We are almost 12 months on from your Summer Exhibition here at Wonky Wheel in 2021. What do you find most challenging about being a full-time artist? The most challenging part of being a full-time artist is knowing when to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a project. I am very lucky to have found myself in a position where I am asked regularly to create new drawings privately or commercially, and if that project excites me, I can’t help but say yes. However, time management is still very much a work in progress. One challenge of typewriter art is that it difficult to estimate how long a project might take to type. Some subjects are more challenging to type and therefore demand more of my time, but being able to put an exact number on how many days, weeks or sometimes months of my time that may require can sometimes be troublesome and on many an occasion, overtime into weekends to get a project complete is never out of the ordinary for me. I can’t complain, because I still love my job!
What and who nourish/inspire your creative life? Now having a studio at London’s Trinity Buoy Wharf has made it possible to collaborate with a team of equally-creative artists. I have recently worked with poet and Mental Health Activist; Hussain Manawer by contributing to his debut book of poetry, Life is Sad and Beautiful. Collaborating is truly uplifting and has allowed me to inject other contexts and do some unique projects with typewriter art that I have not previously explored. In general, meeting people that have an equal passion for either art or typewriter or sometimes both drives my creativity. I am sure that there are other typewriter enthusiasts who do this as well, but when I pick up a new typewriter for the collection, I will read the old ribbon inside the typewriter left behind from the previous owner for hints to its previous life. And sometimes this informs or inspires a new drawing. Equally, the backstory behind a previous typewriter on its previous owner can also do this for me. I am very honoured to have most of my collection of typewriters thanks to people that have seen my work and donated them to me over the past 8 years. Many of these typewriters hold their own unique backstories and this has informed many of my previous artworks.
What gives you the most joy? From my April 2022 Exhibition in London, I was able to see the joy in people’s faces when coming face-to-face with my typewriter art on display. These were people from all different age groups and backgrounds. There were children aged between 5 and 11 that had visited the exhibition and had assumed that this is what typewriters were meant to be used for, given that they had never seen a typewriter previously and did not realise that they predated computers. I also enjoy people that look at the work for the very first time, and they haven’t spotted from a distance that the artwork is made from using the typewriter, and it is only when they get closer to the drawing, that the letters, numbers and punctuation marks reveal themselves off of the page. I also enjoy it when people spend a good amount of time trying their hardest to find every last concealed type-written message hidden within my drawings. The have been some visitors that have attend my exhibitions previously that will make a B-line to a particular typewriter because it may have been one they used as a child, or from working in an office in 60’s,70’s or 80’s. In general, I love to hear the stories from other members of the public about their connection or relationship with typewriters and what it means to them.
On average how long does it take to complete an A4 and/or panoramic piece of typewriter artwork? An A4-size drawing can be just as challenging as a panoramic-size artwork and therefore it’s a real challenge to put a number on how many days it can take to spend on a drawing. A ballpark figure would be 4-5 days and in that instance, I would be expected to work on average 8-9 hours quite intensely each day. Comparatively, the panoramic size drawings can take anywhere between 2-4 weeks. Although, my most recently-completed panoramic artwork is my largest to date; measuring in at more than 2 meters in length, I have spent over 300 hours and about 2 months typing the London skyline using my trustee 1973 Olympia SG3 typewriter. There are more than half a million marks in that drawing (I can only estimate!) but this was certainly the most enduring of drawings to date. I am hoping to have it certified by The Guinness World Records for being “The Largest Typewritten Drawing” – not that currently such as a record exists.
Tell us about your workspace – what is it like, and what do you like about it? One of the biggest developments over the last 12 months has been the addition of having a purpose-built studio to work from. I still live in Essex but will daily-commute to my London-based studio located at Trinity Buoy Wharf; sited on an old Victorian Docklands area, this is now a space dedicated to the arts and cultural activities. My studio is part of a stacked shipping-container complex and I am blessed with a balcony looking out towards a picture-perfect view of the O2, a lighthouse and the London skyline. Having more space has allowed me to have a permanent display of typewriters and drawings. Whilst typing at my desk, I can feed off from my hanging artwork in order to jog my memory on how to type specific subject matter if the current project that I am working on is similar in its content.
What’s the highlight of your career in the past 12 months and your proudest moment? So many events and rewarding moments have happened in the last 12 months that it is just too difficult to identify ‘just the one’. One highlight would certainly have to be my artwork of Tom Hanks signed and returned by the man himself. I never would have ever imagined it possible for such a Hollywood icon and equal-enthusiast of typewriters to ever see my artwork. The coverage of this as a news story has allowed me to meet so many amazing people and take on some wonderful projects. In addition, I consider my endeavours into larger panoramic scale type-written drawings to be accomplishments, such as the series of London-based, on-location panoramic drawings. One drawing led to another. The first to be completed was at Trinity Buoy Wharf in August 2021. The view from the lantern of its lighthouse became my first panoramic drawing. The completion of this drawing was also my introduction to the site and the amazing team of people behind Urban Space Management who operate and oversea events on site. It was their team that allowed me to host my first ever London exhibition of work in April 2022 which became my largest display of typewriters and drawings to date. In addition, it was their support and passion for retaining the site as a constant hub of creativity which inevitably convinced me to set up my studio on site in one of their iconic shipping containers. In the last 12 months, so many projects, both corporate and commission-based, have been and gone. It’s cliché to say, but it has been both a whirlwind and rollercoaster ride and without no exaggeration, but it’s been worth it!
