Thelma Deacon speaks to Swanage concept artist Lewis Peake.
Thelma: Here in Purbeck we have a wealth of local artists. I spoke to an innovative artist, Lewis Peak last year, so stay with me and listen to the very interesting things he has to say.
You call yourself a conceptual artist. What's does that actually mean?
Lewis Peake: Yeah, I think online I call myself an artist and filmmaker because I think that just encompasses everything. It’s a concept artist and in the film TV industry it’s definitely concept artist.
T: OK, so before we get to you describing your work, did you study art and is it imperative to do so?
L: If you wanna be a professional artist, it depends on what you want. But if you're right at the beginning you need to get some formal education. You're surrounded by like-minded people. That's the theory side of everything. And you'll also get an insight into how the industry works and that's invaluable, I think.
T: To degree level?
L: Yes. Yeah, foundation A level foundation. And it's important. That this country maintains a strong art education practise out there.
T: And are a lot of young people going into that now, I imagine they.
L: Yeah, I think they're still alive and kicking very much.
T: Firstly, where do you decide to start? Do you see something out and about and that inspires you?
L: Yeah. Well, I can talk about in two ways.
They’re meetings that happen. There's obviously the script we have to break down what the words on the page mean, how they affect the storyline, what the characters are doing with it or in the set and your supervisor or the designer, whoever you're reporting to will give you a brief.
You’re given reference material, and you try and stick to that reference material. You provide options. You do the first preliminary and then maybe one will be favoured, maybe two or three would be favoured and you kind of push those forward.
T-So does this sort of work go out to people as advertised you apply or people approach you, or a combination of both. Is it?
L-When I'm looking, when I need to find work sometimes it depends like some you build contacts and off the strength of those contacts you might get more contact connections happening. But yeah, I think Instagram and websites and social media is such a useful tool in getting your work out there. I started to really build My Portfolio, picking up odds and odd jobs here and now. Commercials and music videos and art department assistant work. But I was really kind of gearing up to try and get concept art concept artwork. And then in 2018, I had a meeting with the designer for A Game of Thrones prequel which went as far as uh, filming the 1st the pilot episode, but then for reasons I'm not totally like, sure about got cancelled.
T-Right. So, you did you do a lot of work on that.
L-I did four months of work on that and.
T-Wow, how disappointing.
L-Yeah, it was really disappointing for everyone involved. I think it was tough. It was a real slap in the face, and it was difficult. It was my first big break, but it was such a great opportunity. Yeah, it's amazing.
T-Yeah, I'm sure. You can't do your job without great imagination. Have you always had a good imagination.
L-Yeah, maybe too active at times, but yeah.
T-So as a child, were you making things with cereal packets, and did they have to be shooting each other?
L- Yeah. Yeah, they had to be, what little boy doesn't want to shoot something?
Machines and weapons and things it's. I don't know what. So, I I still don't really get what is so attractive about them. Yeah. In fact, yeah. I'd like to sort of step.
Life on that and other things.
T-Yeah, of course. Of course. I know. t's strange, isn't it? So, what part of the process do you enjoy the most? Or does it tick boxes in lots of different areas?
L-Yeah, that part of the process, I don't really go through the whole thing, but the process will be sketch and then quite more often than not people are using 3D tools, 3D software to build the object, turn it to a nice angle, render it and then take it into Photoshop and draw paint all over it and make it look kind of really presentable. So the people at the top can really get what you're, you know, trying to convey with this set or object.
T-So it's a process and you enjoy all the steps basically.
L-I enjoy all the steps. I really like 3D at the moment. It just seems to be it. It's just such a powerful tool.
T-After music we are back in the studio now with Lewis Peak He's a concept artist and he’s trying to explain to me some of the process. So, your body of work is incredibly varied from a historical set to design. For Bridgeton, H&M adverts fantastical to some, link for his dark materials. And various futuristic concept art. How do you switch between themes.
L-Alright. it’s a similar process with everything, but I think reference is key. It really is up to you. to see what's out there. You'll find out designers, architects, artists and landscapes, you know, geology, anything you can find that's to do with what you're dealing with.
T-There's a lot of research.
L-Lots of research. Yeah, I I think it takes up a huge percentage of the actual process. Yeah, you need to. Because it informs our decisions, and it can be taken a bit too far. You wanna know if there could be just that one extra design out there that you're considered in this or the deadline maybe crossing, and you've got to just know when to stop.
T- When do you know when to stop? So for something like Bridgeton, how much time did it take up? Or is it? Is it ongoing? Are you still involved with the 4th? There's another series coming. Are you involved with that?
