19/02/2023
Oops interviews...
Jazzi Terrorson
https://linktr.ee/aphant_artist
Jessamy (Je): Ready?
Jazz (Ja): No.
Je: No?
Alright well, we are sitting on the sofa, there is terrible wine and I am going to ask my lovely guest, who are you and what do you do?
Ja: Well, I’m Jazz, I go by Aphantartist on instagram and social medias. I am a digital collage artist I guess predominantly and crochetier? Yeah, crochetier.
Je: Crochetier. I like that
Ja: With 85,000 other side hobbies and projects on the go at any given moment
Je: The best way
Ja: The only way
Je: So you mentioned you go by Aphantartist, what is the aphant for in your artist?
Ja: That is an abbreviation of aphantasia which is a thing I learnt about a couple of years ago now. So, I don’t have any visual imagery so some people when you ask them to close their eyes and picture an apple they can actually do that. I thought that was just a metaphor. I cannot. I also cannot imagine smells or tastes or, y’know, if I’m imagining music it’s just my own voice going do do do, there’s no guitar parts or anything like that.
Je: I mean, I have the absolute opposite and it still just blows my mind how different people’s filing systems are.
Ja: Some people, some people don’t have inner monologues it’s just silent. Can you imagine?
Je: The other thing you mentioned was that you are a crochetier, and you will be crochetiering at the workshop weekend won’t you?
Ja: I will be crochetiering at the workshop weekend, yes.
Je: Tell us a little more about what you’re going to be doing?
Ja: So I’m going to be doing a little crochet workshop with our lovely pal abi and we are going to be predomoninantly going to be teaching people how to do some basic stitches and follow a simple pattern and probably making granny squares so that we can hopefully produce a decent sized patchwork blanket at the end of it that we might be able to raffle off and raise some funds for future workshops
Je: I’m quite excited
Ja: I think it’ll be quite good
Je: It’ll be very mellow, everyone sat peacefully working through their frustrations.
Ja: Covered in yarn, how I like to spend my days.
Je: Definitely! What is art for for you?
Ja: For me personally art is medicine isn’t it? It’s therapy. It’s the doing something for yourself that isn’t for any other reason than doing it for yourself. Obviously if you can make a living doing that it’s even better but predominantly it’s cathartic and there’s a bit of having something tangible that you’ve made. The crochet is particularly good for that, there’s a physical, y’know, you started from this string and then there’s this object, this thing that you’ve just made and that’s good dopamine times that is.
Je: What role does community play for you?
Ja: Within the arts?
Je: Yes.
Ja: Ok, so, I think it’s very important for quite a few reasons. The network that comes with it, the other artists, they’re often the people that will be your biggest supporters and fans and the bigging up that everyone does with in that is so super important. I’ve run quite a few other community art type things historically for other causes and obviously you can use them to raise money, fundraise and do other great things with them and that was great but it was the people that I met and the friendships that have been made that are still maintained ten years down the line that are the super important bit. So I think that’s a huge part of it and then what you get out it that when all those artists network and all the support that comes out of that, is that you can start doing projects like this one and the workshops that are coming out and then community becomes important because you can give people access to that and it comes back to medicine and therapy and giving people a chance to explore that and pick up those things and share the knowledge.
Je: It’s just opportunity with art as well, so many people think they can’t start and they just need a chance.
Ja: A chance and if you’ve got a good community around that and opportunities and people there who’ve walked that path a little before you that really helps increase that and open up those opportunities. I think it’s super important.
Je: On a completely different note, I can’t help noticing Jazz, that your work is absolutely covered in vintage t**s. Why? Why so many vintage t**s?
Ja: I like them. I like b***s. I think they’re good. I think there should be more b***s. I think they make people happy as a whole. And because I really love the stories behind some of the photos that I collage with, particularly the Victorian erotica side of it, I love that some of these photos, the effort that went into taking a photo at the time is quite a set up, it’s quite a palaver, I think that they need to be shared. That still need to be loved and I like that there’s also certain things that even 100 years down the line, certain things are still jokes and certain things are still sexy. I like that. I like the parallels and the photos are all really human, I really like that about them.
Je: Um. Are the t**s feminist?
Ja: I mean it’s a difficult question.
Je: I know, and one you feel deeply uncomfortable answering.
Ja: I mean, intrinsically yes, it’s girl art for girls and there’s always going to be something feminist in that. I think there’s feminist tones in normalising women’s bodies and all the other things that I aim to do with my art. But I don’t want it to be exclusive or isolating to anybody which I think, sometimes, when you make exclusively vocal feminist art it can teeter on. And there’s nothing wrong with that and there’s a place for that but it isn’t what I would like to do with my art.
Je: It’s an issue with single issue campaigning across the board isn’t it, if you prioritise one part of the ways the kyriarchy oppresses then you do exclude…. Yeah, I think it’s good that you’re giving the t**s a louder voice
Ja: I just think there needs to be more b***s. I think they brighten people’s days.
Je: Well, on that perfect note, I’m going to stop recording the beautiful Jazz and pour myself a glass of low grade perry. Thank you very much!
Ja: You’re very welcome. Thank you.
