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John Court
"To build you have
to be able to visualize structures, and in many ways it was natural for me to go
into sculpture, performance and drawing, where I could picture the elements of a
fixed or moving body operating in a given space."
The concept and visualization of that particular idea are equally important.
“The idea has to come first, and then I can visualize how to represent it. For
example, the recent video installation ‘8 hrs into 8 minutes’ has that fixed
idea of time, and it determines what happens and how it is represented, and it's
the same with ‘Moving Space’: to underline the everyday experience of
confronting familiar and mundane objects in space.
What I do is real - real time within the format and systems of every day life. 8
hours is a unit of time, and it gives a sense of purpose with its rules,
regulations, priorities and values - everyone can relate to the idea of a
working day, and the familiarity with the objects that commitment brings.
Consequently, the work ethic allows me to be ‘at work’ whilst occupying the
physical space of my art. The space, whether it is a museum or the high street,
hardly matters; it is the experience of that space connected to the work ethic
which makes my work possible.”
„Wenn man baut, ist es nötig, dass man die Strukturen visualisieren kann, und aus vielen Gründen war es mir natürlich, mich in die Skulptur, die Performance und das Zeichnen zu vertiefen, in denen ich die Elemente des beständigen oder veränderlichen Stückes in einem vorhandenen Raum so darstellen kann, dass die Elemente da funktionieren.“Der Begriff und die Vorstellung der ausdrücklichen Idee sind ebenso wesentlich. „Zuerst muss die Idee vorkommen, und danach kann ich visualisieren, wie ich diese präsentiere. Die Installation des Videos „8 Stunden in 8 Min“ vor kurzem, zum Beispiel, hat diese feste Idee der Zeit, und sie definiert, was geschieht und wie es dargestellt wird, und es ist dasselbe mit 'veränderlichem Raum': die täglichen Erfahrungen werden unterstrichen, bekannte und gewöhnliche Objekte kommen in einem Raum vor. Was ich mache, ist real — die Realzeit innerhalb des Formats und des Systems des täglichen Lebens. Acht Stunden ist eine Zeiteinheit, die eine Bedeutung für den Zweck mit Regeln, Vorschriften, Prioritäten und Werten gibt — jeder kann der Idee des Arbeitstages zustimmen, und die Empfindung mit den Zielen, welche die Verbindlichkeiten hervorrufen. Unter diesen Umständen, erlaubt die Arbeitsmoral mir ´bei der Arbeit` zu sein, zugleich, wenn ich mich mit physischem Raum meiner Kunst beschäftige. Der Raum, der entweder ein Museum oder die Hauptstraße ist, spielt kaum eine Rolle; es ist die Erfahrung des Raumes, die sich mit der Arbeitsmoral verbindet, die meine Arbeit möglich macht.“
Biography
John Court was born in 1969 in Bromley, Kent, England. He graduated from Camberwell School of Art and Design in 1993, and Norwich School of Art Design in 1994.
As a sufferer of dyslexia, John Court's early life produced a struggle to rectify the damage and negative learning experiences of school life. John left school in 1986 but instead of being confident with the skills he had learned “it was just like being in a big black hole - and I just sat doodling most of the time. It took me many years to get the shock, frustration and threat of school out of my being."
John Court started drawing at the age of 19; “Drawing helped me to build up my confidence, and it gave me the impetus to learn to read and write – which I did – on my own”.
Agency work on some of London's most prominent building projects instilled the work ethic in John because "if you did not meet the work requirement for that day you simply didn't get paid." It should come as no surprise that the work ethic of the 8 hrs working day should play such a prominent role in the performance work, drawings, and video installations of John Court.
After working as a building labourer in the daytime, and studying at night, John Court was finally admitted to art school at the age of 23 years in 1993.
"To build you have to be able to visualise structures and in many ways it was natural for me to go into sculpture, performance and drawing where I could picture the elements of a fixed or moving body operating in a given space."
The concept and the visualisation of that particular idea are equally important. The idea has to come first, and then I can visualise how to represent it; for example the recent video installation ‘8 hrs into 8 minutes’ has that fixed idea of time, and it determines what happens and how it is represented; and it's the same with Moving Space; to underline the everyday experience of confronting familiar and mundane objects in space.
"What I do is real"- real time within the format and systems of every day life. 8 hrs is a unit of time, it gives a sense of purpose with its rules, regulations, priorities and values - everyone can relate to the possibility of a working day, and the familiarity with the objects that commitment brings. Consequently, the work ethic allows me to be ‘at work’ whilst occupying the physical space of my art. The space, whether it is the museum or the high street, it hardly matters; it is the experience of that space connected to the work ethic, which makes my work possible.”
John Court moved to Finland in 1996. He lives and works in northern Finland.
