Callum Preston is a Melbourne-based artist, designer, maker of things with his hands, and all-round nice guy. He is a core member of Melbourne’s Everfresh Studio and is always getting up to something interesting. His latest project, ‘Everything Is Borrowed’ officially opens this Thursday at KSR Art Bar, but really has been a ‘thing’ since mid-October.
You see, Callum decided to move into the space ahead of the opening, welcoming the viewing public into his make-shift studio while he creates the work for the show. We spoke to Callum ahead of his show opening, and he does a way better job of intro-ing himself, and the show – sooo, we’ll cut the intro short and jump straight into the interview. You’re welcome.
Hi Callum, thanks for making the time to tell us about the upcoming show. Let’s kick off with the boring-yet-necessary history lesson. Who are you, and where did you come from?
I’m Callum Preston. Born and raised in the suburbs, out by Melbourne Airport, since 1984. I grew up on skateboarding, playing in drains and creeks, building ramps, messing around, and finding adventure. As a late-90s/ early-2000s teenager I began playing music at 13 and played in a bunch of bands that never went anywhere huge, but I had heaps of fun and it let me see loads of Australia, and overseas a few times, into my 20s through touring. More importantly, it led me to design and art, through studying the art on my fave records – to making cut and paste flyers, zines, t-shirts, and eventually working on artwork and creative direction for all kinds of acts.
You’re currently preparing for your solo show ‘Everything Is Borrowed’ at KSR Art Bar in Melbourne. Instead of making artwork in your studio, and then revealing it on opening night, you’ve actually set up a studio inside the gallery so people can observe your process in the lead up to opening night. Can you please tell us how this show came to be, and explain the set up you have there/ the concept of the show?
The KSR space is relatively new, but it’s a great opportunity to show in the center of Melbourne at a landmark destination – and for many years the tallest building in Melbourne – The Rialto (which was also an epic skate spot in the 90s).
The space is actually an amazing old butter factory from the 1850s, which stands at the base of the gigantic glass and concrete towers. It’s a new gallery in the Melbourne scene but has already had some amazing shows from Cam Scale, Elle, Mayo, Vexta, and Shannon Higgins. So, when I was asked to do a show here, I was stoked. The space is curated by SANDREW who obviously have a really strong interest in the street and graffiti art world and are passionate about bringing that to this audience.
I have built myself a 2.5m x 4m freestanding studio in the middle of the gallery and I’m here every day making my works for the show.
The show is called ‘EVERYTHING IS BORROWED’ which was a notion that struck me about the trinkets, heirlooms, knick-knacks, and general ephemera that we all collect in one way or another, and how eventually we die, and these things are kind of floating. They can end up passed down, or passed on, and find a new life with someone else, and have a new meaning. I liked the idea of painting some hero images of average everyday items.
You’re using found objects to make this body of work. Wood and other materials that you pulled off the street. What inspired you to work this way vs a quick trip for some ply from Bunnos?
I love a ‘Bunnos’ trip just as much as anyone, but for these paintings I really wanted to capture that passage of time that all the items I’m painting have. My style always features a lot of building and working with wood, so it led me to the idea that I could cut down big panels of what is essentially waste wood from building site hoardings and cut out all the interesting messed up textures, and bits, and kind of collage them together to make my ‘canvas’ to work on. The end result would feel so much more appropriate for the whole vibe of the show.
This very much feels like an evolution of your Milk Bar installation in 2017, and probably even the Everfresh live studio that you guys did earlier at the NVG? How is this different from what you created way back then?
Thank you. I really wanted to work hard to progress from the Milk Bar, without repeating myself, but staying true to what I love to make. Which is spaces within a space, like this temporary studio, and the Milk Bar. Also creating an environment where people get to feel like they are kids again for a fleeting moment. It’s essentially a cubby house. Adding the element of an ‘open studio’ that people can come and see, made sense to me ’cos one of my favourite things to do is see people’s process in what they do. It’s what made me fall in love with working in the Everfresh studios since 2005 – a bit of chaos, mess and freedom, with artwork being the result.
As the world goes more and more digital, where you can work from anywhere on your phone, or as a viewer – can consume people’s work very instantly on Instagram. You seem to be moving against that by making physical things and inviting people to view the process in real-time, in the real world. Is this a conscious rejection of technology, in favour of old school methods? Or do you just like to make shit with your hands?
I see it less as a rejection of technology, but something real that you can touch still has a place. I want to make stuff that can’t always be done justice by a photo. I think the digital world is amazing. I love the stuff that people like Felipe Pantone are doing, using modern technology as art making tools. And so many people are doing amazing AR and VR works. That stuff is all super important to art in general, but for right now I want to use these very familiar materials to me. I make art using the same things I used to build skate ramps as a kid. I love that people can share my work online, but I’m just as happy for them to just come and see it and just experience that it’s human-made and imperfect.
