Rob Blake

Afterview was initially created to champion artists and exhibitions based in the UK so this interview is a first in that the artist we are featuring is based in Germany. After seeing the work of Rob Blake on the front cover of Adbusters magazine earlier this year we were compelled to write about his body of work and bring his practice to the attention of our readers.

So in our own words here is the artist Rob Blake:

Rob Blake was born in Leeds, he now lives in Berlin where most of his artistic endeavors are undertaken. As an artist Blake is concerned in a variety of themes; social media, politics, geography, the economy, identity and psychology. Expansive as such themes may seem they all share common features, that of having the power to shape the human experience and to coerce every step of human progression. Just what these steps are leading us towards is another question but the journey we are on is the meat of Blake’s inquiries. In times of rampant change such explorations could run the gamut of becoming too discursive, too unwieldy to hold a unifying form, too messy and incoherent to coalesce and become something tangible but Blake has an approach which defies such tendencies. His work is articulated in a singular voice, a voice which is yes, decidedly left wing but it is a voice which is as unrepentant as it is vociferous and it is a voice which is uncompromisingly humanitarian. As rampant change intensifies such a voice is all the more important.

After discovering Rob Blake one cannot help arrive at the conclusion that in comparison to him, almost all other artists are deadly boring.

Take for instance his website, it is not simply a portfolio tailored to satisfy the perceived prerequisite of what a website should be. It’s more like the contents of his mind; works and projects alike are accompanied with artist statements and commentaries which lay bare his intentions, his musings and his unbridled expositions of just what his work actually means. Reading it feels conversational, almost intimate but it’s the kind of intimacy one would only experience by embracing a grenade and playfully teasing the pin. This is because Blake’s output isn’t a means of negotiating the oily slick ladder of the art industry, his output is charged with the intent to disrupt, take for example the following excerpts from his site (when commenting on ‘Dig your own Grave’):

“this exhibition harnesses anger and absurdity to protest against a self-destructive era in which we feel locked into an inevitable decline”

And then there’s this:

“I wonder when we will stop treating this pathological hatred for humanity and the planet as political opinion and see it for the mental illness that it is”

And consider the following in the world’s latest developments:

“At a time when even world leaders have adopted nihilism, we have found ourselves in a world looking forward to extinction. One where we celebrate selfishness over altruism and cruelty over kindness.”

It becomes clear in no time at all that Blake isn’t just an artist, his output isn’t just a contrived series of projects, it’s so much more than that. He seems to function by documenting a life which is naturally engaged in politics, aesthetics, forms, creativity and production. The fact that his output can be displayed in a gallery or in a magazine or on a website seems merely happenstance. How many other artists can honestly say that of themselves and their own work? Blake is a rare breed of artist who breaks from the conformity of an exhibitor and remains as something altogether distinct, something more ……..authentic.

In 2017 Blake’s solo show, ‘Against People Against People’ was exhibited at East of Else Where, Berlin. The show coincided with and was a response to the German general election, the campaign of which was noticeable for the rise of alt-right groups such as Alternative for Deutschland (AfD). For the show Blake assembled 5 sculptures-come-weapons of political activism (pictured below). Made out of welded steel, the works take on the appearance of ad-hoc devices, constructed quickly and desperately as a means for fighting back against the emergence of far right propaganda posters appearing throughout the city.

There is a sense of absurdity to these forms, a playfulness that belies the deep hatred fueling the ideologies which the work opposes but it is this playfulness which is so subversive. The works were also intended for actual use, visitors were encouraged to take to the streets, yielding the art/weaponry and put them to use in combating the AfD’s messages. At a time of such political unease ‘Against People Against People’ feels like a welcomed intervention in the flow of social development. In this instance, Blake’s work fuses the sensibilities of Dadaism, Situationism, Punk and political activism. The work would find itself naturally at home if it were to be included in an addendum of Greil Marcus’s 1989 Lipstick Traces, a book which charts the webbed history of some of the most influential subcultures of the 20th century that were preoccupied with social change.