L-There is, I was for a brief period before the strikes, the art department could only go so far. Yeah. So they brought me on for a month or so and to look at three different sets, which I can't say anymore. And yes, so we still get involved and help where we can the process of it can take, sometimes it can be a day per image. You know it just needs to be sometimes if there's a bit of time, flexibility, time to explore an idea. It can take about a week and then sometimes you get the work sent back and you then you have multiple iterations that need to happen. So, it can really drag out a design or an or something and off a set it can really spread out over the course of the pre-production and then go into production. It's really as long as a piece of string , the worst case scenario for me depending on how you look at it is when you, the designer or supervisor someone's art director comes in and says we need this in an hour. Make this happen, and then you know the heartbeat. The heart starts beating full of adrenaline. Just have to smash out this design an image. And those are quite fun to do actually, despite it being quite stressful.
T-Yeah.Time consuming.
L-I am not afforded the time luxury to mess around with things, so you have to be very expressive and get things ideas down very quickly. And sometimes that means you produce quite a cool image.
T-Hmm, so how do you live a normal life if you've got a deadline, do you deprive yourself of sleep?
L-I'm not great at getting out of leaving the desk on time.
T-What does your wife say? Does she give you a time. You know if you've got children and you're a parent as well.
L-Yeah, she starts. She starts calling. And letting me know that the evening routine starts and, you know, needs to happen. But she's an artist as well. And she knows what it's like. And also, when need to make an income and we need to produce good work.
T-Right. OK.
L-You, just stay until that's done. Yes, but rules and regulations and a culture of leaving at a completely, you know, decent hour is really coming into practise now.. Because if you're tired, you don't give your best, do you? And I mean you, you know, people notice that in any.
T- sometimes after a break you can come back and make it better, can't you? Because you've had that.
L- Yeah. Yeah. On the last job, my fellow concept artists on House of the Dragon. I'd like to give a shout and let to them that they were all incredible and we made a nice little concept corner. Yeah. It's sort of like you. You could see there are some who like to leave on the dot. Yeah, at 6:00 PM and some who just could not let go of the look of the work they were doing. And I was one of the people that would stay a little bit late, get a bit tired.
T- OK. As a filmmaker, what do you make to the current state of the industry? Is it in a good place
Yeah, I I don't really know. I I wish I knew more about how it's been impacted. Luckily, I had a job through the beginning of the strikes and then a few pieces of work came in right in the middle of the strikes. And so I haven't seen a drastic difference with what I do.People who I think it's gonna impact the most are the shooting crews, because if the grips have to get be made and then the all the pre-production phase needs happen and then eventually there'll be on set, ready to shoot. And I I just don't know when that will be so.
T- is there still big money being poured into things?
L-Yeah, I think it’s still quite healthy. Yeah, I mean, the streaming services have all got studios in the UK and there's plenty of work out there. I would even go as far to say, if you want or are interested to get into the film TV industry, it's a great time to do so. Yeah, get work experience. Get a portfolio together or find a scheme and get Involved.
T-OK. So would you say there's still a risk takers willing to gamble on unproven material?
L-Feeling mixed ideas about it, there was the all the hype was about the algorithms and the scripts. And to adhere to algorithms so that they get the viewing figures. Yeah. And the streaming counts, I think that's there's. It feels like there's there is risky stuff out there, but few and far between.
T-There's a lot of controversy, isn't there about getting algorithms right and even in the health service. I remember working with some algorithms that were totally flawed after we've been using them for quite a while, and that's quite a long time ago.
L-So the algorithms are experimental in in a way but cut corners I suppose and save on time.
T- so let's move on to AI then. And is it good for the creative industry?
L-That's another thing I've not witnessed yet. Maybe we're using it somehow, but we don't know. Oh, there are the most common tool that you'll see most. Uh, concept artists using is Photoshop, and there are other packages out there, but that's the most common one. And they’re really pushing their new AI.
T-II would have thought for artists AI is a bit competitive, isn't it? Because if you can almost take over your role completely, couldn't it?
L-I I'm dubious about that. I think. I mean, just to be specific, it will be a person who knows how to use AI that takes over my job, not AI itself. Yeah, OK, that's AI. But I I've got to keep an eye on it. It might be something that I've got to learn.
T- yes, I'm quite concerned as I’ve been reading articles about AI and the artist Sir Peter Blake embraces it. He says it's a whole new open door of explorations and he actually cited a robot who drew him in a few minutes. Absolutely perfect. So, he sat alongside this robot, it drew his portrait, and I'm horrified at something like that.
