The way I see it: The Chapman brothers
Published 04 June 2007
Jake and Dinos Chapman talk about the love of country and art for the few
Does art make a difference?
Yes and no. More no than yes. If you mean "Does it make the world a better place?" then no. But if you mean "Does it make the world a different place?" then yes.
Should politics and art mix?
Yes and no. More yes than no. A rustic landscape is as much a political statement as a social-realist photograph of a tramp sucking his filthy toe in a sodden cardboard box. It’s just that the landscape picture prefers the idealised pathos of nature over the gritty bathos of poverty – pathos and bathos are political terms . . .
Is your work for the many or for the few?
Invariably our work is for a few of the many – since, clearly, not everyone likes art (or our art in particular), and neither are they obliged to. Equally, we invoke the right to produce work without the urge to satisfy some general prescription of "art for all". The elitism silently alluded to in your question simply refers to those "few" who decide to be interested in art. Where’s the harm in that?
If you were world leader, what would be your first law?
Longer weekends.
Who would be your top advisers?
Wise, old, smelly people.
What, if anything, would you censor?
Things that are harmful to people’s eyes.
If you had to banish one public figure, who would it be?
No idea – there are so many of them.
What are the rules that you live by?
Don’t covet, kill, steal, maim. Or at least don’t get caught.
Do you love your country?
No.
Are we all doomed?
Yes and no. More yes than no: it largely depends on what timescale you’re using. If you mean "Are we doomed to the local death that awaits us personally?" then yes, we’re doomed. If you mean "Are we doomed to the imminent soar heatdeath that awaits us generally?" then yes, we’re doomed. However, if we accept both of these events as fundamental conditions of existence, then no, we’re not doomed.
Work by the Chapmans will be on show in "All Tomorrow’s Pictures", a collaboration between the Institute of Contemporary Arts and Sony Ericsson at the ICA, London SW1. Closes 8 June. http://www.ica.org.uk/tomorrow
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