Jack Stewart Clegg

Newtown High School of Performing Arts

CATCHING THE BIG FISH

Time-Based Forms

My intention in my body of work was to draw a parallel between the transition from silent movies to sound with contemporary anxieties surrounding AI and its threat to artistic practice. The filmmaker's and fisherman's characters contrast forced creation with patient discovery: the filmmaker's reliance on a machine conveys the dangers of reducing art to mechanical production, while the fisherman's character communicates a slower, organic process of waiting. The fish represents creativity itself - elusive, only caught through perseverance. My work investigates the destructive consequences of artificial shortcuts while affirming the value of patience, intuition and process in pursuing authentic inspiration.

My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: David Lynch, Catching the Big Fish [book]; Salvador Dali; Zdzisław Beksiński; music from The Jazz Singer (1927) (dir.) Alan Crosland.