Earlier this year Blake exhibited his most recent solo show, Brand Strategies at gr_und, Berlin. The show explores the ways in which the dominant forces of capitalism have engendered tendencies of isolationism in society, as hate and fear is perpetuated by technology people are using more and more superficial ways to fortify themselves from an ever-present threat. One sculpture, a walled structure of four sides adorned by anti-vandal shards of glass shares some sentiments of his previous work. There are again signs of desperation and again, a sense of absurdity but this structure signals a sense of staggering futility; a compound protecting nothing from a non-existent assailant. The works title, ‘Kingdom’ is a pointed reminder of a national identity lacking any substantive qualities at all, other than aggression, paranoia and of course hysteria.

Also included in the show is a series entitled Small Change; seven canvasses stained in brown copper which acquired their grungy patina through a process in which the artist washes 1 cent Euros. The residue left behind, a septic mixture of dead skin, metal and bacteria makes for the painterly substance. The work questions the relationship we have with money and the economy at large. A system of transactions between labor time, commodities and perceived value, all carried out with small metallic tokens which will themselves outlast the people and ideologies they were created to serve. All of which given enough time, will themselves become residue. It’s a process which affects very little other than maintaining a the status quo in a staggering rich to poor disparity.

Back in 2019, Blake’s ‘Dig Your Own Grave’ (pictured below) took place at Kaos, Berlin on March 29th (Brexit Day). The show comprised of several placards daubed with social media icons subverted with caustic irony. One such placard displays the Nike logo with a slogan reading ‘God Hates You’. Bringing together two of the worlds most revered institutions, Nike and the Catholic Church or more pointedly consumerism and religion. Blake’s show creates an environment in which the celebration of the individual’s ego is done so via the superficial logos of corporate brands. His paintings operate to reveal the ways in which people and institutions alike mask their cruelty with a false veneer of icons and emblems, thinly veiling a history of pernicious beliefs which at times can and have lead to unspeakable acts of cruelty.

For anyone interested in politicized art Blake is a must, indebted as he is to some of the most relevant avant-garde movements of the past 100 years. Afterview was fortunate to have had the opportunity to examine Blake’s background, his practice and the future of his work. What follows is a series of questions which we put to the artist. Blake was kind enough to answer, his own words help shed light on some of the experiences that have shaped him as an artist and his insights help elucidate some of the concepts behind his work.

Interview: Rob Blake

Q1) What were your first influences in both art and politics and how did the two converge?

I guess from a very young age, my folks are very human, we find it hard not to talk about politics, particularly from an empathetic perspective. Political structures are the frameworks within which life happens, I don’t see it as an optional thing. We were raised vegetarian which was proper weird in those days. Growing up in Yorkshire I always had a feeling that I didn’t have access to the worlds I wanted to be a part of, often because of money but also other more complex political reasons. Later I understood I’d have to do things outside of the mainstream structure and then re-enter later at a decent level, which is perhaps only just starting to happen. During college days and after we all really got involved in the squat, protest and rave scenes, that sense of seeing the world as not just a plaything owned by the rich but as everybody’s, has influenced me throughout my life. I still see wealth as a sin. Our group of friends then were really into utopian ideas and magazines such as Adbusters and in general the anti-corporate scene (RIP). After Art school I discovered film-making as a way to make creative ideas that others considered to have a value. I still lose money on my art, it’s strange to keep making stuff that has a negative economic value, but a positive cultural one ( I hope haha ). Now I’m not really sure what my art is, or where the edges of it are, I just explore ideas that I feel I need to. I guess my art is political, but it’s more that I can’t separate or decontextualise anything from a political context. I don’t work usually in the academic frame of the art world, and will admit my ignorance about the current trends. I also do things that I wouldn’t describe as art, but somehow exist in the same space - such as making music, furniture, design or human projects. I recognise that what I do in life are things that others encouraged in me, so I try to do this for those that are going through a bad time, not always successfully - for instance I had a nightmare trying to start an orange juice stand with a guy that lived in my train station. I’m often not sure as to what I should share as art or not, and often I don’t. It’s more about a way of living, never perfect, often failing, but always trying.

Q2) Your work explores a number of different issues, politics, economy, identity etc. How do you decided on the subject matter of each work and could you speak about your process in general?

