Aiden Moesby

Unfixed was a creative research project involving ten Australian and UK disabled artists investigating the intersection between arts, disability and technology.

Artists spent two weeks exploring the notions of the ‘fixed’ and ‘unfixed’ body through the lens of art and creative technology during their first residency in Adelaide (November 2015), and then a week developing and prototyping new project ideas at the Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol (September 2016).

UK-based Unfixed artist Aiden Moesby spoke to Access2Arts’ Jody Holdback about his approach to art making and how participating in the Unfixed residency expanded his world.

Full-time artist Aidan Moesby’s favourite way to make art is from words. He gathers words from person – to – person conversations, hearing snippets of conversation or with conversations he has with the historical environment around him. These words are placed in different forms or places to reflect how he is feeling about them.

Aidan says “I’m interested in how words break up or form, and so maybe… break up the words like on a sliding door or doors which open. So the words fragment and then they come together.”

Aidan does not allow materials to restrict him so he also uses sounds and video. However, his passion is working with “Letter Press”. Which allows him to move the letters around at his will.

Aidan’s art is also influenced by his mental illness and how that impacts on him. His work would be very different depending on the high or low Aidan may be experiencing at the time. However, there are times Aidan says he intentionally makes his art extremely serious and other times he likes to have components of humour.

While Aidan expresses his own views via his art, whether it is disability related or not, he does not like to label the artwork but for others to interpret it in their own way.

The Unfixed residency has made him think about his practice, how he works and what he works. Additionally, he has been able to understand the language around the technology to assist disabled artists… he feels it has opened up his world.

“It’s invited me in, it’s a lot easier, there is a degree of accessibility and for me I think that is where my practice is going to go. Both as an artist and an artist curator.” Aidan shares. It has opened Aidan’s world and he feels that his work would be less about words but also inclusive of other senses.

Even though Aidan does many residencies he feels that he takes away something different from each of them. However, an open research residency like Unfixed is totally different. “You don’t necessarily know what you have taken away until days, weeks, months later,” Aidan says.

While Aidan works full-time as an artist he is also passionate and involved in the Mental Health sector. Advocating for people who have Mental Health issues. Additionally, he speaks at mental Health conferences, mainly about Mental health and art. Along with writing papers, lecturing and training people around the issues of mental health, largely injunction with the benefits of art.

Unfixed was produced by The Australian Network for Art & Technology (ANAT), Access2Arts (AUS), Unlimited (UK) and Watershed (UK).

The project was supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts and the South Australian Government through the Richard Llewellyn Arts and Disability program delivered by Arts SA.