31/08/2023 13 Questions for Artist Sadie Hennessy

Only 18 days from this year’s live event on Saturday, September 16th at London’s kings Cross. Ahead of the much anticipated event, one of the highlights of any London art year, Organ founder and artist Sean Worrall asked Fair regular Sadie Hennessy his famous Thirteen Questions.

1: WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT DO YOU DO?

Funny you should ask that as I recently asked ChatGPT the same question and this was the answer:

I’d like to clarify that I have never made a work called “Thingly Time” but I might just do so, going forward:

2: WHERE ARE YOU TODAY? WHERE ARE YOU MOST DAYS?

I am in my house on the East Kent Riviera. I am there most days, as I don’t really like being anywhere else. My work life and my domestic life exist on a continuum, that results in some good artwork (hopefully) but an egregiously untidy house.

3: WHO OR WHAT IS EXCITING YOU RIGHT NOW?

I am excited about my new venture, which is called the Salon de Ballon. It is a slightly shonky reinvention of the French literary/philosophical salon, designed to ‘educate and entertain’.

4: WHY DO YOU MAKE ART?

‘Cos I can

5: HOW DO YOU WORK?

As mentioned above, I don’t really make a demarcation between home and work, I just get on with it when I can.

6: TELL US ABOUT THE ART YOU MOST IDENTIFY WITH?

I like ideas-based art, but I actually collect seascapes.

7: WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR OWN WORK?

God, I don’t know!!!! I sometimes make myself laugh with my ideas.

8: WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR OWN WORK?

I never dislike my work, at the time of making it, at any rate.

9: WHAT HAS BEEN THE HAPPIEST MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE SO FAR?

I am lucky as I operate from a baseline of general happiness and I consider myself very fortunate about that. As I thought about the question, I remembered this moment (pictured below). I was commissioned to make an installation called ‘Jolene & the Jealous Guys’ which was to take place in a rural bus stop in Somerset (For the Od Arts Festival). The idea was to turn the bus stop into a karaoke booth. I had two of my closest pals as sidekicks. Due to the deeply rural nature of the location, there weren’t many people around, as there was only about one bus a week, so we spent a lot of time larking about. This was a selfie we took on a timer, which we found hilarious. I just remember how beautiful the village was (it was May and all the blossoms were out) and what a laugh we were having, and that made me very happy indeed. (The railing was quite uncomfortable)

10: WHAT MAKES YOU ANGRY?

Currently, the amount of sh*t that the water companies are pumping into the sea.

11: WHICH SUPERPOWER WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO HAVE AND WHY?

A friend of mine told me that my superpower is ‘making insecure men feel good about themselves, then dumping me’ – which is hardly up there with invisibility, or flying like a bird, so perhaps I could modestly tweak it to making insecure men feel good about themselves then NOT dumping me!!!

12: WHAT COULDN’T YOU DO WITHOUT?

The sea

13: WHAT IS IT ABOUT BLACK VELCRO DOT ANYWAY? OR MAYBE WE SHOULD ASK YOU ABOUT BOYFRIEND AUDITIONS?

I think both the works you are referring to are about sexual attraction

And finally, any future shows or events coming up that you wish us to tell people about? Yes, I created an open call for people to make work in the style of mine, for a solo show. The project is called Dry Humping. I had about 70 entries, and I’ve whittled it down to about 45. These will be shown as an exhibition in the Autumn with an accompanying book, published by the Ambitious outsider Press

This year’s Art Car Boot Fair, with a cast of over a hundred invited artists happens on Saturday, September 16th, it will once again happen in London at Lewis Cubitt Square, Kings Cross.