I love when an idea feels pure. Some of my work is reflective, but I’m most excited when it feels disruptive or naughty and challenging somehow. Art is a place where I can try to work towards solutions, even if they are fictional. Many of the works are potential or playful tools to solve abstract or concrete problems. A major theme in my work is trying to deal with living in systems that trap us into moral crimes - to make peace or change or avoid? Finding ways to navigate a world that is full of contradictions and betrayals. I’m constantly confused by how to be, not just in terms of lifestyle but also in our complex social world. We all think we are right and that our view of morality or living is the correct one - we can really see this disparity culturally and politically at the moment. The more I live the less I feel like I know what everyone else is thinking. I think we imagine that there is a shared social moral code that is common sense to everyone - but I think actually this is totally untrue, in open-season consumerism there is no shared moral or societal code, and although we take our cues from the carcass of Christianity we are forced to look out for ourselves in the hope that some Ayn Rand shit will work out. I feel this is a huge problem - this lack of shared goals or even an agreed upon moral code, people are confused about what to do, because outside of trying to get rich enough to avoid paying taxes, ‘we’ don’t have a plan. There are so many different perspectives on ‘how we should be’, I find I’m often in conversations with one person and agreeing about ‘how people should be’ and then later that day with somebody else I’m agreeing the opposite. I’m often fucking up social interactions or work relations - obviously deep down I think I’m correct all the time but so does everybody else. I find sometimes I go through a phase of totally misunderstanding people or relationships ( have done recently actually ), in this time I think I’m crazy because I can’t read others properly and am surprised by their reactions, as they are by mine. It can be difficult to pick out the things you are doing wrong, and what is actually a problem in your environment. I think a process within art is to try to find a position of relatability, to communicate something very personal in a universal way that people can feel and get for themselves. Getting this right is not as simple as it sounds. In my work and conversations I love sweeping generalised statements that play with axioms and unlock more subtle questions behind. I guess this process with slogans and statements is about trying to simplify the incredibly complex world we live in and simultaneously to pop the false bubble where I think I actually have any idea as to what is going on. Sometimes people describe my work as aggressive, I don’t feel it is. I usually use confrontational language and imagery to explore something that has hidden its violence. It’s hard not to seem preachy, I don’t feel above anyone; but to acknowledge the mechanisms of our world is to critique them, and us that make them. Of course I’m as complicit as anyone. So in general, sorry if I seem like that, humans have never been the problem - the systems ‘we’ make are.

Q3) Are there any specific artists which you would compare yourself to or aspire to being similar to and what does this reveal about yourself as an artist?

I admire many people of course, today I’m thinking of the comedian Stewart Lee, I love how he unpicks power and societal mechanisms, often through extended analogies ( which is kind of what conceptual art is ). He exposes the surreal state that we find ourselves in, dragged along by the crazy things society agrees is ok, even when it is in direct conflict with another truth. Humour is a big part of my work, I like to play with hard or impossible truths, maybe it’s a Yorkshire thing - we love things that are wise and stupid at the same time. I think a common theme in the people whose work I most respect is the motive behind it. It’s a hard thing to define, but you just know when things are done for the right reasons, no matter how it goes in the end ( like the opposite of Adam Curtis ). The reasons behind why someone does something is to me often more important that the results. This is something I think applies to almost all life, clearly in politics, but within art - one can ask the question - do you make work to share ideas? or is it about developing your personal brand? ( or both !? )

Q4) As a Brit working in Germany are there any distinct differences between the two art worlds?

