Name: Jules Simmons and Tim Simmons
Business: Freelance environmental artists and conservation gardeners
Location: West Sussex
Email:jules.simmons1@btinternet.com
Tell us about your background:
We are a couple who met in our 30s/40s and we have used our marriage to explore our artistic and environmental ideals rather then have a family.
Jules has a Degree in Fine Art History and various qualifications in horticulture/ceramics and waste prevention with 20 years teaching experience as a freelance artist.
Tim is also a qualified Waste Prevention Adviser (WPA) for West Sussex and has a background in industry and commercial photography, giving him a broad view of how our society works economically and its problems for the long term.
Tell us about what you do:
We make art out of rubbish in an attempt to amuse, engage and educate the public about the risks and responsibility we have regarding our environment and life on the planet. The plastic bag dropped on a beach here could be the reason for the death of a turtle on the other side of the world; this careless act can have tragic consequences for other species.
Our aim is to get people to think beyond themselves as individuals and appreciate the wider picture. Our art is rarely sold it is photograpged by the public and recycled after its display. We build site specific pieces. We also have devised impro and drama games to get people thinking about all the issues and exploring their own creative reasoning.
Tell us about the kind of people that you meet and work with:
We love to engage with the public outside the traditional art spaces of gallery and museum, with a view to enticing them into those organisations independently and making the connection between art and real life. We will work with anybody; the more challenging and removed from the creative tradition, the better. These groups often have a huge amount to express, which has previously not found an outlet. We would like the work we do with the community to evolve so that it represents them and their views, not ours, when we create community pieces.
What is your greatest achievement?
Recycling 100 washing machines into art with over 200 people with Chichester District Council and Virdor is our biggest achievement. The ultimate buzz is seeing a father and son create the space ships of Star Wars from washing machine parts.
Who, what or where inspires you and why?
Everything from film to books and individuals: people who range from 5 year olds to established artists. I am lifted by seeing the creativity in people; discovering a way of seeing that is fresh and personal. We get angry about our species’ inability to see the bigger picture and communicate. Our short term race for profit and its impact on life also frustrates us. Such news stories frequently inspire a piece of work.
What projects are you working on now/ have you worked on recently?
- Standsted Garden Show compost sculptures of giant birds in June.
- The Water Festival in Staunton Park – raising awareness of the need to conserve and the natural environment of the domestic garden with green sculpture and recycled models of giant butterflies and dragonflies with children for a mobile display in July.
- The Havant Literature Festival Time Machine for September.
What do you hope to be doing in five years time?
We would like to gather a crowd of people at the local amenity tip to demonstrate all the materials we have still not found a use for and therefore need to reduce. We would also like to make the three Rs (Reduce/Reuse/Recycle) like breathing; a way of life, rather than a chore.
It would be great to work with car tires, raising awareness of their impact on communities like Mexico City. In Mexico, Malaria mosquitoes breed in the stagnant water of dumped car tires, this is a global problem and the spread of the car is increasing the risk.
What do you do in your leisure time?
Art is life and life is Art. Everything we do seems to revolve around our volunteer duties as WPAs, New Park Centre bar volunteers and film stewards, Pallant House Gallery stewards and art history guides and our artistic work.
What do you think you would be doing do if you weren’t a creative?
Growing for and conserving the natural areas of our towns would be top of the list if we weren’t creatives. We would focus on brown field sites, as has been done in Cuba.
If you could meet one famous creative, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
We would love to meet Douglas Adams, whose wit and humour was employed so brilliantly to illustrate our humanity and failure to consider the effects of actions on others.
Finally, any words of wisdom for other creative people?
The best art comes from inside; if it fires you up find a way to share it, only from that communication can you grow as a person and discover who you are.
Autumn Colours at Pooh House and Gardens in Fittleworth on the 25th September
Thank you so much Jules and Tim your environmental art was really really [not a typo!] special and caught the imagination of the children.
One parent commented that their young boy [9] with learning difficulties and limited concentration couldn’t believe that you both had him making his creation sitting in one place for over half an hour – they were amazed and very grateful.
You are such nice people doing amazing work that we will definitely be looking at other projects with you.