ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <title>David Farrer</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/JavaScript"> <!-- function MM_preloadImages() { //v3.0 var d=document; if(d.images){ if(!d.MM_p) d.MM_p=new Array(); var i,j=d.MM_p.length,a=MM_preloadImages.arguments; for(i=0; i<a.length; i++) if (a[i].indexOf("#")!=0){ d.MM_p[j]=new Image; d.MM_p[j++].src=a[i];}} } function MM_swapImgRestore() { //v3.0 var i,x,a=document.MM_sr; for(i=0;a&&i<a.length&&(x=a[i])&&x.oSrc;i++) x.src=x.oSrc; } function MM_findObj(n, d) { //v4.01 var p,i,x; if(!d) d=document; if((p=n.indexOf("?"))>0&&parent.frames.length) { d=parent.frames[n.substring(p+1)].document; n=n.substring(0,p);} if(!(x=d[n])&&d.all) x=d.all[n]; for (i=0;!x&&i<d.forms.length;i++) x=d.forms[i][n]; for(i=0;!x&&d.layers&&i<d.layers.length;i++) x=MM_findObj(n,d.layers[i].document); if(!x && d.getElementById) x=d.getElementById(n); return x; } function MM_swapImage() { //v3.0 var i,j=0,x,a=MM_swapImage.arguments; document.MM_sr=new Array; for(i=0;i<(a.length-2);i+=3) if ((x=MM_findObj(a[i]))!=null){document.MM_sr[j++]=x; if(!x.oSrc) x.oSrc=x.src; x.src=a[i+2];} } //--> </script> </head> <body onLoad="MM_preloadImages('../images/constructs/topbl.gif')"> <table width="100%" height="100%"> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"> <div align="center"> <table width="75%"> <tr> <td valign="top"> <div align="center"> <p><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a name="top"></a>biography</font></p> <p><font color="#000000" size="4" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="../images/misc/Bio.jpg" width="215" height="200"></font></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p align="justify">It is always an interesting experience to return to a place where  something significant began, like in The Wizard of Oz. Sometimes it can be a little scary, sometimes a little surprising, but fingers crossed, always a colourful experience. </p> <p align="justify">I was fortunate enough to go back to Africa in the winter of 2008. We travelled the yellow-brick road without the flying monkeys, a scarecrow and an annoying dog - they were regretfully confiscated at passport control. We travelled to the land, environment and culture that truly got the heads rolling, in an ethical and sustainable way of course! </p> <p align="justify">It was some 11 years since my last visit, leaving an itch in my creative consciousness that remained, until recently, unscratched. I was lucky enough, in the intervening years, to meet and begin working with Cordelia John. We often talked about Africa, where it all started - the cradle of mankind. Some considerable time later, despite my tendency to drag my knuckles when I walk, it became the launch pad for David Farrer Sculpture! It was important to go back to one of the many places I consider myself to be from (where you choose to leave something of yourself on the journey through). I was interested to see whether it still held any resonance. </p> <p align="justify">For the record, I was born in Leeds in 1968 (in an era that apparently classifies me as  a child of the revolution , according to a suspiciously  hippyesque old teacher). Raised in a village between Wetherby and Harrogate called Spofforth, whose claim to fame (or infamy) was being the birthplace of Hotspur, arch-villain of Shakespeare s Henry IV. I have lived in Masham, in beautiful Wensleydale, Knaresborough and rural leafy Surrey (almost as nice as Yorkshire). I love countryside, villages and open spaces, all of which have provided inspiration of some kind. I studied a fine art degree in Sunderland and The Hague, majoring in printmaking. I graduated in 1990. I still draw, if not as much as I d like to and have a printing press raring to go, when I can find a minute!</p> <p align="justify">Going back to Africa was like returning to see an old friend. The inspirations were as fresh as they were in 1995, when I tentatively took the long road marked  precarious career . On our travels we were able to see our oldest surviving sculpture, the second one ever made. The first one, suffering a suitably African fate, was eaten by termites. Whether they had good taste in choosing a papier-mache kudu for dinner is debatable. Whether it tasted any good is unlikely. On hearing the news, I reconciled myself with the knowledge that somewhere out there, in an unfortunate mound, were a bunch of termites with bad flatulence and indigestion. The thieving bastards.</p> <p align="justify">Cordelia and I have brought our sculpture a long way since we began working together in 2002. Being able to travel and share the environment that originally inspired the work has been a huge privilege. To find it still has that magical ability to do so was a hippo-sized bonus. Being chivalrous and carrying Cordelia s luggage has been interesting too. Just how many of those hippos can one girl stuff into a suitcase?</p> <p align="justify">As for an abiding memory about taking the journey, there is no substitute for being there first-hand for complete sensory immersion. Experiencing the animals we endeavour to replicate within their ecosystem. Realising that they are ecosystems in their own right with a trail of bugs, birds and beasties in tow. The smells and sounds like a micro-town square on a busy market day, were a revelation. These are the things a dusty old encyclopaedia would find impossible to convey, without ruining the carpet!</p> <p align="center"><font color="#000000" size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="../images/misc/djf_and_filthypig.jpg" width="200" height="200"><br> David Farrer with Filthy Pig 2002 </font></p> <p align="center">&nbsp;</p> <p align="center">&nbsp;</p> <p align="center"><font color="#000000" size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="#top"><img src="../images/constructs/top.gif" width="37" height="17" border="0" onMouseOver="MM_swapImage('top','','../images/constructs/topbl.gif',1)" onMouseOut="MM_swapImgRestore()"></a></font></p> </div></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">&nbsp;</td> </tr> </table> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div></td> </tr> </table> <div align="center"></div> </body> </html>