L-Yeah, I think It's impressive.
T-I mean, I don't wanna see art that's done by robots.
L-Right. I've mixed feelings about it. I still don’t, it depends on what format.
T-Yeah, maybe in film.
L-What's the difference between that? That just seems like a really long-winded way to take a photo and put some philtres on it. I mean it seems like a convoluted process, it just depends on if you like the mechanics and the it's like the toy with the boy with the who's interested in the weapons. It's just like this kind of gadget.
T-Paint to paper is good, you know that’s what I think people are worried about with AI it should be just a tool and not something that replaces real people. So, let's leave that thought with our listeners.
T-I'm Thelma Deacon talking to Lewis Peak and we were just talking briefly about AI. Now there's been a lot of conferences and it's great that there is a lot of thought being put into its use, because that hasn't happened in the past with some technology and we've sort of discovered along the way, you know, online material and stuff that is dangerous for certain people. So, I'm pleased about that, but in the Western world we don't know what's happening elsewhere do we.
L- Yeah. Another thing we didn't pick. I didn't really pick up on is that there are more famous artists, digital artists, concept artists out there and illustrators out there whose images are being scraped and used without their permission. And so, I don't know where we're at with that in terms of you know, in terms of the AI development and where it's going. That just should never happen.
T-No, that's a huge concern, isn't it? A huge concern. And what recent film or TV shows have inspired you or made you jealous of how good they were?
L- Yeah, I I'm not biassed. I sincerely think House of the Dragon was one of the best TV shows lately. I'm gutted I didn't get to work on season one. We really enjoyed that. Me and my wife. We thought it was great and It's maybe divided some people, but we thought it was fantastic and it was just at such a joy to be asked to go and work on Season 2, that fulfilled that kind of the fantasy, you know, fan in me, but with other shows, it's really about the writing and the characters and the two most recent shows that I've been absolutely obsessed with and just telling everyone they've got to see Succession for one and White Lotus.
They’re two seasons of White Lotus, and I think there's a third coming out. I just think they're brilliant. They're just, they're modern day and they're character driven.
T-Are they British?
L-They are, Succession is written by. Is it Jeremy Armstrong who wrote Peep Show? He's just incredible.
T-So, is it? Is it a comedy?
L-There are comedy elements to it, but now it's very kind of serious modern day show about media, family empire and their clawing at each other to the sibling rivalries and feuding to succeed that who's an absolute tyrant, brilliant characters, everyone has to watch.
T-That sounds like a newspaper mogul or something.
L-Yeah,and then White Lotus. Same kind of serious overall, but the these absolutely brilliant comedy moments and moments in it that really hit you viscerally. You know, you really cringe and really kind of feel angry and find it extremely funny, and it's down to the performances and the writing. Yeah.
T-Is any of these new things uplifting? Are they going to be sort of, you know, good feel factor at the end?
L-Good feel factor?
T-Oh dear. Come on. There must be something. Come on now. That's your next project. Surely. Please?
L-Yeah, the feel good. Well, there's always Bridgeton for that. I think I was swept away and into that world first thing back there.
T-OK. And can you tell can you share what you're working on at the moment?
L-I’m currently just I'm dealing with my own art projects at the moment. OK, I've got a a new series of works.
T-Tell me about them please. Yeah, you're gonna show me.
Lewis took some examples of his work into the studio.
T- you have been working with local clay. At Shepps Hollow., you’ve been going down there, and that's one of my favourite places too. And I just love the Greens and the Reds. What's going on there as it’s moving all the time and now you can't get down there via the steps but via Burlington- it’s a brilliant idea. So it's a collaborative effort with you and Tim and then there’s Alien artefacts and lost cities. Hang on. You're walking along the beach. Let's see what's going on in your head then.
L-Well, I think it's kind of inspired by the fossils packed all along this coastline, and there's just something about finding these relics, these things that it's suddenly touching something that is millions of years of it connected to the past. The geology, which I still can't totally wrap my head around. We've got these lines of chalk and sandstone and clay, all kind of fighting over the landscape here, but we're right on the North End of Swanage. We've got what I thought was Clay, and I'm so excited to tell like at the end of the road, it turns out it's wheldon, which is not as nice as clay. Yeah, but still great to work with. So I just. I I gathered fallen clumps of that, broke it down and mixed it with water and let it settle for ages. And then It became solid enough to work with and then air dried it and then the really satisfying part of that was it. That was completely exploring that. I had no idea what I was doing was chiselling into it and carving out the forms.
