1 00:00:00,667 --> 00:00:01,876 My name is James Smith. 2 00:00:01,876 --> 00:00:03,795 I go by Jim. 3 00:00:03,795 --> 00:00:08,133 I've been an artist ever since I got kicked out of science class 4 00:00:08,133 --> 00:00:09,509 in high school. 5 00:00:10,385 --> 00:00:13,388 Been making stuff forever. 6 00:00:13,388 --> 00:00:17,559 Traditionally, I am an assemblage artist, 7 00:00:17,559 --> 00:00:21,646 which means you take things and put them together as a whole. 8 00:00:22,564 --> 00:00:25,900 Also, I've been known as an acquisition artist, 9 00:00:26,276 --> 00:00:31,489 which means you acquire things that you have not made and have altered. 10 00:00:31,489 --> 00:00:33,950 You just display them. 11 00:00:34,701 --> 00:00:37,162 I also work in Steampunk. 12 00:00:37,162 --> 00:00:40,582 When I do my steampunk stuff, I try to make it look 13 00:00:41,875 --> 00:00:42,584 believable. 14 00:00:42,584 --> 00:00:44,919 They look like machines, right? 15 00:00:44,919 --> 00:00:48,256 Steampunk tends to have a lot of tongue in cheek kind of whimsy to it. 16 00:00:48,548 --> 00:00:51,092 My sculptures don't tend to be that way. 17 00:00:51,134 --> 00:00:55,180 They look like you've discovered a one off machine. 18 00:00:56,681 --> 00:00:59,059 A friend of mine once quoted me 19 00:00:59,434 --> 00:01:02,729 when I asked him about my art and he said, Well, it's just like you. 20 00:01:02,729 --> 00:01:05,482 And I said, Every artist likes to think that. 21 00:01:05,857 --> 00:01:07,150 How do you think it's like me? 22 00:01:07,150 --> 00:01:09,486 And he says, Well, they look old. 23 00:01:10,028 --> 00:01:14,115 They look a little bit romantic, and they look a little bit dangerous. 24 00:01:14,157 --> 00:01:15,867 And I thought, Well, that's perfect. 25 00:01:15,867 --> 00:01:17,952 That's yeah, that's me. 26 00:01:18,703 --> 00:01:19,954 I also do large 27 00:01:20,914 --> 00:01:23,041 outdoor pieces, public works, 28 00:01:24,334 --> 00:01:28,755 I actually have six public works, including one that's here in the library. 29 00:01:28,797 --> 00:01:32,175 The piece that I have donated here is called Like a Red Rose. 30 00:01:32,884 --> 00:01:34,677 It's a portion of a poem. 31 00:01:34,677 --> 00:01:36,971 My love is like. 32 00:01:36,971 --> 00:01:40,934 I like very much in my art to use juxtaposition. 33 00:01:41,768 --> 00:01:42,519 Juxtaposition. 34 00:01:42,519 --> 00:01:45,563 Is putting things together that don't normally go together. 35 00:01:46,481 --> 00:01:49,818 The piece that I've shown has a image 36 00:01:49,818 --> 00:01:52,403 of a rose, and it's encased in metal. 37 00:01:53,113 --> 00:01:56,199 And it has a the portion of the face 38 00:01:56,199 --> 00:01:59,119 of a beautiful woman that's again, behind the grid. 39 00:02:00,161 --> 00:02:01,871 There's a lot of steel, a lot of metal. 40 00:02:01,871 --> 00:02:05,083 And at the same time, very soft looking, organic pieces. 41 00:02:05,416 --> 00:02:07,752 So that's how I put them together. 42 00:02:07,752 --> 00:02:08,837 And it was 43 00:02:09,420 --> 00:02:11,840 basically a love letter 44 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:13,925 to the library, UNF. 45 00:02:14,843 --> 00:02:18,304 I love libraries, and I as a teacher, I love schools. 46 00:02:18,304 --> 00:02:22,976 So it was basically based on that concept of affection. 47 00:02:23,309 --> 00:02:29,649 My work is turning out to be a lot more 48 00:02:30,942 --> 00:02:32,485 cerebral, lately. 49 00:02:32,485 --> 00:02:34,988 I'm getting away from the steampunk stuff. 50 00:02:36,406 --> 00:02:38,867 It's not again, it's not like a 51 00:02:39,284 --> 00:02:43,163 a musician because I will never do pop music again. 52 00:02:43,246 --> 00:02:46,875 It's no, I will probably do some punk stuff in the future, 53 00:02:47,125 --> 00:02:51,087 but most of my stuff is starting to get much more cerebral, much more 54 00:02:52,088 --> 00:02:53,298 eternal. 55 00:02:54,465 --> 00:02:55,341 We'll see how it goes.