11/1*, Vol 17: Jorden and David Doody
Jorden & David Doody are Two Artists, they live and work in Montreal, Canada.
#1: Twelve hours of the perfect day or twelve hours of the perfect night?
David: I’m gonna go for sun set to sun rise … And the location would be preferably equatorial… in order to give a even 12/12 day night split … I’m imagining a thick, salty, and star filled sky, a night lit under the promise of giant Cheshire Cat grin moon… a pale blue light reflecting up off warm wet white sands… an endless beach framed by slender silhouettes of swaying palms. A perfect night spent in perfect company. A perfect night book-ended in the magic of mauve, orange and red… And maybe there is an epic beach rave too… With tiki torches… fire breathing hippies and vision distorting heavy bass… And maybe giant trampoline, and a trapeze, … And maybe a fresh water water-fall… with a hidden cave, And maybe a rope swing… And maybe a mid night surf, and a chance encounter with a speaking dolphin… And maybe a bed of midnight blooming tropical roses… And a fuzzy family of friendly miniature nocturnal primates … with huuuuuge yellow eyes… and maybe soft little pink fingers and with well kept finger nails…And definitely some kind of wonderland cake or biscuit or little vile that would allow time to drastically slow or perception to radically speed so that each and every single experience would open up endlessly into nuance and beauty… each moment somehow how cheating just a little more life out of the 12 hour trip limit.
Jorden: Well, I’m pretty sure David said it all there! Im not sure if I can imagine anything more magical than that… assuming that I am the “perfect company” of course 😉
#2. What is always worth the price?
David: A good sleep.
Jorden: Plus the taxi fare to get your sorry ass home after you missed the last train.
#3. You have unlimited space and unlimited resources. What will you make?
David: A parade. And totally not a lame contemporary capitalist knock off… I mean a real fucking extravaganza. Each float a testament to the synergetic poetical of imaginative ingenuity… Unlimited resources right ? Yeah definitely a parade. a really cool one, an event that is sooo super uber fantastic that only has to happen once… ever.
Jorden: Ummm, excuse me…. I’m pretty sure that was my dream idea?! But I’m glad you agree.
#5. In general; start from chaos and reduce or start from silence and add?
David: Start from almost nothing and make and collect as much chaos as possible and then reduce it just a little bit.
Jorden: Chaos is like glitter in the air, it looks really pretty until it lands in your eye. So, it is important wear protective goggles at all times.
#6. When does a piece fail? When does a piece succeed?
David: As a maker… A piece fails once it’s finished and it succeeds for as long as it remains in that state of ‘ becoming ‘ … That’s sounds kinda cheesy but kinda totally true, kinda.
Jorden: I also believe that the success is in the making. But I don’t believe that art can actually fail, only challenge.
#9. What two things must be together to satisfy you?
David: Jorden and I.
Jorden: <3 or chocolate and peanut butter
David: or how bout were are recently reformed cannibals made out of chocolate… and while tripping through the primordial jungle we find ourselves trapped in a quick sand pool of peanut butter… and realizing there is no escape from the sticky salty mess we decide to go out with a bang and just eat each other to death.
Jorden: David, I love that you are really excited about answering these questions together…, but seriously… you might be overdoing it 😉 Which, i guess is kinda perfect really… you always make me laugh in disbelief at the possibilities that flash through your imagination at a speed that most cannot possibly conceive. No wonder your eyes are so bright and sparkly ::)) you got magic in between them ears. xo
#10. What is your favourite machine?
David: The invisible, post internet, post colonial machine of late capital… Because of its promise of total global unification , albeit through domination … A future unified in exile and exploitation and consumption and entertainment.
Jorden: Yikes?! Machines in general wouldn’t normally be on my list of favourite things but… I’ll say my ’87 VW bus that is painted like a great big blue and pink neon stripe hammer head shark. That’s pretty cool I guess.
#11. What incredibly useful thing doesn’t exist yet?
Jorden: The “Replicator” from Star Trek of course!! Geez…
David: the first thing i would replicate is jorden… but only so she could take turns listening to me talk shit incessantly and take twice as long to get tiered of hearing it…
Jorden: Hahaha! Omg. Lol. Wtf!? Srsly? Too f#$%ing funny. What is this Ex Machina?? Don’t creep me out.
#12. You own a store that only sells one type of object. What is it?
David: Fantasy swords. Like all of them… Like how cool would it be to have a store that was filled floor to ceiling with glass shelves and mirrored walls…. and sold Every single fantasy sword ever birthed into the collective conscious !?! With tv monitors, video projections, and animated tri colored smoke holograms playing out the whole gammit of reference clips and illustrations. (Or a store that sold tropical plants.)
Jorden: Wow. Spoken like a true man. A multi dimensional room of mystic phallic objects ready to blow your mind or chop your head off from every angle, at any moment. Perfect.
I personally would own a Hassle Shop, that solely sold heavily hung tasseled tapestries depicting only the finest of the Hoff’s best poses. #Legit.
#19. What is the most important thing you’ve learned in the past month?
Jorden: Change is inevitable… So put on a clean shirt.
David: although I feel like I’ve learned it every month for the past 15 years… Jorden is always right. I should probably change my shirt.
#20. You can spend an hour any place and at any time. Where and when?
Jorden: Paris in the spring, during the belle époque!
David: im gonna go for the first hour of time after the big bang… and i wanna be exactly 53 minutes away from ground zero… i wanna spend my first 53 minutes of my hour looking right at the wave of “universal becoming” barreling right at me… and the last 7 being carried off by it.
Jorden: Where do you come up with this shit?? Like??!!! You make me wanna rewrite ALL of my answers… dang!
#21. What is your favourite plant?
David: Maybe a mango tree or a giant cedar.
Jorden: Ha! David doesn’t actually really like plants. He just pretends he does. He comes home with hundreds of dollars worth of shrubbery hanging from his limbs with the biggest smile on his face. He’s like the proud father of houseplantery. Then, within a few months, he is panicked at the sight of his emaciating plants and goes from room to room shouting blasphemies, as his blames and shames grow louder, and considerably more direct, while he waggles his disapproving finger in the air as he passes by. And I’m thinking to myself (or probably out loud), “have you ever even watered your precious little pants?? Like, what did you expect… ME to do it?? Gawd.” I personally like raspberry bushes. They are wild and free and full of tasty treats.
David: Hah! they were all gifts… for you!! living breathing symbols of our love… and you were supposed to nurture them and make them wana grow little fruits and shit… and its like easier for you…your way taller and have a ballers reach, you don’t even need to get a stool out or nothin to water them…
*I’m sending 23 questions to artists, designers and musicians and asking them to answer 11. I think these questions give revealing answers, especially regarding creative work. Here are their responses. As these are interviews I’m publishing their answers as they are, fully appreciating that English may not be their first or preferred written language. Thanks to all the participants.