The big difference was that Berlin was cheap, safe and had a hunger for art and culture whereas the UK is/was so hung up on the money/fame thing. Politically Berliners have always been super on point and still hold power within the city, the big left wing scene has made sure people are looked after, the people have been through enough. This solidarity led to a supportive welfare system, without the constant panic that many feel in the UK. Artists complain about there not being big money for art in Berlin, but the trade off has been that there are loads of people here making work and surviving. It’s really hard to avoid the - ‘it was better before’ narrative, because to be fair I think it was, but it’s still a very special place. I’m not sure how involved in art scenes I am - Leeds had naff all and I had too many chips on my shoulders to get involved in what there was. Here in Berlin I guess I’m involved more, I love the project spaces and smaller galleries doing their own thing, sadly this has been going downhill for a while as space gets more expensive and the money world is replacing the outsider crew that used to define the Berliner Weltanschauung. I came toward the end of Berlin’s glory days, but the change in the last few years has been really deep. There’s now a SOHO house, which feels so strange in what is/ was such an open and seemingly classless city. The brands have been welcomed with open arms here, and it’s a testing ground for these hipster friendly modern workhouses. They are investing cheaply in aligning themselves with working class and counter culture; Berlin was a place that refreshingly rejected the mainstream, now we find ourselves becoming like everywhere else, I still have faith in the city, and hope we will keep that soul that will fight for the everyone. The cooption of genuinely important movements into marketable products that work exactly against their original motives is peak 2020. The PR and Ad agencies are so impressive they have even made the discussion cliche. I honestly think that to wear Nike is like repping the East India Company, of course I also own Nike clothes. We celebrate the Berlin Wall falling while we maintain and build deadlier walls and boundaries all around Europe. We talk about Women’s rights while wearing clothes made by enslaved non-white women. It’s abroad and at home and I’m as involved and complicit in this system as anyone. I think actually this cognitive dissonance bothers all of us in a deep way, but we all find our own ways to justify our personal way of being. It is like it is, but it would be good to burn it all to the ground and build something new for everyone. In general with culture, I like to see things happening, I enjoy going to shows and would love to live in a world where there is so much sculpture and painting and music that it is stressful to go down the street. For me Berlin was/is this, which is why I’m here. I don’t really care about a scene as such - more that there is space and enthusiasm surrounding arts and culture and just doing things.

Q5) We earlier connected ‘Against People Against People’ to Dadaism, Situationism and Punk. Are these parallels conscious on your behalf?

Yeah, I love those movements ( I’d add hiphop also, very similar to punk) not necessarily the aesthetics but the ideology and outlook. They have the ability to absorb and re-imagine a wide range of ideas or styles. They are also movements that aren’t naturally focused upon creating a product in the same way that, say, Fine-art painting is, they are often the opposite - fostering ideas and objects that reject consumption that are there to be purely enjoyed or to provoke and disrupt.

Q6) Your work was featured on the front cover of recent Adbusters magazine, the strap line of which reads ‘can art save the world?’ what are your personal thoughts about this?

Getting that cover was a bit of a dream come true to be honest, Pedro from Adbusters is a super inspiring guy, he gives me a bit of faith in the world. Thanks Adbusters - so rare to see such genuine integrity. They work toward making the world to be a better place and whatever you think of how they approach it, that’s admirable. Send them your submissions - they are always open.

I’d say education and learning based on science is the world saver, it’s the only thing that makes us us. Art is a part of that. The solutions for the survival of life on earth are cheap and available, but greed and ignorance is something we need to fight constantly and everywhere. An interesting fallacy is that ‘we’ are learning; as a species. This isn’t true, barbarism can return anywhere in a few days. Everything needs to be learnt by everyone over and over again. We can really see that at the moment as we hear the vastly different opinions of people on things that ‘we’ had previously decided were truths. I’ve recently used medieval imagery as a way of discussing the fragile and temporal nature of knowledge, and how easily it can fall away and be replaced with fear, violence and ignorance. Currently following the George Floyd murder, the world’s political focus is on racism, slavery and the repercussions of colonialism. It’s a time when ‘ radical ‘ decisions are needed to save our basic humanity. I think a lot of colonial companies and institutions should be closed and reparations made. Living in and from colonialism as we do is like eating a bowl of soup then realising the bowl is a human skull. Can we really carry on eating the soup?

Q7) Are there any other projects which you are involved in that you would like our readers to know more about?

Currently I’m working on a project in an incredible old DDR recording/symphony hall supporting a series of solo performances from different artists. I’ve also been working on some human projects. I’ll be doing on online version of a manifesto writing workshop I’ve done a few times. I have shows coming up in July and August so am working on the pieces for that. I’m trying to find responses and useful tools in relation both Corona and BLM. Also we are working on our yearly residency in an abandoned hospital by a lake, a beautiful project we do every year ( apply now! ). My big thing is I want to be part of or create a utopia - buy some land and build houses and social spaces for artists or anyone that needs to be there. If I had money I’d buy one today. If you have 50k in a bank account and want to build a paradise let me know.

RIP George Floyd and the millions of others murdered and oppressed by hate and ignorance.

Readers can keep up to date with Rob Blake’s work at the following sites:

https:robblaketv

https://www.instagram.com/robblaketv/

Author: Afterview

Photographs courtesy of: Rob Blake