Here in the studio now I have Lewis Peake, who's a conceptual artist, and he's brought some of his work on a tablet and he's going to describe it to me. So, Lewis. What is that piece?
L-This one is called. Well, it’s actually called two different things and one is Sentinel, this was inspired by just a a mosque. This was on the beach, and they are scattered all over there. So I took that home and I did some work.
T-Yes, I can see that. A partly destroyed mollusc. Sure.
L-Yeah.An Oyster shell. And I just sort of wanted to kind of create this abstract figure that might be floating in space. It's in its original version. It’s in a kind of underwater setting. But I I elaborated and changed some aspects of it and I worked the textures for a show .and it's like a kind of guard from a maybe a kind of ancient civilization or something like that. But. And he's got this kind of, like, fish like tail and it's almost like shoulders and a flat kind of head that I think could kind of recess down into the shoulders. I created a kind of jellyfish like silhouette and then it's obviously old and no longer alive or cocooned. And it's got, you know, the seaweed and barnacles and things have grown over it. The colours I wanted to just kind of like try and stick quite closely to those modest colours.
You know those mottled Browns and blacks and whites? If you, if you turn a limpet at shallow tide you get those the kind of losing side..
T-I see a touch of red ochre would you say? I imagine your house is full of shells and other things.
L-There's one there's two more I'd like to talk about. This one is called fossil, and it just reminds me of an ancient structure that's been caught in our landslide and have been covered in sediment and over the years and fossilised then rediscovered. And it's kind of like a what I imagine like a framework for some kind of object or architecture.
T- It shows a glimpse of something as you say. And It feels like it's drawing you in, as though it's sort of almost a cave yeah. And a lip to it and yeah.
L-This is actually a rock that I didn't bash up and turn into clay. It's another bit of wild and it's just a big rock I picked up and scanned and repeated in 3D to form. this structure that's also being built in 3D .
T-Now I have to say Lewis you seem slightly obsessed by anatomy because there's a lot of your work is related to anatomy. So, describe that.
L-This is called spine and it they kind of look like a vertebra for size and but it's a single one. With all kinds of protrusions that I sculpted out, chiselled away out of a wheeldon and shaped, taking that into 3D. I've mirrored it and repeated it along a path and so was the kind in a way the most creative part of this was how to display it. And how to light it? It was really fun working with the clay and taking it into this next step.
T-Has anyone used that material before to do anything you know.
L- well, actually, yeah, I went and did a pottery workshop at the Boiler House. It was a tile making with a really wonderful teacher and her name slipped my mind, but it's great and she gave us some clay and I and she said, oh, that's actually wheeldon,so it does get used, it does look like anatomy and does look like maybe some kind of prehistoric creature. One part of it anyway, an old whale.
T-Vertebrae of a whale at your house? Course you have.
L-Yeah, well, it's actually my dad’s, that's from its back, I think from Ireland. My grandfather found a whale carcass. Yeah. And I think he took quite a few vertebrates from it. And he gave one to each of his children. Claire, Sebastian and Fabian. Yeah.
T-Yeah. Fantastic. That's amazing. You moved to Swanage a few years ago from the bright lights of London at Finsbury Park.What do you miss about living in London? Is there anything? Or you're really glad to be here?
L-No I of course I miss so much about London and that's where I grew up in Finsbury Park. There's the diversity, there's the different communities. It's difficult to talk about, but it's the edginess that some people might find a bit intimidating and frightening about. But when you're from there, kind of it's a, it's a part of the charm and the character that I miss. But there's the obviously, the culture, the fashion and music and the museums, the exhibitions. Yeah, it feels like you're on the pulse of what is happening at the moment.
T- I know what you mean, but it's also good to escape as well as.
L-We moved here, and we were a bit apprehensive for the first two months, a bit, maybe a bit of regret. But then we just loved it. Absolutely amazing.
T- How do you relax?
L-switch off by switching on the TV. Sorry, I do. I watch a lot of television. I love television. Sometimes then reading, but I'm not the best with that. And I just have a sketchbook nearby all the time, just to keep sketching out ideas and just being with the kids as well.
T- Are they interested? Are they doing stuff?
L-Their interests are still finding out what they're interested in, but they are immersed in Harry Potter with my daughter and Lego with my son.
T-Yes, you want to take a trip to Swanage library because they've got a great Lego collection.
L-He knows all about that. He does, we're gonna go there and take over.
T-Well, it's been a real pleasure having you in the studio and I'd like to invite you back again next year because I'm sure you've got lots of other things to tell me about. Thank you.
