British lens-based artist Jeremy Philip Knowles has a ritual of walking the streets of Berlin (where he has been based since 2016) and capturing elements of the city with his camera that would usually go unnoticed. Having graduated from Camberwell College of Arts (University of the Arts London) in 2015, Jeremy's practice has since developed into a playful photographic study of urbanism and the everyday. His colourful series alert us to vibrancies present in even the most monochrome and mundane places, if only we allow ourselves the time to look.
1) Which art movement do you consider most influential on your practice?
Conceptualism and New Topographics.
2) Where do you go and when to make your best art?
I live and work in Berlin — here I work on an ongoing series documenting the city nearly everyday.
3) How do you describe your 'creative process'?
I'm not very good at having moments of inspiration, so I need a lot of stimulus. I research, travel, explore, document and experiment repeatedly. Through a combination of these methods and tools, I develop most of my ideas for projects. As a photographer, I am dependent (to some degree) on what already exists in the world, so for me, creation is a means of discovering what I document.
4) Which artist, living or deceased, is the greatest inspiration to you?
I continue to be inspired by the work of Keith Arnatt who passed away just over eleven years ago. In all of his works - from conceptual pieces in which he buried himself alive in front of the camera, to a documentary series in which he took photos of cows after the UK's foot and mouth crisis - Arnatt saw the peculiar within the ordinary and made us laugh. His series 'Pictures from a Rubbish Tip' (1988-89) is perhaps one of my favourite series of all time. In 2015 I went on a pilgrimage to Tinten (UK), where Arnatt spent the last years of his life with wife Jo.
5) If you weren't an artist, what would you do?
I'd be an archaeologist.
6) What do you listen to for inspiration?
Nothing.
7) If you could own one artwork, and money was no object, which piece would you acquire?
Anything made by Maisie Cousins.
8) If your dream museum or collection owner came calling, which would it be?
Campoli Presti.
9) What is your key piece of advice for artists embarking on a fine art or creative degree today?
Get ready.
10) What is your favorite book of all time (fiction or non fiction)?
Watership Down.
11) If you could hang or place your artwork in one non traditional art setting, where would that be?
The Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art (where Andrea Fraser took tourists around the museum on a fake tour and showed them a water fountain).
12) What was the biggest lesson your university course or time studying taught you?
"You will need to find a job, this course will not teach you how to do that."
13) And finally, if we were to fast forward 10 years, where would we find you?
Still applying for a European visa in Germany.
Learn more about Jeremy and discover his collection of photography
