What's your name ? Where you from ?
My name is Jason McLean and I was born in London , Ontario , home of many
things , home of many insurance companies , life insurance is really big in London ,
but it's kinda folding. London Life moved. If you're fond of sand dunes and salty
air and little villages , here and there (am radio): this is a collection of ceramic mugs.
What do you do ; why ?
I try to keep pretty busy , cause it gives me something to do , and fill the time , your
life goes by pretty quick and you've got to keep busy , for some reason. At times I
feel really lazy , i don't do a lot but i have lots of stuff around me , so it makes me
feel good , because you need a lot of posessions to feel good . Lately i've become a
real consumer.
Where do you live ?
I live in Strathcona , in Chinatown , and ive been reading a lot about local history the
last little while . I like Chinatown , Strathcona . Marc Bell calls Strathcona the "Cone".
So maybe that's a new name for Strathcona. I've been pretty interested in Strathcona
and history here , went down to the archives and I was reading about how things have
evolved here and what it's been like for the last hundred years or so , and how the
Chinese people arrived here , when they were out here , when they worked on the
railroad . It's pretty interesting reading about history and what the streets used to look
like and the houses. My house is from 1914 , it's a carrige house in the back lot ; it's tough
to have pizza delivered to the house , it's very confusing . It's pretty important , being
pizza . That was one of our main considerations when looking for a house . My girlfriend
and I , my partner , Heather . I've known a few people who have lived here . I have a little
studio upstairs , but i don't work there very often , I work at the kitchen table as you can
see here , all my work is in front of me here. I like working while looking out the window.
I have a window in my studio , but there is plastic over it because we are concerned
aout energy efficiency.
Where are you going ?
I'm going to New Orleans in a few weeks , hopefully , i've never beem to Louisianna or
the Gulf of Mexico so maybe i'll visit my friend Neil. I was trying to decide where to go
the other day , I have a bunch of money , and i usually don't knkow what to do with my
money when i have it , because i'm really rich . That's my reason for doing Homesick
Magazine , that i'm so rich and i have all this free time . Usually i'm travelling constantly ,
but occasionally i'll sit down and do some artwork , spine design , that's mainly what i do ;
i don't do much else . I'm going to go to New Orleans and maybe i'll get my spine done
before i go and not stress about it , which im not supposed to do .
what do you do and why?
I've always been busy with artwork;it's something I do .ther's nothing else really to do.
I used to read "Canadian Business" a lot when I was young, and i used to count my
money all the time, and i had a big box of money with a lock on it.My parents told me
when you get older you're going to be rich or something like
that,because i was always so interested in money.I was just trying to call my parents
a few minutes ago. I talk to them every week,even though they live in London ,
Ontario,my home town, my Dad asks me sometimes how my little business is
going.So i guess that's what i do; i run a little business, my artwork. I decorate things,
pieces of paper, cover up things, i don't know what else to do.I've been getting into fashion
lately, and i've been reading alot about economics. I've been going to the library.I'm starting
to read more about politics and stuff. Maybe i've exhausted the whole art thing,maybe i'll
have a real career change, a radical shift. I picked up the "New Federalist" the
other day.I just finished a book,it was 500 pages; i don't finish many books. I read a book
called "No Logo".I was trying to get more informed.People are like"do you really want to
read that stuff?,find out what's really going on? So i thought maybe i should read about
world issues. But lately i've become obsessed with handwriting.To the point where I'll go
into a store, and i won't want to buy what they're selling,I want to buy what they're using to
sell. I'll want to buy the sign that they wrote to sell something, or the piece of tape they
wrote on, and they won't understand; so i end up having to steal things.These cost me
50 cents each(golfballs),i bought 7 of these things the other day;i just like the handwriting.
I've really been getting into the handmade,walking around on the streets i just flip
things over.I'm starting to take some photos; maybe i'll become a photographer.I'm not that
technical,maybe that's why i like drawing on paper because i don't have to worry about
machinery.I don't have to worry about plugging things in and i can draw on the bus.I've
been getting obsessed with the back of the bus laely.there's this guy who engraves heads in
the back of the bus.I used to avoid the back of the bus,because i used to be really scared of
people at the back o the bus on certain routes at certain times,but now i'm totally into the
back of the bus and seeing what these heads look like.They're not very big,I don't know
who does it but i"ve heard his name.Iwas thinking of taking a series of back of the
bus photos.Sometimes i think i am more obsessed with the idea of doing something than
actually doing it. I've been thinking about drawing on windbreakers for a long time.I've started
to do some drawings of what the windbreakers would look like,but i haven't
actually done it yet.and every spring i think about decorating my bike, i'm going to have this
crazy bike,it'll probabl;y get stolen or something.I have a lot of free time, i get up late, i keep
busy, i work late,sometimes. I work on my posture, comb my hair i'm pretty happy,generally.
I like working on different projects,i've been doing a lot of magazine work lately , not just
spine design, i was kind of joking about that before.I've been getting into magazine work
lately, doing stuf and having it reproduced,it's been something i've enjoyed this past year.
I haven't made a sculpture in close to a year; i was mainly into sculpture before.
(intermission:obsession with Big Boy).
I want to get back into sewing.I used to alter things and sew them together.I used to make
costumes for this band called July Fourth Toilet,clear cowboy suits,burlesque style nudie
suits with peacocks over the groin.I would never wear them because that's not
my thing, to expose myself, i like wearing lots of clothing.