L-Thank you very much.
You call yourself a conceptual artist. What's does that actually mean?
Lewis Peake: Yeah, I think online I call myself an artist and filmmaker because I think that just encompasses everything. It’s a concept artist and in the film TV industry it’s definitely concept artist.
T: OK, so before we get to you describing your work, did you study art and is it imperative to do so?
L: If you wanna be a professional artist, it depends on what you want. But if you're right at the beginning you need to get some formal education. You're surrounded by like-minded people. That's the theory side of everything. And you'll also get an insight into how the industry works and that's invaluable, I think.
T: To degree level?
L: Yes. Yeah, foundation A level foundation. And it's important. That this country maintains a strong art education practise out there.
T: And are a lot of young people going into that now, I imagine they.
L: Yeah, I think they're still alive and kicking very much.
T: Firstly, where do you decide to start? Do you see something out and about and that inspires you?
L: Yeah. Well, I can talk about in two ways.
They’re meetings that happen. There's obviously the script we have to break down what the words on the page mean, how they affect the storyline, what the characters are doing with it or in the set and your supervisor or the designer, whoever you're reporting to will give you a brief.
You’re given reference material, and you try and stick to that reference material. You provide options. You do the first preliminary and then maybe one will be favoured, maybe two or three would be favoured and you kind of push those forward.
T-So does this sort of work go out to people as advertised you apply or people approach you, or a combination of both. Is it?
L-When I'm looking, when I need to find work sometimes it depends like some you build contacts and off the strength of those contacts you might get more contact connections happening. But yeah, I think Instagram and websites and social media is such a useful tool in getting your work out there. I started to really build My Portfolio, picking up odds and odd jobs here and now. Commercials and music videos and art department assistant work. But I was really kind of gearing up to try and get concept art concept artwork. And then in 2018, I had a meeting with the designer for A Game of Thrones prequel which went as far as uh, filming the 1st the pilot episode, but then for reasons I'm not totally like, sure about got cancelled.
T-Right. So, you did you do a lot of work on that.
L-I did four months of work on that and.
T-Wow, how disappointing.
L-Yeah, it was really disappointing for everyone involved. I think it was tough. It was a real slap in the face, and it was difficult. It was my first big break, but it was such a great opportunity. Yeah, it's amazing.
T-Yeah, I'm sure. You can't do your job without great imagination. Have you always had a good imagination.
L-Yeah, maybe too active at times, but yeah.
T-So as a child, were you making things with cereal packets, and did they have to be shooting each other?
L- Yeah. Yeah, they had to be, what little boy doesn't want to shoot something?
Machines and weapons and things it's. I don't know what. So, I I still don't really get what is so attractive about them. Yeah. In fact, yeah. I'd like to sort of step.
Life on that and other things.
T-Yeah, of course. Of course. I know. t's strange, isn't it? So, what part of the process do you enjoy the most? Or does it tick boxes in lots of different areas?
L-Yeah, that part of the process, I don't really go through the whole thing, but the process will be sketch and then quite more often than not people are using 3D tools, 3D software to build the object, turn it to a nice angle, render it and then take it into Photoshop and draw paint all over it and make it look kind of really presentable. So the people at the top can really get what you're, you know, trying to convey with this set or object.
T-So it's a process and you enjoy all the steps basically.
L-I enjoy all the steps. I really like 3D at the moment. It just seems to be it. It's just such a powerful tool.
T-After music we are back in the studio now with Lewis Peak He's a concept artist and he’s trying to explain to me some of the process. So, your body of work is incredibly varied from a historical set to design. For Bridgeton, H&M adverts fantastical to some, link for his dark materials. And various futuristic concept art. How do you switch between themes.
L-Alright. it’s a similar process with everything, but I think reference is key. It really is up to you. to see what's out there. You'll find out designers, architects, artists and landscapes, you know, geology, anything you can find that's to do with what you're dealing with.
T-There's a lot of research.
L-Lots of research. Yeah, I I think it takes up a huge percentage of the actual process. Yeah, you need to. Because it informs our decisions, and it can be taken a bit too far. You wanna know if there could be just that one extra design out there that you're considered in this or the deadline maybe crossing, and you've got to just know when to stop.
T- When do you know when to stop? So for something like Bridgeton, how much time did it take up? Or is it? Is it ongoing? Are you still involved with the 4th? There's another series coming. Are you involved with that?
