When one thinks of fashion meeting art meeting design, I can only assume one thinks of none other, than moi, Stan D'Arde. But when I think of all these worlds colliding, I can only bring to mind my dear friend Tim Furzer. This British born architect and artist has spent his time in New York City finding the minimalism in a city filled to the maximum.
This month, he's debuting a collection of paintings entitled Unified Theory in the windows of the Calvin Klein Collection store on Madison Avenue and East 60th Street. The series of watercolors is inspired by stones. Not to get too technical, but the volume of each stone is measured by fluid displacement, and the resulting quantity of water is then used as the limit in the production of the painting. The complex "mechanics and gravitational equilibrium" which Furzer describes in the creation of each painting drives me to find my own fluid displacement...Martini, Please!
Furzer normally doesn't take interviews, but since he's such a good friend and because I threatened never to let him into the Top of The Standard ever again, he took a few moments to answer some pressing questions I had for him.
What's your process in creating these works?
The process begins with a series of experiments to find ways of linking measurable properties with means of representation – in this series, the volume of stones. The works are produced flat and involve a lengthy process of drying and re-application of pigment. After being measured, the stone that is the subject of each piece is placed under the board it is created on, acting like a pivot enabling fractional changes in angle and fluid motion to be made throughout the drying process. Each piece takes about three months to complete.
You're a grown man named Timmy. Please explain.
Only my close friends call me Timmy [i.e. YOU, Stan]... everyone else knows me as Tim.
How does your architecture background inform your work?
Architecture is most important to me; it involves rigorous analysis combined with unconventional thinking. It’s a fascinating subject to study, you learn the importance of understanding that everything you interact with is constantly evolving – being in a state of flux. I’m interested in motives, rules and evaluating processes. All my work involves the investigation, analysis and transformation of materials to make new things – the only separation is that some work is commissioned and some is self-generated.
Every piece has a theory or deeper idea behind it. It's almost born of science. What comes first: The underlying concept or the pretty picture?
Neither, the process is iterative. I think in depth about something and experiment with ways to represent it. The experiments that I find successful are repeated and refined...it’s similar to a system of convergent evolution.
Did you always make "fluid" paintings? What other sorts of things have you made?
I create many different types of artwork. I have done a series of drawings using the red/brown coating from Advil™ tablets and an ongoing series of portraits using Band-Aid’s in various skin tones. Currently, I am working on some three dimensional pieces about proverbs in plaster. Whatever material I use, I consider the quantity, its origin and its cultural associations. I often begin with photo-collage – it’s a way of expressing my ideas rapidly.
Calvin Klein Underwear: boxers or briefs?
Briefs.
And there you have it. If you're in New York City, I urge to take a trip uptown and join the masses staring into the windows of Calvin Klein in awe. Tim Furzer's theory is awaiting.
xoxo
Stan
