1. Please, introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about you.
My nickname is Bill Noir.I was born in 1981 and I’m currently living in Strasbourg, France.
I am an observer, a movie lover, I spend a lot of time in second-hand shops, I collect of all kinds of stuff.
Collage artist, pinhole photographer, silkscreen printer, self-publisher… I like to experiment in all those art forms
2. Recent, current or future projects you are involved in that you would like to share with us?
I would like to go toward a more serial work, articulated around textures, colors and words that are characteristic of my world. I also have an oncoming project that is constituted of a bunch of images, in the same spirit than the albums from Hannah Höch.
3. What kind of things do influence your work?
I create when I am in all kinds of temporary moods. The music and radio programs I am listening to influence my work as well. The space has its own role as well. I mostly work at home but I try to bring with me what I called “the nomadic atelier” (a kit of pre-cut papers) when I travel or go out to friends. I am some kind of hermit crab, that often changes its shell.
4. How is your normal process of collaging? (idea or commission, where do you get your materials or find your images, which is your cutting technique, best way you have found to paste, where do you work and how, and very important: what do you do with your scraps)
It is the attraction for the image that is at the core of my wish to make collages. This medium gives me the opportunity to share the wonder I feel for textures and colors that printed materials from the 20th century can present.
I don’t think that I follow specific themes. I like improvising. The meaning is generated by the narrative component inherent to the chosen illustrations.
I can see that a human factor plays a role in my compositions, but also that glances are often concealed, melancholic or revolted, that emptiness is crucial and necessary for me and that the leftover of paper, the waste of the desk is a priceless treasure.
5. Which is your latest discovery in the collage world? What advice can you give to a collage beginner?
“Mekanik Copulaire” allows me to bring together and also create archives of all the collage artists that I admire and whose sensibility are close to mine. You will find my latest discoveries in the 8th issue of the magazine.
My advice for a beginner would be to choose good scissors, to be curious et to start to work with a visual topic that fascinates him/her. Never be afraid to cut and also to look at the leftover paper.
6. What do say your friends/family about your collage work? And, what do you do when you are not working on art?
I don’t know if my friends and family would describe me in relation to what I do. I think that the people who are the closest to us are not necessarily the most affected. Self-Editing has the power to create curiosity. I can verify it quite often.
Robert Filliou : “Art is what makes life more interesting than Art.”
I don’t mind the vicious circle. Even when I am not creating, I am always in some kind of obsessive reflexion : I am imaginating my next projects or I am collecting stuff or family photos, which I work a lot with. Travelling often turns to a quest of some sort as well.
7.Would you like to ask anything to John Baldessari? Shoot.
Not particulary. Just hello !
