Artist based in Berlin, Germany
Kevin Driscoll, portrait of the artist by Leander Rambichler-Praxmarer
Tell us about yourself, what's your background?
My name is Kevin Driscoll and I am an artist from Boston, currently living and working in Berlin. It’s hard to say when exactly I wanted to be an artist, but art has always been a part of my life. I was always drawing and building things growing up. When I graduated high school, I had intended to study art, but at the last minute I actually switched to architecture. I can’t exactly remember why, but I think at the time it was the right decision.
A monument to contemporary architecture, 2024, Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members, foam and spray paint on a wood plinth, 70 x 120 x 300cm, On display at Kunstraum Bethanien, for 'Recycling Narratives', in Berlin, Germany.
So I think because of always working various types of construction when I was younger, and then studying architecture, my art always seems to come back to these roots and often references the built world. It's very much influenced by those memories and experiences.
A monument to contemporary architecture, 2024, Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members, foam and spray paint on a wood plinth, 70 x 120 x 300cm, On display at Kunstraum Bethanien, for 'Recycling Narratives', in Berlin, Germany.
When I finally decided to quit architecture and do art full time, I was originally only painting. It was almost a reaction against architecture and the 3D, working then only with flat, two-dimensional surfaces. Slowly, however, my work started drifting back to where I came from in a way. I started using tools and techniques from my days in construction and I slowly started experimenting with different materials. From there, my work continued to evolve from a two-dimensional canvas to something different, something that felt more true to me. It felt like I started to use all of the tools and skills I had acquired over the years to create my art.
So maybe you could say I spent years in various fields that all circled around art, where I learned skills and gained new insights to eventually put it all together into one art practice.
Left: A momument to contemporary architecture, 2024, Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members, foam and spray paint on a wood plinth, 70 x 120 x 300cm, Material detail
Right: Temporary Wall, 2024, Cold-Formed Metal Framing, sheetrock, joint compound, typical wiring in metal construction, combination switch and receptacle, light fixure & 60W IKEA Solhetta LED, 180 x 200 x 10cm, Artist poses with work (Photo by Leander Rambichler-Praxmarer)
"My art always seems to come back to these roots in construction and architecture and often references the built world. It's very much influenced by those memories and experiences."
Temporary Wall, 2024, Cold-Formed Metal Framing, sheetrock, joint compound, typical wiring in metal construction, combination switch and receptacle, light fixure & 60W IKEA Solhetta LED, 180 x 200 x 10cm, On display at Kunstraum Bethanien, for 'Recycling Narratives', in Berlin, Germany.
What are you currently working on and where did the inspiration for it come from?
I am currently working on some “un-functional” objects. It is a series inspired by and also referencing a post modern architectural idea by Robert Venturi, “Both-and”. A concept meant to allow multiple and even opposing strategies in a work, creating ambiguity and tension, resulting in a “richness of meaning, rather than clarity of meaning”. I aim to take this to an extreme level, creating objects that are both functional and useless at the same time, as it tries to do too much.
I think I am also very much inspired by our society and its culture. A lot of my newest works are a kind of visual translation of things shaped by my own perception and often with a level of humor or extremism to represent them.
Left: Oranienstraße 6, 10997 Berlin, 2023, Spray paint on concrete, bathroom tile, gypsum board, wood, framed with aluminum, 61 x 101 x 7 cm
Right: What they carry, 2023, various construction materials found in the dumpster, repurpused and framed in aluminium, 30 x 42 x 6 cm
The material inspiration came from some tiles I found on the street. So as a kind of second life, I will use the tiles to create a piece of both functional and useless furniture. A small gesture towards our products and their attempt to solve problems that don’t exist, while oftentimes only creating more.
Left: Off the wall for you to see, 2023, Common brick, concrete, spray paint, plaster, dirt, silicon, framed, 60 x 85 x 8 cm Right: Marble, 2023, Common brick, sand lime brick, concrete, spray paint, plaster, dirt, silicon, on a wood plinth, 25 x 25 x 90 cm
Innovation does not only happen in the field of technology — it occurs everyday in a creative practice. What do you do for inspiration?
I think the core of my work, especially right now, is based on my own perception of a lot of what I see or experience in our cities or everyday life. So wandering the city and losing myself in my own thoughts is very important to my inspiration. I like to pay attention to building details, construction sites, materials… anything that catches my eye really. Especially lately, I am very interested in construction details. On top of that, I am often inspired by various books, so I try to sit down and read for a few minutes everyday, even if it just means flipping through some pages.