L-There is, I was for a brief period before the strikes, the art department could only go so far. Yeah. So they brought me on for a month or so and to look at three different sets, which I can't say anymore. And yes, so we still get involved and help where we can the process of it can take, sometimes it can be a day per image. You know it just needs to be sometimes if there's a bit of time, flexibility, time to explore an idea. It can take about a week and then sometimes you get the work sent back and you then you have multiple iterations that need to happen. So, it can really drag out a design or an or something and off a set it can really spread out over the course of the pre-production and then go into production. It's really as long as a piece of string , the worst case scenario for me depending on how you look at it is when you, the designer or supervisor someone's art director comes in and says we need this in an hour. Make this happen, and then you know the heartbeat. The heart starts beating full of adrenaline. Just have to smash out this design an image. And those are quite fun to do actually, despite it being quite stressful.
T-Yeah.Time consuming.
L-I am not afforded the time luxury to mess around with things, so you have to be very expressive and get things ideas down very quickly. And sometimes that means you produce quite a cool image.
T-Hmm, so how do you live a normal life if you've got a deadline, do you deprive yourself of sleep?
L-I'm not great at getting out of leaving the desk on time.
T-What does your wife say? Does she give you a time. You know if you've got children and you're a parent as well.
L-Yeah, she starts. She starts calling. And letting me know that the evening routine starts and, you know, needs to happen. But she's an artist as well. And she knows what it's like. And also, when need to make an income and we need to produce good work.
T-Right. OK.
L-You, just stay until that's done. Yes, but rules and regulations and a culture of leaving at a completely, you know, decent hour is really coming into practise now.. Because if you're tired, you don't give your best, do you? And I mean you, you know, people notice that in any.
T- sometimes after a break you can come back and make it better, can't you? Because you've had that.
L- Yeah. Yeah. On the last job, my fellow concept artists on House of the Dragon. I'd like to give a shout and let to them that they were all incredible and we made a nice little concept corner. Yeah. It's sort of like you. You could see there are some who like to leave on the dot. Yeah, at 6:00 PM and some who just could not let go of the look of the work they were doing. And I was one of the people that would stay a little bit late, get a bit tired.
T- OK. As a filmmaker, what do you make to the current state of the industry? Is it in a good place
Yeah, I I don't really know. I I wish I knew more about how it's been impacted. Luckily, I had a job through the beginning of the strikes and then a few pieces of work came in right in the middle of the strikes. And so I haven't seen a drastic difference with what I do.People who I think it's gonna impact the most are the shooting crews, because if the grips have to get be made and then the all the pre-production phase needs happen and then eventually there'll be on set, ready to shoot. And I I just don't know when that will be so.
T- is there still big money being poured into things?
L-Yeah, I think it’s still quite healthy. Yeah, I mean, the streaming services have all got studios in the UK and there's plenty of work out there. I would even go as far to say, if you want or are interested to get into the film TV industry, it's a great time to do so. Yeah, get work experience. Get a portfolio together or find a scheme and get Involved.
T-OK. So would you say there's still a risk takers willing to gamble on unproven material?
L-Feeling mixed ideas about it, there was the all the hype was about the algorithms and the scripts. And to adhere to algorithms so that they get the viewing figures. Yeah. And the streaming counts, I think that's there's. It feels like there's there is risky stuff out there, but few and far between.
T-There's a lot of controversy, isn't there about getting algorithms right and even in the health service. I remember working with some algorithms that were totally flawed after we've been using them for quite a while, and that's quite a long time ago.
L-So the algorithms are experimental in in a way but cut corners I suppose and save on time.
T- so let's move on to AI then. And is it good for the creative industry?
L-That's another thing I've not witnessed yet. Maybe we're using it somehow, but we don't know. Oh, there are the most common tool that you'll see most. Uh, concept artists using is Photoshop, and there are other packages out there, but that's the most common one. And they’re really pushing their new AI.
T-II would have thought for artists AI is a bit competitive, isn't it? Because if you can almost take over your role completely, couldn't it?
L-I I'm dubious about that. I think. I mean, just to be specific, it will be a person who knows how to use AI that takes over my job, not AI itself. Yeah, OK, that's AI. But I I've got to keep an eye on it. It might be something that I've got to learn.
T- yes, I'm quite concerned as I’ve been reading articles about AI and the artist Sir Peter Blake embraces it. He says it's a whole new open door of explorations and he actually cited a robot who drew him in a few minutes. Absolutely perfect. So, he sat alongside this robot, it drew his portrait, and I'm horrified at something like that.
L-Yeah, I think It's impressive.
T-I mean, I don't wanna see art that's done by robots.
L-Right. I've mixed feelings about it. I still don’t, it depends on what format.
