The Usual Suspects: SiiM and Stef

Rosencrantz and Gildenstern, Itchy and Scratcy, SiiM and Stef

Partners in Crime…

Yes, we’ve seen them around – they’re hard to miss, especially him, but does anybody really know these two… really? Where did they come from? Are they Jamaican? They sure don’t look like regular Jamaicans. They don’t act like regular Jamaicans either. What’s a Jamaican again? Yes, they’re related, and no they don’t look like brother and sister… much. Buzz decided to try and decode the mixed messages round these two strange siblings.

There’s a lot that these two have done to the Kingston scene – and yet they remain in the background.

She lectures part time in the Architecture department at Utech, He is part of the admin staff at the Edna Manley College and they are both directors of their own full-service image development and production company – The Higher Intelligence Agency.

She is an architect turned fashion designer, art director slash set designer (think Kings and Queens of Dancehall) and a sometimes painter. He is a sculptor, photographer, poet, all-round-fixit-man and urban fixture (he is often seen walking through New Kingston, headphones blaring).

He has done art department or set design on music videos for Busy Signal (Jailhouse), Shaggy (Church Heathen – remix) and others by I Octane, Erup and Pressure. She has done art direction & set design on music videos for Alicia Keyes + Baby Cham (Ghetto Story), Beenie Man (Trend), Alaine (Dreaming), Toots, TOK and Cecile among others.

Together, they are a formidable creative team with projects like the studio set for the 2007 National Debates, Site design & management for Jamaica Carnival’s first year at Richmond, jumbo display booths for BMW at the last 2 ADA Auto Shows, Jencare’s People’s Choice Award winning display booth at the JMA/JEA Expo 2007, set design & execution for Saint International’s Mecca of Style & FashionBlock 2004-6, Décor for Osmosis & Daydreams and the list goes on.

Their newest endeavour is an art party (pARTy) and exhibition series called Buy Art which is supposed to get people to do just that: Buy Art.

Question: So, what is Buy Art?

Stef: It’s really a way of us giving a voice and a personality to a group that is basically fragmented. Artists are by nature at war with each other because we are all competing for the attention of a few people who have extra money to spend on foolishness like art.

Question: So how does Buy Art work?

Stef: Well, the average artist has a bunch of work that’s priced for the collector (upwards of $30,000 a piece). Only a few people can drop that kinda cash on something to just hang on the wall. I mean - it cyaa eat! Those same artists ALSO have a whole bag of sketches and other crap lyin’ around in boxes rotting and providing good nest materials for rats. What we want artists to do is rethink the selling thing: let Moneybags buy the expensive art and let the rest of us get access to the b-reel, the seconds, the unfinished pieces. Some of this stuff is even better than the finshed work - purer, more authentic. And we can afford to own an original sketch for a grand or two, in the hopes that as the artist becomes famous, those sketches might be worth something someday.

Furthermore, the more people that have your art, the more famous you are. If nooooobody has it, no matter how good it is, it’s worthless.

Question: Sounds like Buy Art is just for Artists?

SiiM: No it’s really for regular people. Although they may not think so, people need art. Regular people express themselves through other people’s art – T-shirts and screen savers and fashion and a million other little things. And at the end of the day, Moneybags buys one piece, while regular people buy tons of small stuff. So Artists need to get back in touch with the regular people. Give them stuff they can use for a price they can afford. Most people think artists are snobs, and we are for the most part. But you can only afford to be a snob when you have arrived. And you can’t just leave art school and get there! You have to work and grow into greatness. And you alone don’t make you great. It’s people’s recognition of your ability that makes you great. Self praise is no praise at all!

Question: So, how is Buy Art going to achieve this?

SiiM: Well, first we want to get art off the wall, out of the gallery and into nightclubs and parties where everybody else is. It’s the mountain coming to Mohammed basically.

So, we’re designing some funky new party formats as part of the pARTy series to get interaction happening between the art, the crowd and the artist. Don’t want to let the cat out, but June 27 is going to be a good night for Art and a great night for a few lucky new art owners.

Question: So, is Buy Art just about painting?

Stef: No, not at all. Our launch featured some of my recent digital photography. It was a space sculpture exhibit with the photos projected all over the party space, larger than life. The idea was to stuff the people into the art. And it worked really well. As a party, it was refreshing to see people talking to people [about art], vibing with the music and not just standing around showing pure face. So, to answer you, Buy Art is encouraging artists to seek new ways of putting their art out into the space. Digital is one cheap and easy way of getting work out there. Artists could look into this.

Question: What’s next for you guys?

Stef: I have a few more shows planned for this year – it’s a blitz really. I feel like I’ve been dormant for too long so this year I’m going all out. Fun for me – fun for you too.

Siim: I actually plan to take some time out of work to do just art for me, not for money, (Ha!) I plan to exhibit in the series too, but mostly I want to see artists embrace this as a way to spark interest and jazz up the social scene.