Beginning with a short video piece showing a repetitive screen in a spiral formation of a drummer, each slightly ahead of the last, Dolphin explained how his work is almost always based on iconography and sequences. ‘Drum Circles’ is a piece from 2008 which he stated relates to much of his more current works. Dolphin is an artist whom I have idolised since my school years and the prospect of hearing his inspirations had me almost star-struck.
When studying painting in Bath in the nineties, Dolphin explained how during this time he only actually completed two painted images. This is where he realised the readymade project, taking fashion magazine covers and manipulating the image with a repeated act, which were then sealed and presented like a painting would be. Dolphin believed that the function of the covers shifted from desirable giving them a new meaning and would result in a new interpretation. Through this series Dolphin became more successful after exhibiting them in group shows and this is where his love of working with a series of images was first seen.
Much of my own artwork is completed in a sequence or a series of objects and on this level I felt I could relate to Dolphin as I also love to experiment with a process over and over to present different skills.
As well as his repetitive art, Dolphin also works with singular found objects and uses a repetitive process, instead of the same medium. He discussed how passionate he is about music and explained that growing up in a lonely area resulted in him seeking culture through music as an escape. Dolphin stated that music was his way out, to a different world. This is also something that I can empathise with. During my teenage years, we moved to a small hamlet of thirty houses (although not too far from anywhere really) but too far for a young girl to be walking on her own. There was no public transport to our street and very few street lights, so I often felt trapped and sought escape through my parents’ CD and vinyl collection. Much like Dolphin, my musical influences inspire a lot of my work.
Taking the covers and vinyl of popular bands, Dolphin scratched in the lyrics of the songs onto the objects. He explained how there was no aesthetic decision when doing this, he was just simply carrying out a task. Scratching out plastic or card with the words of the musicians created a texture of lyrics and the small scale lost the words in the patterns.
Using the idea of the readymade but throwing away the physical object, Dolphin began to work with the concept of the found object. Still focusing on his musical influences, Dolphin considered the notes left behind following the suicides of his idols. Thinking of letters, messages and diary entries of the innermost feelings of these dead pioneers, he endeavoured the recreate them from his imagination and the information he could find. Scouring the inquests of these deaths as well as biographies and media coverage, Dolphin paired this knowledge with his own ideas of the final words of the artists and developed a series of suicide notes to appear like the real thing. This process highlighted the value of the notes as well as the value to those they affected.
Dolphin went on to talk about the death of iconic people and how there is a public outcry according to popularity and influence. Using this idea he wanted to recreate places where fans leave tributes to their heroes to explore the fact that regardless of not actually knowing the person, they have indirectly left an impression upon people. Visiting these sites and studying photographs, Dolphin was able to replicate the tribute sites to present them in a gallery setting. He explained how every aspect of the object is faked and it is simply a method to copy the area. From a graffiti covered bench near Kurt Cobain’s home, to the tree stump that Marc Bolan’s car crashed into, Dolphin aims to represent the emotion imparted by the fans into the wood by giving the closest representation that he can. Dolphin is able to capture that moment in time, as the objects change. His copy of Freddie Mercury’s door is now the only version, as the original has been covered over.
Using any medium that is appropriate, Dolphin forges the object for accuracy in appearance to trick the viewer into believing it is real.
Again I am able to directly connect to Dolphin’s work, as I have created art based on the tragic deaths of icons. Combining my love of contemporary jewellery and blown glass, I developed a series of oversized pendants for famous Hollywood starlets who died in the sixties. Much like Dolphin, my work was intended to glamorise a tragedy surrounding idolised figures.
Moving away from sculpture and objects, Dolphin developed a series of drawings in graphite, imagining the final views of the dead musicians. He explained how a lot of research went into this work, to find out the places and positions the people were found in and what they were possibly seeing at the time of their deaths. This work although morbid is also somehow quite beautiful and mystical.
Dolphin has gained status through his replica door series, which again are copies of doors to studios and homes of dead musicians, recreated from the real thing but without function. He described how his work becomes more like art as he must make decisions during the processes.
More recently he has been working on films which often come from single sources and are repeated and layered, much like his installations. Dolphin’s films are often on more than one screen, some with the same footage but each a second ahead whereas others are the same footage but from different angles. Another piece features a screen filming a musician, alongside the other showing the reactions of the audience.
Currently Dolphin is working of the translation of digital music files. He intends to visualise what the music may look like, through coding and numbers. Decoding the audio on an MP3 file to a pattern of numbers, Dolphin plans to build a series of circles, each with varying diameters to represent different notes. Each song is from a different genre of music, but thanks to the system they can not be differentiated. Working with the University of Sunderland, Dolphin hoped to develop this piece is waterjet cut glass, but the scale is unmanageable and so is working with skilled professionals to overcome this problem. Dolphin believes he doesn’t possess skills and stated that he is just doing what he always has done.
When listening to the influences of Dolphin, I can see my own motives. He explained how these icons are worshipped the same way as religious figures and this is something I know only too well. From a young age music has been an outlet for me too. Another of my works featured blown glass hot air balloons, pinpointed with locations of significance to individuals. Running alongside this installation was a playlist of songs that remind people of their specific places, highlighting how music is a trigger for memory and emotion.
Like dolphin, I believe that music based art is not about the person idolised but the people who visit and admire.
lottielilycraft 