| In Conversation with Bruce McLean |
| Bruce McLean, Ivan Liotchev and the INTRODUCING team sit down for a beer at the Jeremy Bentham pub prior to the private view of the Slade MA degree show to talk about the current situation in art education, how we got here and where we are going. Ivan is at the end of his first year of his MA at the Slade, where Bruce was the head of the painting department until last year. Both as an artist and educator, Bruce has influenced and impacted the UK art scene with his unorthodox position to art education and art making. |
| On Not Knowing |
| "You could do all sorts of stunts, but I think what we need to get into is that where you don't know what you are doing (and that is good)." |
| On The Presentation of Art Today |
| "The conditions for actually receiving the thing (artwork) or the experiences are quite different, but now everyone's all white walls, grey floors, print a card, get some drinks, and off we go again. It's just so boring." |
| On The Incidental Surprises in Art-making |
| Ivan: "In the continuous process where things just happen based on the circumstances, the work changes. It becomes something else, something you can't control." Bruce: "Incidental incidents are quite important, because it cannot be invented. I always did the best work when I'm at home. Often when I set myself up to work, sat down with a brush and all, and then I (gesturing dozing off), and then someone called and asked 'Can you come out for a drink?' and then I really started working." Ivan: "I welcome surprises." |
| On Artists/Teacher |
| "I stayed in the school (I taught at the school), because I think artists should be in the school." (*Bruce McLean was the head of Graduate Painting at the Slade until 2009) |
| On Artistic ‘Career’ |
| Bruce: "BA, MA, don't ask me that. People's (parents) want you to get a degree." INTRODUCING: "But that's what the art world has become, what the 'art industry' demands, a master degree from a renowned art school to open the door to a 'career'." Bruce: "I don't have a career. I actually follow my nose. I wouldn't do anything unless I thought it was interesting. The point is, you CAN actually make something new." |
| On John Cage |
| "The influence of Cage was phenomenal. He was the man." |
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