00:00So we're here in the fantastic Cradley Heath and it's like an Aladdin's cave here isn't it Luke,
00:05you black country sculptor. Everywhere you turn there's something going on, we've got an owl behind
00:12you flying, it's crazy. Today we're here to talk about, Dina your project, fill us in what's
00:19happening? Yeah so I'm from Power by Camera, a youth organisation based across black country
00:24and a lot of what we're doing at the moment is working with freelancers and artists like Luke
00:28to promote the arts and also different mediums to young people to get them inspired and boost
00:33their confidence. Cool great stuff and you're doing that via workshops? Yes. What's happening
00:39then? So it's Stourbridge Library is that right? Yes I believe so, that's right yeah. So we've got
00:44a master class coming up next Wednesday with Luke who's going to be running it, I'll also be there
00:49and do you want to tell us a little bit more about that? Yeah Luke what's going to be happening in
00:52the classes then? So what I want to do really is to get people, young people between between 14 and
00:5818 isn't it and it's completely free but we want to get people to sort of explore the idea of
01:03working with clay, to use their hands, it's very rarely done these days like with young people to
01:08actually make things three-dimensionally and it's giving people the confidence to do that
01:12and I will ask people what they want to make so for me public art monuments are about changing
01:18the world so it's like what do you want to change about your world and we'll make a sculpture that
01:22people can take home and keep. So it's kind of making them realise it's not just a pretty thing
01:27it can be you know sculpture and art can be used to tell a story to inform and that as well? Absolutely
01:33look art has always been one on the sharp end of political change and and propaganda and all
01:39sorts of things so it's really exciting it's not just about making something pretty it's about a
01:43message what message you want to get out. And we've you've just been showing Dina kind of because
01:48clay's how it starts for you isn't it a lot of the time so we've just been showing Dina that
01:51with a frog if he's having a little practice on a frog haven't you? Where's that one destined to be
01:56that's a temporary an initial base for an actual piece of work isn't it? Yeah so that frog and behind that is is the steel version that's growing
02:03in and that will be in an urban wildlife park over in Walsall for a charity called Frog Life
02:08who are trying to draw attention to amphibious creatures in the UK yeah plight of their difficult
02:14lives. So does most of your sculpture work start off in clay then is it kind of 50-50?
02:20Pretty much everything starts in clay because a sculpture should be a three-dimensional object
02:25that's the beauty of it that's the opportunity you have is to make something that is tactile
02:29that's kind of you can see from all different directions you can appreciate it all the way
02:34around so to to understand how you're going to commit to a really massive thing you need to start
02:41by understanding it with your hands at a very small level and then expand that to a larger model
02:47and then you can use that to make a scale piece which is much bigger. Well look you've made some
02:51absolutely fantastic pieces around the black country do any any stand out as kind of like
02:57yeah that was a that was a real special one or do always is it like picking children you can't
03:01really do it. Everyone knows their favourite child. They just don't tell anyone else.
03:08No I think there's a few that I'm really proud of one is the Lady Chainmaker's Monument
03:13yeah that's got a lot to do with my own personal family sort of history
03:16yeah another one is um the monument to South Asian soldiers so the lines of the great war
03:23because that is literally the first piece that recognized that we we had South Asian soldiers in
03:30in the first world war at all and they yeah they fought for a country that wasn't their own that
03:34wouldn't allow their country their own freedom and they weren't recognized so to be part of the
03:38Gurdwara community be part of that was a real honour and it lit a flame across the UK so more
03:44representation and that's what we need an expansion of representation for what the country actually
03:50looks like in its actual real history. Yeah where did this um where did this start for you Luke were
03:55you were you kind of obviously your dad had the foundry as a young kid were you always thinking
04:00when you were playing your plasticine at home were you thinking yeah I want to get in dad's place or
04:04was there a moment you can think recall and think you know what this is what I want to do be a
04:09sculptor I think I always wanted to make things but it didn't really matter to me what I was making
04:14because everyone around me made stuff so my family have always been makers my granddad was always in
04:18his shed doing carpentry he was a chainmaker my nan was an upholsterer so it was just what you did
04:23yeah you made stuff you gave it away and that really I think has been the centre of of my
04:31my love really is make stuff and give it away don't make it for yourself I mean it's okay but
04:36make things for other people and there's a real joy in that yeah how about you have you got a long
04:40history of loving working with young people um not really so I started literally a few months ago
04:47but also grew up on arts like I was always like painting murals and stuff we were painting our
04:51living room walls like my parents used to let us do everything so I'm just so excited that we're
04:56gonna be able to start like delivering workshops for young people you can see actually it's not
05:00just like sitting and drawing on a piece of paper but you can get really creative and experimental
05:05with it and it seems more important now than it ever has been doesn't it yeah like what you were
05:10saying about it being political I'm a firm firm believer that art is inherently political and
05:15that's like a message we need to start pushing to young people a little bit more like your identity
05:19has politics to it yeah you can use art as a medium to you know represent that yeah and change
05:25it's a I can't wait to gate crash this one
05:29so yeah this workshop which we're doing is on Wednesday the 7th it's um all day but you do
05:35have to book in yeah so if you wanted to turn up and and and try and get on we wouldn't recommend
05:42it but if you wanted to that's an opportunity it's in Stambridge library and there you can
05:47have a look on my instagram Luke Perry Sculptor and there's the details there it's the immediate
05:54thing that you'd see there's the phone number soon as quick call Stambridge library uh and book in
05:59um is there a way of finding it on your can's website as well uh not on the website but if
06:04you have a look in the instagram it should be up there on one of those what do we whack in on the
06:08instagram look however I can oh yeah at pbc can official cool can official i'm pretty sure that's
06:16it we got it so it's at Luke Perry Sculptor at pbcan official yeah great stuff well we look forward
06:22to seeing the results of that work cheers guys thank you
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