T-Yeah, maybe in film.
L-What's the difference between that? That just seems like a really long-winded way to take a photo and put some philtres on it. I mean it seems like a convoluted process, it just depends on if you like the mechanics and the it's like the toy with the boy with the who's interested in the weapons. It's just like this kind of gadget.
T-Paint to paper is good, you know that’s what I think people are worried about with AI it should be just a tool and not something that replaces real people. So, let's leave that thought with our listeners.
T-I'm Thelma Deacon talking to Lewis Peak and we were just talking briefly about AI. Now there's been a lot of conferences and it's great that there is a lot of thought being put into its use, because that hasn't happened in the past with some technology and we've sort of discovered along the way, you know, online material and stuff that is dangerous for certain people. So, I'm pleased about that, but in the Western world we don't know what's happening elsewhere do we.
L- Yeah. Another thing we didn't pick. I didn't really pick up on is that there are more famous artists, digital artists, concept artists out there and illustrators out there whose images are being scraped and used without their permission. And so, I don't know where we're at with that in terms of you know, in terms of the AI development and where it's going. That just should never happen.
T-No, that's a huge concern, isn't it? A huge concern. And what recent film or TV shows have inspired you or made you jealous of how good they were?
L- Yeah, I I'm not biassed. I sincerely think House of the Dragon was one of the best TV shows lately. I'm gutted I didn't get to work on season one. We really enjoyed that. Me and my wife. We thought it was great and It's maybe divided some people, but we thought it was fantastic and it was just at such a joy to be asked to go and work on Season 2, that fulfilled that kind of the fantasy, you know, fan in me, but with other shows, it's really about the writing and the characters and the two most recent shows that I've been absolutely obsessed with and just telling everyone they've got to see Succession for one and White Lotus.
They’re two seasons of White Lotus, and I think there's a third coming out. I just think they're brilliant. They're just, they're modern day and they're character driven.
T-Are they British?
L-They are, Succession is written by. Is it Jeremy Armstrong who wrote Peep Show? He's just incredible.
T-So, is it? Is it a comedy?
L-There are comedy elements to it, but now it's very kind of serious modern day show about media, family empire and their clawing at each other to the sibling rivalries and feuding to succeed that who's an absolute tyrant, brilliant characters, everyone has to watch.
T-That sounds like a newspaper mogul or something.
L-Yeah,and then White Lotus. Same kind of serious overall, but the these absolutely brilliant comedy moments and moments in it that really hit you viscerally. You know, you really cringe and really kind of feel angry and find it extremely funny, and it's down to the performances and the writing. Yeah.
T-Is any of these new things uplifting? Are they going to be sort of, you know, good feel factor at the end?
L-Good feel factor?
T-Oh dear. Come on. There must be something. Come on now. That's your next project. Surely. Please?
L-Yeah, the feel good. Well, there's always Bridgeton for that. I think I was swept away and into that world first thing back there.
T-OK. And can you tell can you share what you're working on at the moment?
L-I’m currently just I'm dealing with my own art projects at the moment. OK, I've got a a new series of works.
T-Tell me about them please. Yeah, you're gonna show me.
Lewis took some examples of his work into the studio.
T- you have been working with local clay. At Shepps Hollow., you’ve been going down there, and that's one of my favourite places too. And I just love the Greens and the Reds. What's going on there as it’s moving all the time and now you can't get down there via the steps but via Burlington- it’s a brilliant idea. So it's a collaborative effort with you and Tim and then there’s Alien artefacts and lost cities. Hang on. You're walking along the beach. Let's see what's going on in your head then.
L-Well, I think it's kind of inspired by the fossils packed all along this coastline, and there's just something about finding these relics, these things that it's suddenly touching something that is millions of years of it connected to the past. The geology, which I still can't totally wrap my head around. We've got these lines of chalk and sandstone and clay, all kind of fighting over the landscape here, but we're right on the North End of Swanage. We've got what I thought was Clay, and I'm so excited to tell like at the end of the road, it turns out it's wheldon, which is not as nice as clay. Yeah, but still great to work with. So I just. I I gathered fallen clumps of that, broke it down and mixed it with water and let it settle for ages. And then It became solid enough to work with and then air dried it and then the really satisfying part of that was it. That was completely exploring that. I had no idea what I was doing was chiselling into it and carving out the forms.
Here in the studio now I have Lewis Peake, who's a conceptual artist, and he's brought some of his work on a tablet and he's going to describe it to me. So, Lewis. What is that piece?
