1. Can you talk a bit about how your art work begin?
I've always been drawn towards wanting to convey my emotional experiences in one art form or another. This started from when I was a small child, and wanted to translate my dreams into films, stories and plays.
2. From your
website, you have crossed into various disciplines from photography to film to scuplture. What makes you to choose this multimedia path in your artistic career?
Tying in with your first question, as the completed artwork is always connected to a subjective experience in life, the medium, or the "craft" if you like is the pathway from one to the other - it's the means, rather than the end. I'll use whatever medium is appropriate to get the emotions across.
3. What inspires you to come up with the theme of this upcoming show - "Covered City"?
Man-made landscapes, construction and dereliction are long-term interests of mine. But very specifically, "Covered City" was inspired by stumbling across the huge "Noho" development in Fitzrovia at a stage when it was covered in scaffolding sheeting. I was quite awestruck by being in the midst of these shrouded towers, which I think of as "ghosts of the future", in that their finished form is yet to be revealed. They possess a form that is there incidentally rather than by design in a visual sense, nominally there to protect the works going on underneath, but having an aesthetic of their own. This served as the catalyst for taking note of other covered structures, though in the final exhibition, many are of that first construction site.
4. How do you feel about London in general as a platform for artists? What is the best parts of that and what makes you frustrated?
Whatever I might say now about that will probably be out of date by tomorrow. London is such an endlessly changing kaleidoscope physically, socially and culturally that it's hard to say much about it in general. Depending on where you are, it can seem that you can't move for art and artists one moment, and then the next you're in a cultural desert without a gallery, theatre or library to be found. With art, as in many other areas, it's great that London offers so many opportunities. At the moment I'm finding that East London in particular has a thriving scene where people are interested in creating and seeing artwork. But it can be hard to get your work seen and appreciated beyond that niche, and when you're immersed in it there's a risk of losing perspective, with the result that you could end up preaching to the choir. Striking a balance between this and going for the lowest common denominator is a constant struggle.
5. Do you have any future plans? What's next?
I am planning the next show which will be a series in collaboration with another photographer, and further photographic series with a more narrative bent. I am also co-writing a feature film script.
*****
Martin will be at the no-id gallery from 2-6pm on Sunday 23.05.2010 for his latest show, with other viewing times available by appointment.
(Image courtesy of Martin Lau and copyright reserved for the original author himself)
prototyping machine or CNC milling machine. I have done a lot of work at 
