The Thousands

Oslo Davis and I have developed an acrimonious working relationship over the years, which I will not attempt to conceal in this interview marking the opening of his first solo exhibition at Lamington Drive. Oslo is the straight-talking everyman. The guy who is watching when you are kind of being a dick, the chap who tells the truth about life when no-one else will. The doodler who turns pathetic preditability, irritation, his own weird preoccupations and the misfortunes of others into hilarity for all.

Penny Modra: How funny are YOU?
Oslo Davis: Not that funny. In person I’m surly and off-putting. I always have bits of food in the corners of my mouth and there are streaks of washing detergent across my clothes making me smell like Omo.

PM: Did the preparation for this solo show almost ruin your marriage?
OD: No. It DID ruin my marriage. Mika, my long-suffering wife, has moved back to Japan and taken the kids. On the up side, I’ve now got 100% access to the 4GB of broadband a month.

PM: What would you do if I sent this link to the traffic police?
OD: I would probably have to confess to the time I found $30 on the street and so I did the right thing took it to the cop shop saying I found $30 on the street – maybe someone will come and pick it up? Thanks buddy, said the moustached copper. Later that afternoon at home I thought how I really wanted to buy Tracy Chapman’s critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, so I went back to the cop shop and said hi, I’ve lost $30 and was just wondering if anyone might had dropped it off? I got the money and went straight to Allens.

PM: Are there new works in this show along with the old favourites?
OD: Yes. There’s a new one called Footnotes to the Art which is a list of (foot)notes about the artworks in my next exhibition. There’s another called Six Movies about the six new feature films I have in the works, and another called Some Subtitles You May Have Missed that collects scenes and a quotes from SBS shows I’ve seen. I’ve also included a new long short story I drew called Where the Wild Things Aren’t, about an undercover undercover ticket inspector.

PM: What was it like doing work for the New York Times? Did they summarily flip through your clippings while puffing on a pipe, then say “alright son, have six on my desk by dawn”? Did they let you visit when you were in New York?
OD: A mate of mine works there and so I visited him and met the art staff. It was a Wednesday and an art director said can you give me sketches for a drawing by Thursday morning and finals by Thursday afternoon? I worked in my hotel room that night on a pad I bought at Muji. The drawing ran on the Friday the 4th of July, and featured people’s legs at a bbq.

PM: How do you pitch a cartoon to a newspaper?
OD: You can email your cartoon ideas with sketches, or, as I did, you can call an editor and describe your HILARIOUS drawings. The only time I ever did this I suggested a cartoon called ‘What’s that dog barking at?’: cartoon about a guy (ie, me) lying sleepless in bed at night listening to a dog go on and on and on somewhere in the suburbs. ‘What is that dog barking at?’ the man thinks. ‘Maybe he’s hungry? Thirsty? Got lots of fleas? Is cold?’. The editor’s silence on the phone was not dissimilar to that of the sound you hear when immersing yourself in cement. The idea was rejected. Pity, it had potential.

PM: Tell us about the limited edition tote bags with you on the front. Who made them? Why do you look like a zombie?
OD: I had planned to draw myself looking normal but I yawned at just the wrong time. Now I’m stuck with that image. The bag project was my wife’s idea. The bags themselves are from Japan and they are wrapped in a special clear plastic that we stuck together while watching Packed to the Rafters last night.

PM: Do you have anything else to add?
OD: Jugs of latte. We have jugs of beer, why not latte? Surely it’d be cheaper if you are meeting a few friends for a coffee? C’mon Melbourne – we can do it!