FORM

Clare Peake is the editor of tête-à-tête -  a new bi-monthly arts newspaper first released in May 2009.

tête-à-tête (or its more familiar name, TAT) was created to provide an opportunity for a greater diversity of critical dialogue to be established in Perth. This lo-fi production focuses on the content reflecting a diverse range of contemporary arts practices on a primarily local level.

TAT is currently a self-funded, free publication distributed mainly by post. Its contributors are both emerging and established artists and writers, who in some cases have not had the opportunity to be previously published. They provide new voices for reflecting on the Perth art scene, which at this current time is ripe for discussion.

The second issue can be downloaded here.

What do you do?

I am currently working on the newly founded arts newspaper tête-à-tête (TAT). TAT is a bimonthly publication with its first issue released in May of this year. The publication is a self-funded, free lo-fi publication, which focuses on the Perth art scene. The aim of the newspaper is to develop a sustainable avenue for a diverse collection of critical writing based around the Western Australian contemporary art scene. The project came out of a shared feeling that there was room for more accessible, critical writing about the local art scene and from predominantly local writers.

The TAT team is made up of a diverse range of artists, writers and business minded folk who vary in age and experience. They are involved in all aspects of the creation and development of the newspaper. Submissions to the newspaper come in a variety of forms and change from issue to issue, as does the format of the newspaper. We are currently working on issue three, which is scheduled for release in early September.    

When I’m not working on the TAT project, I spend the rest of my time working on my own arts practice, which sometimes gets a bit neglected.

Who is in your “creative community”?

My friends and family are my biggest support and inspiration! Without them I don’t think I would have had half the opportunities and luck that I have had in my life so far. They have been the driving force behind TAT and my motivation to get the project going and keep it going, they are also an invaluable source of honest feedback and ideas when it comes to my own arts practice as well.

What is your “creative footprint”?

I grew up in Geraldton and went to high school there. I moved to Perth in 2001 and after finishing school I went to study Fine Arts at Central TAFE for three years. I don’t really know why I did that; I just seemed to end up there and liked it so I stayed. After that I went to Curtin Uni for another two, and after that I took some time off to travel and take in the world (I think I definitely took in the food of the world!). Since graduating and in between travelling, I have been both exhibiting and working mostly on a local level with a few trips interstate. Hopefully in the future, there will be more work and more travel to come!

Describe what creativity means to you?

This means to me making the most of everything.  Creativity can be anything you recognise it to be and can be applied to any situation or action.

Describe the ideal conditions for your creativity, and what, if anything hinders you in creating those conditions.

Well, I don’t know if this would work out to be my ideal conditions but I would really like to have a studio space that was entirely portable and collapsible. I think it would be great to have a space that could travel with me, but still allow me to establish a working space. I imagine the space to be completely adaptable to its environment and really light and easy to carry around too. Something made up of components and perhaps some of those one-way mirrors so it’s an almost invisible space as well. Ideally it would fit in my pocket and I could just toss it on the ground and out it would pop… ideally speaking. AND because it is invisible, no one would mind it being there because no one would be able to see it, the only way to find the space would be to walk into it. 

Obviously I haven’t thought through the logistics yet, so its still a work in progress.