Interview: Infected by Design

Infected by Design is the lexical interface of doodler extraordinaire David Healy.  Based at NWBaseline (If you were up with the larks this morning, you might have seen Daniel Astbury from NWBaseline talking about their work on BBC Breakfast.) on Victoria Street, David can be found most weekdays creating works of incredible detail and is happy to take time out to chat to shoppers and art enthusiasts about his work.  Over Christmas he dragged himself away from his acrylic pens long enough to answer some questions for altblackpool:

 

Vicky Ellis: Fight or flight?

David Healy: I have been known to weigh in when people are in trouble and fighting! But my dad always told me not to get into fights ‘cos it’s not what can happen to you it’s what you can do to other people. We’re from Glasgow and man it gets rough down there yo!

VE: Impulse or pause for thought?

DH: I’m normally quite an impulsive person, I certainly don’t like making plans! I like to see where the day takes me, but of course, it does serve you well sometimes to stop and think! (if you can quiet your mind- something I’m not too good at!)

VE: “There are four basic human needs; food, sleep, sex and revenge.” -Banksy
Do you agree? What would you add to that list?

DH: Well we definitely need food and sleep, but revenge is an emotion I’ve never felt. Or jealousy. You should be happy for people when they are happy.

VE: A ‘doodle’ is a scribbling or sketch made while the conscious mind is concerned with matters wholely unrelated to the scribbling. – R. M. Arundel
Where does your mind go to while you work and how much of that place do you bring back to your art?

DH: I don’t think my mind ‘goes anywhere’ really when I’m doodling. There’s too much going on up there for me to quieten it all down and fixate on one thing, so I rely on where the doodle or piece of work is going visually to keep it going and flowing.

VE: Owl or lark?

DH: Owl’s are amazing creatures! The majority of tattoos I’m seeing at the minute feature owls in them. However, I’m ‘up with the lark’ a lot these days, now I have a purpose. Does that answer? Not really. What does a lark look like? I think owls!

VE: Town or country?

DH: Town or country? I’m well proud to be Scottish, so country really- when you look at all the advances in technology we’ve made throughout history, a hell of a lot of them have Scotsmen behind them. However, this town (Blackpool) is on the up – there’s a bubbling in the art community right now and next year, you’ll all know who the Homegrown Collective are!

VE: This question represents a pause into which you may raise any topic you choose. Or not.

DH: I’ve just watched a video of a golden eagle swoop down in a park in america and pick up a toddler in its talons!! Mental! It dropped it before it got too high off the ground!

VE: Art is…

DH: Art is……what you want it to be.  It’s everywhere. Art is design. Design is art and it’s all mixing together now more than ever. Visuals are everything these days – well, they always have been.

 

You can follow Infected by Design on Facebook, Twitter or his blog.

Infected by Design is also part of the OneFiveEight and Homegrown collectives, exhibiting at Kraak in Manchester on 9th February.