Name:
James C Paterson

Age:
21

Location:
Halifax, Canada

Mac or PC:
PC.

Site(s):
www.presstube.com www.halfempty.com/james (oldschool)

Tell us a little bit about the history of Presstube and what it is all about:
Presstube was originally supposed to be a place to show and sell prints and drawings. It started with a show that Eric Jensen, Robbie Cameron and I put on last Feb called "HeapingPortion". We had over 200 prints and there was no way in hell we were going to get them all into the gallery. So we shot them all, scanned the slides, and built a giant interface and digital slideshow to house them all, and that was what the show became. We just converted that interface and put it up online, and presstube was born.. (www.presstube.com/portion) Now It is pretty much undefined.

Who are the people involved and what are their roles:
The people involved are myself, Robbie Cameron and Eric Jensen. I was a full-blown web nerd for a couple of years before I ever did HeapingPortion, so for the last year presstube has mainly been me posting all of the stuff that I am working on and forming it into an environment that I am happy with. Robbie and Eric hadn’t used computers much before that, but have been since and will probably be posting more stuff at Presstube soon. They have always been present idea and opinion wise at presstube, but most of what is up there right now is mine. I am hoping to move to Montreal at the end of the summer and maybe have us all in the same city again. Maybe work on some projects on a larger scale and a higher level of organization again.

Your work has a kooky slant to it... what are the 5 things that inspire you the most, and how do you apply them:
1. Music 2. Relationships 3. Drawing 4.Observation/Environment. 5. Other websites.

Music is the most potent source for me. I get incredibly strong mental pictures and sensations when I am listening to something. Gets the wheels in my brain turning, and out comes whatever. A lot of my work is me trying to communicate the way that I perceive music. Relationships are the same way, but a lot more difficult for me to communicate freely. Drawing is a huge one. My drawings are my way of filtering everything through myself. Anything I see or experience that makes an impact on me, I try and feed to my drawings. Out comes a lot of shit, and some good stuff that I learn from. As for Observation/Environment, that is pretty much the size of my net to collect influences with. The more places I can check out and the more freely I can absorb information, the more diverse my work becomes.

If you could explain or give a personal meaning to you work in one sentence what would it be:
If I could do that I would be fucking cool.

A lot of your Flash work is influenced by your sketchbook... does this work the other way round as well:
In a big way. Coding, and working with computers have forever altered the way I draw. Recently I realized that the pen I use in my sketchbook (pilot tech pen) is as close a I could possibly get to the single pixel scribbler in flash or Photoshop. Without recognizing why, I just sort of got hooked on a pen that is compatible with the work I do on the computer. So when I am drawing all over the place, in a bar or on a bus or at home, all of the work I am doing in my book is totally interchangeable with my computer work.

Also, the organization and style of writing code has overflowed into my drawing process. It has changed the way that I approach drawing and what interests me about it. It is almost as if I run programs sometimes when I draw now. "ok, pen. here is your fundamental shape. You can draw this shape five times and then you must alter the shape and rotate the page. Repeat!" Instant art :) just fucking with you. It’s a little more subtle than that, but you get the idea.

Who are the 3 favourite people you have collaborated with and why are they your favourites:
Amit Pitaru I would say is my most compatible collaboration to date. I worked with him on a piece for the new codex CD-ROM, and spoke with him at FF2001 SF, and OFFF Barcelona. He never ceases to amaze me, and pushes me to places that I might not have the drive to get to on my own. You are going to poo in your panties when you see what he is cooking in the kitchen right now. Crazy mad scientist he is.

The other two people are Robbie and Eric. The three of us stirred it up for HeapingPortion in a way that I had never really experienced before. Working so hard that you are delirious is only fun with the right friends to do it with. They are amazing, craaazy work ethic and the funniest guys on earth. They inspire me and I love their work.

Who would you say to watch out for in the near future:
I don't really know. I am sure there are legions of people playing with this medium who are coming soon to absolutely wipe out our current idea of what good is. There are so many unexplored areas and so many crazy motivated people waiting to bust out. I am psyched, but not all that clued in to exactly who to watch out for. I am spending all my time trying to make sure that you will watch out for me.

What was you experience like in New York and what made you move back to Canada:
NY was amazing. Met some ultra saucy people who I will no doubt be seeing more of. What a great city that is. Huge concentration of motivated and talented people. The buzz of that place is impossible to ignore; inspiration in a can. I moved back to Canada because I got laid off from the company I was working for and decided that I would take my severance and take a year off in Canada to do presstube. In Halifax/Montreal can live off my egg for a year, where as in NY I would only last a couple of months. Fucking expensive place to be without a steady job.

One thing you would change about society if you had the chance via your design work:
It would be nice if every person who looked at presstube suddenly told the absolute truth to everyone about everything. Think of what a great place earth would be if your friends would just walk up to you and say:
"right now my balls are pretty sweaty and they itch. You have a big zit on your forehead and your haircut is really fucking stupid. Wanna go for a coffee?"

What do you know about Australian design/designers:
I know that they hunt crocadiles and ride wild dirt dingos around and design websites all at the same time. No I'm joking; I don't really separate web design/art into physical location much because of the way the internet works and how I find sites. Not a lot of lists separate sites into location. I am a big fan of Australian movies though. Specially ones with teenage school plots.

Any final comments:
I am really excited to see what is coming up. I think that a lot of the work on the internet is lacking in substance, and really can’t wait until I see a site that conveys the same emotional impact as a great piece of music or a great film. I don’t mean that I want to necessarily watch more movies and listen to more music online. I mean that I want people to take multimedia to that place.
thanks andrew.