Cartrain: The interview, sort of (2010)

Artists can of course say "Yes" or "No" to a Q&A, but the arts can show ways to work around such minor technicalities.

Kim Min Su as Cartrain & Goldsmiths grad Yukiko Fujita
ADP magazine 2(2): Micro. Published 19 April 2010.


Cartrain. Title and year unknown. This one is apparently already sold.


Cartrain. Title and year unknown. This one appears sold too.


Cartrain. Title and year unknown. Poster exhibited in London. Sold out again?


Cartrain. Title and year unknown. Unfortunately, yes, this one looks like it was snatched up by a collector too.

Art Design Publicity was thoroughly keen to interview the teenage Prince Cartrain to learn more about his work dealing with copyright, property law, and public space interventions (we mean ’graffiti art’), but unfortunately the artist and his representation 100artworks.com, have gone silent after our enthusiastic email request.

Maybe it was our interpretation that actually the teenage artist was a next-generation publicity artist—the art child of Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst. Maybe it was that we were aesthetically convinced that the media artwork was steered by White Cube PR, behind the scenes, as part of a multi-angled publicity strategy. Or maybe it was our offer of the cover and our proclamation that the young artist was the new Prince of British Art.

However as Art Design Publicity readers have grown to expect, there’s always a way around the current media/comm system when approached creatively like some art practices. Therefore, we offer our interpretation of what we think, or rather hope, Prince Cartrain would say to our readers. We also have appropriated images of the artist’s work—a tribute showing the influence of the young appropriation artist himself.

The following are excerpts of the conversation.

Yukiko Fujita: Hey. You alright?
Kim Min Su adopting the role of Cartrain: Yeah. Hiya. You alright? What do ya wanna know?

YUKIKO: Our academic research in terms of developments in Art in the Age of Mass Media places your work and process as really the next sort of wave of publicity-generating art and artist brand-building.

KIM AS CARTRAIN: Well thank you. I have copies of John A. Walker’s book here—and also the classic Art and Celebrity. After I learned that a recent Turner Prize finalist was tutored by Mr Walker, naturally I had to read the books again very closely.

I also wore a disguise to get in to see the Pop Life show at Tate Modern. As you may know I’ve been banned from the place as part of an agreement. While it does look like a show of art politics, artist marketing and team-building, through that surface, you could kinda see what the curatorial team intended at least.

YUKIKO: We’ve read the publicity about the skull copyright controversy and you stealing, I mean ‘borrowing’, Damien’s pencils from Tate Britain.

Really great sensational copy.

KIM AS CARTRAIN: Uh thanks.

YUKIKO: My question is: when did you start working with White Cube?

KIM AS CARTRAIN: I’ve never said that.

(Long pause.)

Can I ask you something off the record?

Cartrain: The interview, sort of: 1 | 2

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