Tony White

Tony White appeared to me to be an artist whose method of practice was completely alien to my own. Language based, his art work is in the form of books, which I must admit, I haven't come across often before.
He read aloud an extract from his book "Foxy T", where the language he uses is stereotypically "chav"-like, with swearing and phrases such as "innit" and "whatever", you could tell the language was modern young colloquialism that was written like dialogue. There were definite themes of tagging and graffiti that you tend to find more of in urban areas. The characters of Foxy T and Rougey Babe were both likeable and repulsive, as I tend to avoid characters like them in real life. When discussing his short story, White divulged that the catalyst for his book was a mini cab office closing down on the street where he lived. White felt that he couldn't tell what the office would become; he guessed a modern convenience point, such as an Internet cafe. Across from the office he spotted two girls hanging out, smoking and tagging, and he wondered: what would they become? He made a point and it made me start to think about my own upbringing, and who I am now, and who I could possibly become. It was a frightening prospect and White had definitely provoked more than one day dream. Especially in today's climate, Britain is in a state of confusion and rupture; where many can't or won't find a job, more and more shops close down everyday and life long dreams seem like a joke.
White also described his process of writing another book "Road Rage". He had three rules to stick by; 1) no research, 2) some act of sex or violence in each chapter and 3) write one chapter a day. This book focused on the subculture of "crusties", a fusion of punk and grebo, and was finished in two weeks.
On discussing his practice, White said he was looking for "rupture. My short fiction is my way of practicing visual arts" and also stated he wants to make his work free for all when possible, which is something I loved about his practice as I feel art should be available to everyone.