DJ duo Make A Dance talk shared influences, personal style and TDR, filmed at Next Door Records Two, London's record shop and community hub.
TALK DISCUSS RAMBLE
REUBEN DANGOOR
We sat down with artist and illustrator Reuben Dangoor to talk about his playful interpretations of British culture, finding inspiration in the familiar, and why making art more accessible is so important to his practice. Wearing the Seamless Lambswool Crew Nero and Jungle Repair Pant Khaki from TDR, he spoke about moving between large public commissions and small personal pieces, why art should be fun rather than weighty, and why, for him, TDR stands for ‘Think, Draw, Repeat’.
Who are you and what do you do?
Reuben: I'm Reuben Dangoor. I am an artist, illustrator and designer.
How would you describe or compartmentalise your practice?
Reuben: I do a lot of collaboration work with brands and things like that. I guess this sort of stuff, which is just ideas or things I want to get out and explore.
I’ve noticed you paint and draw across a massive variation of scale, whether that’s wrapping the whole outside of the Emirates or painting a little vape that fits in your hand. I’m interested to know what the differences are between the two.
Reuben: The Emirates thing is like, you know, that’s a public art. You’re having to deal with a whole raft of ideas that have to be communicated, and the vape - a lot of it just starts with the idea like, what do I find interesting? What do I find entertaining? And then the medium kind of falls out of that. This was part of a whole series of these. I quite liked this idea of taking traditional still lifes. I guess this is what I meant about having a thing that felt recognisable, that you put a spin on this idea of what good art or fine art is. But then I don't want to do that same thing. So I would get like a, you know, Nissan Pulsar and have it do donuts. And it just felt like that was my way of saying it’s not that deep. I’ve experienced this as I’ve grown up. The art world sometimes can feel very worthy and weighty and quite exclusive. And I think it should be fun in terms of my expression of it. I want people to enjoy it.
I feel like a lot of your work responds to UK culture, whether that's pop culture or political interests, I’d love to know why communicating these elements of UK culture is important to you.
Reuben: I think the familiarity of British culture makes it fun to take recognisable bits and then put in my twist. I think with everything that I do, it's almost like taking something familiar, and then how can I put in a twist? How can I make it feel like mine or make people see that thing in a slightly different way?
Do you think, then, that this serves a role in making art, the observation of art being a bit more accessible?
Reuben: Actually, the football stuff was a really eye opening thing because you had loads of people messaging me and buying prints, and they’ve never bought a piece of art before, or they've never been to a gallery before. It's a shame that art still has that kind of barrier to entry. I really believe that art is for everyone and should be for everyone. It's like play. Ultimately, it's just that you've managed to carry on doing it from when you were a kid to now.
Last but not least, what is your TDR?
Reuben: Think, draw, repeat. I guess that's just actually what I do. Like all the time. It's just think of a thing, draw the thing and do it all again. That's the process. Think, draw, repeat.
Watch the full interview with Reuben here.
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