#art, FEATURES by VALENCIARTIST Presents: Artist Andrew Buchanan

You probably know him from his fabulous blog Notes From the Edge but we are here to let you know a lot more about this artist from New Zealand…

ANDREW IN HIS OWN WORDS

My name is Andrew Buchanan, born and raised in NZ now living in Sydney. I entered Sydney University to study an English degree with a high distinction but have been unable to complete my degree due to acquiring multiple disabilities including a STBI, post-traumatic epilepsy, deafness – profoundly in one ear and a 30% in the other, visual field deficits and T12-L1 paraplegia from an accident at work on a building site.

I have worked in the hospitality and construction industry my entire life up until becoming disabled. My insurance company and the NSW Government have now deemed me “unfit to work” – drat.

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These were the interview questions we posed:

1) How much time in the day do you dedicate to your creative work?

1: I write, make music, and paint, largely untrained, but it is hard to put a time value on any of my art because even when I am not making or producing I am always thinking about it.

2) Other than the job of creating art, what other duties or responsibilities do you think an artist has?

2: I think that art is a way to decipher the undecipherable, I know that sounds a bit trite but I live with multiple acquired disabilities and I can find no other way to make sense of the world around me. Personally I do not see any responsibility for an artist, as long as it is true to the artist other’s opinions should not matter. Saying that I have been attacked by several people over the content of my stories. To tell you the truth I would prefer somebody to say, «you cannot write, or you are not a good writer» rather than somebody telling me off for the content of my stories. Art should be about freedom and not censorship

3) What is your opinion of AI (Artificial Intelligence)?

3: AI is a big problem in our society, can AI write a novel, or produce an original piece of art? Also it is taking work, jobs, away from people. Yes a computer can reproduce the Mona Lisa but can a computer create an original piece of art?

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ANDREW’S ART

And we are inviting you, yes, you, to also be a protagonist on FEATURES by VALENCIARTIST. If you are an artist or a writer or in any way engaged in the fine arts, you qualify. To join us all you have to do is reply to this post with an email address so that we can send you the information.

CHEERS