John Waid

I am a maker, an inventor, a photographer, a collector, a talker and an educator. Other interest include: dualities; deviations of language; barriers/divisions; flies and from time to time toblerones. Humour, eclectic curiosity, and the absurd are central to my practice, along with a refusal to be categorised.
I was a lecturer at NCAD Dublin for 30 years, in first year Core Studies, where I taught all disciplines. I initiated, created the structure, and wrote most of the creative tasks for NCAD’s folio entry submission brief that ran for 9 years and achieved an international award for educational innovation. I continue to develop educational projects, and have been invited as a visiting lecturer to several colleges. I deliver creative workshops orientated around a variety of topics. Being an educator remains central to my practice.

I also make physical work, mostly of a 3D nature. I am a serial inventor and generator of projects under the collective name: Dubious Proposals Of An Easily Deniable Nature. One of these was shown at EVA in 2016 when I attempted to change the time zone in Ireland. Others have generated the response: “under consideration”.

I have twice been invited as a finalist on the BBC’s Genius programme, and over a ten year period published over a thousand mostly humourous original ideas on the Halfbakery website using a moniker to preserve my anonymity. This is on-going work. I am also recorded as a “mischief maker” on a variety of projects for Red&Grey creatives in Dublin.

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." Groucho Marx

Biography

some exhibitions and other things

2020 Most recent work is a notebook of ideas based on the theme of 100 permutations, which is now located in the Brooklyn Notebook Library. • 2019 - 2020 Delivered with fellow collaborative artist David Fagan, an alternative quiz show titled “Self Improvement”. To date, this has been presented in the Onono Gallery Rotterdam and in Temple Bar Gallery Basic Space Dublin. This is an ongoing project. • 2019 Altered the Foosball table at MOMA Design Museum (inverted all of the players) • “Ladder In A Bottle”, “Never Mind” and “Nothing/Nothing” (proposal to gild all the stones in a stretch of Famine Wall) shown at Catalyst Arts Belfast • 2016 EVA International “Still The Barbarians’ - Exhibited piece titled: “909,125 minutes later” Produced limited edition hand made book illustrating a number of ways to make the best use of the missing 909,125 minutes • 2016 produced piece titled: “The Great Wall Of China Colouring-in Book, in 495 Volumes”. This is the latest idea to add to an ongoing set of work under the general title of: "Dubious Proposals Of An Easily Deniable Nature" • 2014 Billboard selected and produced by East Belfast Creative Artist Exchange in response to theme title: “Green” • 2014 Royal Ulster Academy piece - “Nesting Box That Might Attract Small Exotic Migratory Visitors” • 2009 Winner of an award for the design of a range of alternative souvenirs for The Northern Ireland Tourist Board • 2007, and 2008 twice invited as a finalist unto the BBC Genius programme in response to two ideas, which appeared in the halfbakery web site. • 2007 Generated and published idea “Climbing Up The Walls of Everything”. This was originally an EVA submission that was subsequently realised by Ikea in France in 2013 to launch one of their stores. • 2007 performed a version of Wilson and Keppel’s Sand Dance on the roof of his shed in an effort to bed down the recently laid felt. (neighbourhood audience) • 2003 Dublin Cow parade. (cut cow in half and converted it into salt and pepper shakers) • 1986 - 2018 Lectured at NCAD Dublin in First Year Core Studies, with time also spent teaching in Fine Art Sculpture; Fashion; Visual Communication; Ceramics, Glass and Metals; Product Design. • 1980 - 2001 specific dates lost in time.... lecture tour of USA, Lecturing in Cork and Belfast, etc • Painted a community wall mural in West Belfast under the watchful eyes of active paramilitaries. • 1982 Assisted with the installation of one of Joseph Beuys’ pieces in the Guggenheim NYC. • Sometime in the 80s - painted with fellow artist Leo McCann the iconic cut-out Elvis figure that stood outside Terri Holley’s Good Vibrations record store on Gt.Victoria Street. • Received several awards for photography, experimental and contemporary illustration. • Winner of a Martin Parr award for taking the strangest holiday photograph. • Pre history - Dug graves at Carnmoney Cemetery (I tried to bury them all, but some I had to put in the trees) and placed many tins of beans on the shelves at Crazy Prices, according to the rules of an obscure algorithm.