This Week • December 21 2003

What a type

Although he produces art he does not consider himself an artist. Influenced by music, Jean Michel Basquiat and Buddhism amongst others and he has created large impressions of faces by using contemporary technology. Derek Fenech’s exhibition hangs at the St James Centre for Creativity. You are among a crop of relatively young artists making a name for themselves, briefly how do you judge the emerging art scene in Malta?
First and foremost I don't see myself as an artist. I am a designer with an understanding of art, not as an end but as a reflection of life. Going back to your question, well it is very promising but the effort to try and work in a group is still relatively small. Creatives and artists should pull down the walls that define the various creative disciplines to present a collective expression of creativity rather than art which can be put in a niche. Visual arts should be part of theatre. Film, typography and music, and so on, the combinations are never ending and very exciting.
To what extent does art occupy your life and what else do you do?
Creativity in its various forms, rather than art, is an important part of my life. I view the world from a creative point of view, analysing it visually. I value the design and pieces of communication that I create which are self-expressive because they balance the commercial work I do for a living which is mostly on behalf of someone else.
In your writings I notice a Buddhist streak, in what way is that relevant to your art?
Well not to art, but to how I see certain aspects of life. I view Buddhism as the positive things that I would like to see in Christianity, the reality that I am part of. If you look at the roots of Christianity, and I am not talking about the institutional one, well those roots are very similar to how Buddhism is seen nowadays.
Which artists, Maltese or other do you follow?
I don't follow visual arts only. I am open to all kinds of work. I am greatly inspired by the music of Underworld, their accounts of urban life through their words and sounds. A great inspiration is the work of the art collectives Tomato and Fuel. Also Alan Fletcher, Dan Flavin and Jean Michel Basquiat. In Malta, I think the work of Start is a good thing that is happening.
Is it emotion or intellect that shapes your art?
Both. I look for content that is emotional. The intellect is reflected in the ways and means that I use to arrive to solutions.
Your current exhibition is interesting both for its aesthetics and its technique...what can you tell us about the technique (briefly)?
It all boils down to my passion for typography. There is no special technique used, more the basic principles of photography and typography. By breaking down the elements that compose an image, in this case a face, mainly shadows, midtones and highlights, I translated them to their typographic equivalent. It is also a question of understanding type and knowing its importance and relevance.
The exhibition focuses on faces, what is the significance for you?
Every face has a story. I am inspired a lot by people, the urban environments where we interact, the way we live.
In which direction do you see your art going?
You never experience the future, only the present. I am interested in continuing to work with the fantastic people that are part of the collective that I am in. I believe a lot in a creative process that is a dialogue not a monologue, that is an on-going conversation. That is the thing that excites me most in what I want to do.