L-This one is called. Well, it’s actually called two different things and one is Sentinel, this was inspired by just a a mosque. This was on the beach, and they are scattered all over there. So I took that home and I did some work.
T-Yes, I can see that. A partly destroyed mollusc. Sure.
L-Yeah.An Oyster shell. And I just sort of wanted to kind of create this abstract figure that might be floating in space. It's in its original version. It’s in a kind of underwater setting. But I I elaborated and changed some aspects of it and I worked the textures for a show .and it's like a kind of guard from a maybe a kind of ancient civilization or something like that. But. And he's got this kind of, like, fish like tail and it's almost like shoulders and a flat kind of head that I think could kind of recess down into the shoulders. I created a kind of jellyfish like silhouette and then it's obviously old and no longer alive or cocooned. And it's got, you know, the seaweed and barnacles and things have grown over it. The colours I wanted to just kind of like try and stick quite closely to those modest colours.
You know those mottled Browns and blacks and whites? If you, if you turn a limpet at shallow tide you get those the kind of losing side..
T-I see a touch of red ochre would you say? I imagine your house is full of shells and other things.
L-There's one there's two more I'd like to talk about. This one is called fossil, and it just reminds me of an ancient structure that's been caught in our landslide and have been covered in sediment and over the years and fossilised then rediscovered. And it's kind of like a what I imagine like a framework for some kind of object or architecture.
T- It shows a glimpse of something as you say. And It feels like it's drawing you in, as though it's sort of almost a cave yeah. And a lip to it and yeah.
L-This is actually a rock that I didn't bash up and turn into clay. It's another bit of wild and it's just a big rock I picked up and scanned and repeated in 3D to form. this structure that's also being built in 3D .
T-Now I have to say Lewis you seem slightly obsessed by anatomy because there's a lot of your work is related to anatomy. So, describe that.
L-This is called spine and it they kind of look like a vertebra for size and but it's a single one. With all kinds of protrusions that I sculpted out, chiselled away out of a wheeldon and shaped, taking that into 3D. I've mirrored it and repeated it along a path and so was the kind in a way the most creative part of this was how to display it. And how to light it? It was really fun working with the clay and taking it into this next step.
T-Has anyone used that material before to do anything you know.
L- well, actually, yeah, I went and did a pottery workshop at the Boiler House. It was a tile making with a really wonderful teacher and her name slipped my mind, but it's great and she gave us some clay and I and she said, oh, that's actually wheeldon,so it does get used, it does look like anatomy and does look like maybe some kind of prehistoric creature. One part of it anyway, an old whale.
T-Vertebrae of a whale at your house? Course you have.
L-Yeah, well, it's actually my dad’s, that's from its back, I think from Ireland. My grandfather found a whale carcass. Yeah. And I think he took quite a few vertebrates from it. And he gave one to each of his children. Claire, Sebastian and Fabian. Yeah.
T-Yeah. Fantastic. That's amazing. You moved to Swanage a few years ago from the bright lights of London at Finsbury Park.What do you miss about living in London? Is there anything? Or you're really glad to be here?
L-No I of course I miss so much about London and that's where I grew up in Finsbury Park. There's the diversity, there's the different communities. It's difficult to talk about, but it's the edginess that some people might find a bit intimidating and frightening about. But when you're from there, kind of it's a, it's a part of the charm and the character that I miss. But there's the obviously, the culture, the fashion and music and the museums, the exhibitions. Yeah, it feels like you're on the pulse of what is happening at the moment.
T- I know what you mean, but it's also good to escape as well as.
L-We moved here, and we were a bit apprehensive for the first two months, a bit, maybe a bit of regret. But then we just loved it. Absolutely amazing.
T- How do you relax?
L-switch off by switching on the TV. Sorry, I do. I watch a lot of television. I love television. Sometimes then reading, but I'm not the best with that. And I just have a sketchbook nearby all the time, just to keep sketching out ideas and just being with the kids as well.
T- Are they interested? Are they doing stuff?
L-Their interests are still finding out what they're interested in, but they are immersed in Harry Potter with my daughter and Lego with my son.
T-Yes, you want to take a trip to Swanage library because they've got a great Lego collection.
L-He knows all about that. He does, we're gonna go there and take over.
T-Well, it's been a real pleasure having you in the studio and I'd like to invite you back again next year because I'm sure you've got lots of other things to tell me about. Thank you.
L-Thank you very much.
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Copyright Purbeck Sounds Ltd. No unauthorised copying or usage permitted
Copyright Purbeck Sounds Ltd. No unauthorised copying or usage permitted