Funskull in The Land of Fizz
As part of FELLR’s second annual ‘A Land of Fizz’ project, Sydney-based artist Funskull (Elliott Routledge) and photographer Matt Cherubino were invited to the Worimi Conservation Lands to create and record a temporary installation piece inspired by the environment.
Funskull
The Worimi Conservation Lands are the largest moving sand dunes in the southern hemisphere, sprawling across the 4200 sacred hectares of the Worimi people. Providing a backdrop of earth, ocean and sky, Worimi provided the ultimate juxtaposition of Elliott’s sculpture on the one hand while in complete harmony on the other. ‘The idea for the trip,’ says Elliott, ‘was to create something unique, somewhere unique. To explore a location within Australia, I had never been to before, and that would be an unexpected environment for a sculpture.’ Weighing in at 250 kg, Elliott’s sculpture was moved throughout different locations captured by Cherubino to provide visuals that contrast the artwork with its surroundings. As a part of this journey, Elliott wanted to learn more about Aboriginal culture and share a deeper connection to the land by immersing himself in the environment to inspire his artistic practice. We had a chat with Elliott about the experience.
First question: why 'Funskull'?
I really wish I had an interesting story for you, but it all happened with Instagram. I used the name Numskull for a long time, as a means to paint on the streets illegally. This changed over time as I became less active, and so I decided to start phasing it out. When I first signed up for Instagram, I obviously needed a name but wasn’t ready for my full name, and Numskull was taken. Spur of the moment, as you do when forced to pick a username, chose Funskull instead.
No more Numskull.
Yeah, I was at a point where I no longer did anything illegal in the streets, so it became kind of pointless to me. Why would I have a name to hide behind if I didn’t need to hide anymore? Also, having my son and starting to meet other parents, I was forced to explain my ‘career’, and ultimately, at some point in every conversation, they would ask for my name to search for my work.
Okay. Question two: how did you come to be born in Tokyo?
My parents lived throughout parts of Asia for work and were living in Tokyo when I was born. I have two older brothers who are also artists. The oldest was born in Hong Kong, then myself and my middle brother were born in Tokyo. We only lived there for a couple of years, so I have no memory of the experience. I visited Tokyo with my brother and dad when we were older, and it was the most fun trip I’ve ever been on. We painted graffiti, met some amazing people, ate crazy food. My dad took us to visit the house that we lived in as babies, but when we got there, we saw it had just been demolished and was a construction site…
That sucks, man. Sorry. Okay. We're here to chat about your recent Land of Fizz art installation you did with the FELLR guys late last year. An amazing project. How did the initial collaboration discussions start?
I’d met the guys from FELLR previously and seen the project they did with Ondine Seabrook, and I thought it looked like a really well-presented and honest collaboration, so when they approached me, I said yes straight away.
Initially, we had grand plans to trek all the way into the middle of Australia to some crazy remote locations until we stumbled across the Worimi Conservations Lands. Conversations with the team were so inspiring in the way they gave me free reign without any real brief. They were so open to me coming up with any crazy idea I wanted to try. It’s rare to engage in a collaboration with a brand and have them just hand over the project’s whole direction to you without too much feedback.
Land of Fizz is all about Australia's natural landscapes empowering and inspiring creatives. Can you share some thoughts on how the landscape inspired the work and how challenging it was to execute?
I wanted to make something that looked like it was out of this world, but the sculpture I made was directly inspired by the landscape. The dunes are so vast and massive that they kind of don’t fit in with the rest of the surrounding environment, so I wanted to match that energy. The colours I used were almost like camouflage. In the way that I wanted it to seem strange and stand out, I also wanted it to be painted in the colours of the sand and sky so it could disappear a little too.
I was going to ask you about the colours you use across all your work; it’s obviously a big part of what you do. What goes into choosing a colour palette for a project like this one?
Yeah, colour seems to be the driving factor behind a lot of my work. I don’t have sketchbooks or drawings books in my studio—I have paint and colour experimentation books. I actually wish there were more colours in the world! For this project, though, I originally designed the sculpture to be really bold with intense colours so it would stand out as much as possible. After spending more and more time with the photos of the landscape, though, and seeing the sunsets and gradients in the sky, I found that letting the environment colour the sculpture instead of me trying to fight it would work best.
Yeah, the colours are perfect for the surroundings. Next question: When speaking with cinematographer Sam Brumby, did you notice your voice automatically dropping several octaves to meet his?
I tried using more heavy vocal tones to appear more powerful and tall like he is, but I’m not sure if it worked. He ended up flying his drone into my van and left some hefty scratches on the paintwork, so I’m also not sure if that was a big-man-style power move. I’m fine with it, though. It’s like he autographed my van. I love it.
You did this installation at the Wormi Conservation Lands in NSW. I’m wondering what your concerns were moving forward with the project in such a special place.
I had plenty of reservations. It’s such an important place for them, so initially, I was hesitant to do it there at all. I knew that they allow people to film there, and they do quad bike tours all over the dunes, but being there installing a sculpture feels different. The team approached the Worimi Land Council, and we were super honest about our intentions and what we planned to do. They ended up being really accepting of the idea and were amazing hosts.
Matt Cherubino: Photographer/Leopard
Can you tell us a little more about what the work means?
It’s titled ‘Happy Place’ and is an alien-like monument that is meant to appear out of this world and a contemporary relic that celebrates happiness in all its complicated forms. I wanted it to look like it was carved from stones or giant oversized sand particles that have been weathered away by the dunes.
You worked with Matt Cherubino to capture the installation; how did the vision for this come together between the two of you?
Matt Cherubino is a true talent. I love his energy and passion for the images he makes, so I was really open to having him direct everything. I’m not a photographer, and his work is amazing, so I wanted to let Matt guide us as to what would work best. From the moment we arrived and decided how to work together, it was on. We would drive through the dunes and spot locations, have a quick chat then he would hit the legs in all directions to find the ultimate shot. That boy can run fast…
I know. I follow him on the Strava. He’s a leopard. Whose idea was the light drone? That looked cool.
I think that was Matt’s idea. They sent through a reference, but I couldn’t picture how it would work and if it would turn out any good or not. The drone shots he got were insane and some of the best images with my work in them I’ve ever seen.
Yeah, they turned out rad. What’s the vibe like out there on the dunes? Would it be a good place to find your spirit animal?
It’s wild. I never knew or imagined a place like that existed so close to Sydney. Every new dune we found would be even more amazing than
the last, and it was just such a nice vibe driving around and having guides tell us about the history of the Worimi land. Definitely, a spirit animal type of place.
What is your spirit animal?
Fizzed out space coyote.
What’s next for Elliott Routledge
Live life more, hang with my kids and create some awesome projects that will be happening later this year.
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