Left: Inspiration from construction sites and architectural materials in Berlin
Right: Inspiration and sometimes free materials from construction site dumpsters around the city
Walking and reading a bit with a coffee in the morning are probably the two most important moments in relation to inspiration, but I also think it's really important to just let my mind wander and be free from too many distractions. I want to make sure I am giving myself the time and place to even have ideas, and not being too “busy” just for the sake of being busy or feeling productive.
Though, I love just making things… so if all else fails, I'll just head to the studio to create something, mostly for fun, maybe to feel like I'm not just sitting around thinking and doing nothing, but also sometimes in hopes to spark some ideas.
3D modelling parts I need
Where do ideas start for you? In the studio or being in the world?
A bit of both I guess. I was recently speaking with a friend about this and how for her, it all starts with a concept first. I think for me it's a bit of both, more of a back and forth. There is an idea, whether it be a sketch, a sentence, or a thought, and then there is a lot of back and forth between thinking and reading and sketching and building.
These ideas all kind of float around in my head until they make sense with some materials, forms, or concepts I am working on… it feels like a puzzle sometimes, figuring out what works. Eventually I might settle on something that will become a final product and begin planning that. But even in that final production things happen and ideas change, so it's always a very fluid process.
Left: 3D printing models to get a feel for a new idea
Right: Construction "Temporary solution" in my studio for a show in Berlin, 2023
Lately, I have been doing a lot of 3d modeling and then 3d printing to see how I feel about the miniatures of my ideas. I think it helps a lot to have that idea in my hand so I can see it and maybe paint it or add to it, or manipulate it in some way. Some projects don't make it to the computer, maybe its not necessary and they go straight from the sketchbook to a built work, but computer modeling can be a great tool to help me understand certain complexities.
Sketching to get a feel for the ideas that are in my head and whether they even make sense in the built form
How do you make your work, does it start with a sketch?
Depends. Sometimes I start with an idea or a sketch and continue to develop and build on that, whether as more sketches or as physical objects. But other times I see materials or moments in the city that catch my eye and have me thinking about them for weeks. Maybe it was a material I saw in the trash that I put in the studio for a few months before an idea started to take shape, or maybe it was a piece of architecture I saw that seemed to perfectly fit an idea or sketch I was working on. In general though, my work (at least recently) has been revolving around various materials or architectural elements.
Left: A snapshot of a video I took during the creation of "Off the wall for you to see" in my studio in 2023.
Right: A photo by Fadi Al-Hamwi during the set-up of our group show 'Why tho ?' in Berlin, 2023.
Frontend Development, 2023, Poured concrete, spray paint, plaster, dirt, aluminum frame, 60 x 85 x 60 cm, On display during Berlin Art Week in 2023.
Many artists live by their routines, do you have your own studio or work ritual? What does that look like for you?
No, I don't think I have any kind of ritual. I like to follow my natural artistic flow, so if I’m in an intense time of creating or building, I will want to be at the studio as early as possible to drink my coffee as I walk around reviewing yesterday’s work. But for instance towards the end of the winter, the studio felt cold and forced at times, so I spent more time on my computer handling the administrative side of things (updating my portfolio, my website, applying to Innovate Grant).
I always feel like I should have some routine to keep me disciplined, so pieces of my morning are pretty regular, but the rest is very flexible. Working in the morning and visiting exhibitions in the evening, or maybe when the weather is nice, I am sitting in the sun reading and thinking in the morning and heading into the studio (which is in a basement) towards the evening. In general it depends what I am working on, when my next show is, or maybe how excited I am to test out some ideas.
Studio view
Who are your biggest influences?
On some level I think my strongest influences are the other artists / friends around me. I see them pushing hard and creating new work and it really inspires me and pushes me to also get better. So they are my inspiration.
In general other artists inspire and influence me, so I like to get out as much as possible to see other exhibitions. So I guess I have no one big influence that guided me in a certain direction, more like a collection of temporary influences over the course of many years.
Studio view
Are there books or films that are an important source of inspiration?
Lately, I’ve been finding a lot of inspiration in two architecture books in particular. One is by Robert Venturi, called “Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture”. The book is a “gentle manifesto” describing his architectural theories that are in a way the postmodern rebellion against the purism of modernism.
The second is the architectural graphic standards book from the United States. Its 1,000 pages of detailed drawings showing all the best practices of construction. It's incredibly boring, but at the same time super interesting.
Scenes from the studio
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Zoom out.
What is the best advice you would give to other artists?
Go see art and meet people.
Portrait of the artist by Maria Lunetto
Stay up to date with Kevin Driscoll
Instagram @kevin.driscoll
Website kevin-driscoll.com