 80’s. Have read it a few times. Its hard to get hold of a copy, but it opens your eyes.
If you could time travel to one era or event, when would you choose?
Rugby, or Rokeby as it was called and it is where I grew up. I would love to see it during the middle ages as some parts would not have changed that much since then.
Tea or Coffee?
I like my coffee like I like my women. In a plastic cup. (Eddie Izzard line)
Who would be your dream dinner guest?
I would like to sit and have dinner with a far flung relative maybe, just to catch up. I’m not into name dropping and don’t really buy into the whole fame thing.
What super power would you have for a day?
There is an obvious one isn’t there, I don’t like flying, so that rules that one out. Maybe the ability to turn water into wine.
What are you listening to at the moment?
Right now, Lalo Schifrin, an Argentine composer who wrote the soundtrack to the film Bullitt. I prefer soundtracks to work to rather than a band. As a youngster I loved punk and played drums in a band until I came to London.
Cheeeerrrrrsssss.
Sam