Interview with Connie Viney

Written by Kamila Kocialkowska and Sarah Hardie Sunday, 29 November 2009 13:01

Artist in focus: Connie Viney

Taken from StudentNewspaper.org

One of the University's rising stars is preparing to take 'let them eat cake' to a whole new level, all in the name of Christmas. Kamila Kocialkowska and Sarah Hardie are on the scene...

Edinburgh City Council have given the University’s very own budding artist, Connie Viney, £1000 to make her “Twelve Days of Christmas Cake” as part of the city’s innovative Christmas Arts Program this year. We asked 4ft11 Connie about her 7ft work of art…

So, why cake, Connie?

I like the idea of popular art: not too strongly academically based, yet not “low art.” My practice used to involve painting, but I began to know how my work would turn out - there was no fear in that mode of making. The intangibility of work at art college and the lack of risk taking I saw led me to separate myself from it by enrolling in an evening class in cake decorating. Most of my classmates were not from artistic backgrounds and yet the way they poured their hearts out into creating cakes that when finished would be totally devoured really inspired me.

Why did you choose to show your work in a shop and not a gallery?

In galleries I’m often surprised at people’s lack of engagement with the art. My work will be in a space where those who don’t often visit galleries, as well as those who do, can consume it. Art isn’t just for the elite. (Argentinian artist) RirkritTiravanija turned the gallery into a canteen serving “everyone”, but would “everyone” really enter the middle-class space of the gallery I wonder? Cake as a symbol of community and collective celebration is so universal. A problem with “the gallery” is that generally the curator, not the artist, gets to make the decisions, but in this case I didn’t have to go through the gallery system to get my art out there.

Your cakes take so long to make – is it hard to see them being eaten?

I suppose there’s always a sense of loss, because so much work goes in to them and then they disappear so quickly. But of course that’s the crucial part of it all, and I love the fact that this is a truly social art, one which brings people together. I think its quite common for artists to feel a sense of anti-climax at the end of a show anyway, people just come briefly and look around then leave, It sometimes leaves you wondering if it's all even worth it, but obviously it is, or else we wouldn’t make art ultimately.

What makes your cakes art?

I definitely think of them as art - there’s a huge amount of design and creativity involved in making them. It's really important to me to make things which have a strong visual presence, a spectacle, even, so I try to make them as bright, bold and sculptural as I can, and that involves a lot of research and practice with materials. However, I try not to over-theorise it too much. Dry, intellectual art makes me feel a bit disillusioned; I want to make something beautiful for its own sake, which fulfils the viewer in that sense.

So what’s happening in Jenners?

Well, I’ve created a seven-foot tall cake, which will be revealed in Jenners on Wednesday December 2. Unsurprisingly, it’s my biggest work to date. It’ll be divided into sections with one eaten each day from December 12-20. It’s free and everyone is welcome to come along and try some!