Looping back into your past. You have been a pretty constant and pivotal member of the Everfresh Studios. How was this connection originally made? And how has the dynamic changed over the years from the original studio, the subsequent spaces, and now moving into a studio with just you and Rone?
I’m super lucky to have been a part of the crew since 05 and having shared studios with all variations of both crew members and the studio circle of friends since then. I was just a kid when I got involved so it’s really been a huge influence on my growth as an artist. 2002/ 2003 in Melbourne was when I finished high school, and it also happened to be the boom/ birth of the street art/ new wave of people coming up. I met and got involved with the guys the same way as most of them did – a mix of painting on the street and seeing each other’s work – through mutual friends, and through stencilrevolution.com, which was the worldwide hub of this new type of thing that was going on, and it was Melbourne based. It was an amazing time.
Rone and I have always gotten along really well. We both come from a skateboarding and 90s punk rock background as kids, so we have always had similar interests, and really have grown up together for 16 years. I’ve worked on his projects from the start as they have grown to the huge things they are now, so this newest phase of getting a studio just the two of us was an obvious progression to keep progressing. It’s super exciting and feels like anything is possible.
As a fellow Back to the Future enthusiast, I have to ask you some completely unrelated questions for my own amusement. On Oct 21, 2015 I went for my first DeLorean ride. You damn went to Los Angeles, and even built a DeLorean, out of wood, for a BTTF themed art show in Melbourne. Can you tell me why this movie series means so much to you, and give me a list of BTTF set locations that you have visited?
The show was actually on the 21st of October. Originally I was gonna put together a group show as a way to celebrate, then I realised I would do all the leg work, organise everything and have to distil my ideas down into just one artwork, so I thought, why not just make it a one man group show. 56 artworks and a full-size hard-rubbish DeLorean replica later and there it was! I had been to LA a few years earlier and went to find Marty’s house – ’cos why not.
Honestly, I’m a huge fan, but I’m not concerned when people aren’t into it themselves. I’ve never seen Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter. I just like what I like and roll with it. It is the perfect mix of things I love – nostalgia, gadgets, skateboarding.
Which was your favourite film of the trilogy: 1, 2, 3?
Number 2, ’cos you get to go backward and forward, and we get to explore more about how the timeline can be affected by his actions.
Favourite character?
Damn, that’s actually really hard. I reckon it’s probably someone really small, like the guy that says “he just took that guy’s wallet” after the Biff punch out. Or the two random future people walking with Rusty brand surfboards out of the alleyway in Hill Valley Square 2015.
At one point back in 2010, I had it in my mind to build the whole town square in a warehouse, as our house, with each shop being a different area of our house. The cafe as our kitchen etc. The town square would essentially be our lounge room, projector TV onto the clock tower – go all out. My wife is on board. Who knows, maybe I’ll start playing the lottery and try to do it. “Your kids are gonna love it.”
Tell me something about BTTF that I don’t know.
I mean, it depends how deep you have dived. I’m not the only nerd in the village when it comes to this. I’ve read so much on it and watched everything I can. I guess the wild thing is that when they were shooting number one, Michael J Fox was shooting Family Ties all day, and then BTTF all night, and sleeping for a few hours, then back to it for weeks and weeks. Brutal schedule. They also shot number two straight into number three. as one long production. Man, I would love to have been on that set.
Okay, okay, back to reality. What do you want people to know about ‘Everything is Borrowed’ that we haven’t already talked about?
Haha. Thank you. It’s really my first showing of ‘paintings’ as my previous shows have been more sculptural or sign painting based. So, I’m excited for people to see my work in a new format, and hopefully, like it!
Any artists in Melbourne that we need to keep an eye on?
Oh man, so many, but right now in my mind is Kitt Bennet – amazing large-scale ground murals. He’s currently completing the biggest mural in the southern hemisphere at the shipping docks in Melbourne. He’s such a great illustrator and seeing it at that scale is amazing. And he’s just a legend with a gold tooth.
Favourite place for a feed in Melbs?
On the run: Trang’s Bakery for Vegan Bahn Mi.
To sit down: anywhere with my wife.
What’s next?
Setting up our new studio better and reeally getting into it there. And I have something special art related in the works for February in a cool group show/ project.
Thanks Callum!
‘Everything Is Borrowed’ opens this Thursday, 21 November at KSR Art Bar in Melbourne. For more information follow @callumpreston and @ksrartbar on Instagram, or visit ksrartbar.com.au
Photography by: Ashley Ludkin
Luke Shirlaw is the founder of Artillery Projects – a graffiti art publisher, and visual studio specialising in mural production, graphic design, and content creation. Follow him on Instagram, or subscribe to Artillery’s ‘The Drop’ for exclusive email interviews.