"Part of my creative practice is concerned with making kinetic devices that investigate themes of humour, nonsense and futility.”
Martin Smith explores his background, and, in an interview with STIRWORLD, stated, “I am a British artist but was born in Hannover, Germany as my family was living there in the early 1970s. I was one of those children who was always taking things apart and putting them back together again. My work involves telling stories but not in a literal and linear way. When you are activating or engaging with one of my pieces, you are then part of the performance. I hope to bring joy and a little bit of wonder by creating mechanical illusions. My work is bright and happy, subtly hiding its dark undertones.”
Smith is one of those artists who feel spurred to perfect the intricacies of the artifacts he constructs; a world away from creatives that favour minimalism. While each indeed has its own place, work such as his likely cannot be understood quite as easily as the craft of many other creatives, leaving audiences with a mixed sense of awe and befuddlement. Smith certainly goes against the grain where creative genres are concerned, but, in his own words, “I find rules allow me to find freedom, as I push against their edges in order to develop and make work that is independent and convincing.”