What is the significance of years Summer Exhibition? Despite being a UK-based artist, I draw in the largest of crowds from other parts of the world. Up until May 2022, I had mostly typed London-based and Essex countryside subjects as a result of residing and working in both areas of the UK. And therefore this new series of ‘World Landmarks’ for my Summer 2022 exhibition broadens the horizon and possibilities of the typewriter medium. On display will be locations from my past that I have visited from my childhood and have wanted to return to as an adult. Many of my latest drawings are based on old family photographs or fond memories of that particular holiday. What is very unique about my exhibition this year is that originals and prints of my work will be on display in two venues… that’s right, two venues! The Moot Hall; a beautiful 15th century building located in the historic town of Maldon, Essex will host an expansive collection of my work including the acclaimed typewriter artwork of portrait Tom Hanks, signed by the actor himself, in addition to my largest panoramic artwork of London to date where I am setting to make a Guinness World Record for having created the Largest Typewriter Drawing ever made. On display of course will be many other artwork and I will also be at The Moot Hall throughout its duration to greet visitors.
What do you hope the viewer gets from this year’s Summer Exhibition? The slogan I use for my work is “a picture worth a thousand words” because each drawing not only is a random assortment of letters, numbers and punctuation marks puzzle-pieced together, but also I will hide messages for the viewer to find when looking at the drawing up-close. If the viewer visited my Summer 2021 or Spring 2022 Exhibition in London this year, I am hoping that if they return to see the new work, they will be quite familiar with my architectural drawings and how they can quite easily spend a good 5-10 minutes simply scanning a single artwork to reveal all the details and messages that has been hidden in type-written form. However on this occasion, I can see my largest panoramic drawing to date taking them a good 20-30 minutes for them to fully appreciate the scale and content of the work. If the viewer that is attending the exhibition lives within a 15 mile radius of London, it wouldn’t surprise me if they are able to point out their house in the drawing…and I look forward to meeting people at the exhibition that are able to do that! On display will also be my acclaimed Tom Hanks artwork which is signed by the man himself and has been featured in many newspapers recently. In addition to this work, many of the new drawings are set on a global scale and are not subjects confined to London; which they have been in previous works. So I am hoping the viewer can connect to these locations.
What is your favourite piece in your collection for your 2022 Summer Exhibition? I always like to set myself challenges, and each time, I set the bar just a little higher. In which case, my largest type-written drawing to date just so happens to be my favourite piece, not just for its scale, awe and spectacle, but also because I put so much hard work into capturing the London skyline from a challenging, aerial perspective with a field of view that allows the viewer to see the whole of South and West London. Not only is the O2 in view, but also Crystal Palace; almost as south London as you can get, and yet in view is also the BT Tower in North London. This 2-meter wide artwork has an estimated half a million type-written marks typed over a period of 2 months. Concealed within the artwork are type-written notes pinpointing locations of historical significance to me and hopefully for the viewer to identify on close inspection. Second to this piece, I also have a soft spot for the Piccadilly Circus artwork. What is unique to this artwork is the fact that I have used four different colours to accentuate the moving billboards of the location. I was unaware that it was possible to source multi-coloured typewriter ribbons until a customer in March sourced some old stock from the United States, who had asked for his commission to be typed in various colours.
What are you working on now, and what plans do you have for the future? I am currently working on some private commissions; one of which is another London-based panoramic drawing. I am also working on a series of American architectural scenes. Many of my drawings to date have been exploring locations available on my doorstep. I am also working in collaboration with another artist on a portrait for a very high profile celebrity… and unfortunately that is all I am able to disclose at this point in time. Sorry! At some point this year or next year, I would like to take my art to the United States and do some on-location artwork with a selection of my portable typewriters. Maybe Chicago, New York, Los Angeles…. we’ll see…?
James’ Summer Exhibition will run from 15th July to 7th August 2022 at Wonky Wheel Gallery in Finchingfield and also consecutively The Moot Hall, Maldon featuring 10 new original pieces of work and many fan favourites.
Meet the Artist evening is on Friday 15th July from 6pm to 8pm, free entry.
Author: Wonky Wheel & James Cook Last updated : 29th June 2022
Last update, February 2024: To purchase art by James Cook, visit the James Cook Artwork Shop.