“Maybe that’s how I can straddle the line with music and art in a way that I can carve my own thing.”
Who is GAUNT?
GAUNT explores the dense worlds of visual art and experimental music in his creative productions by merging both worlds. Jack Warne, the person behind the alias and music of GAUNT, expresses how this form of multidisciplinary artistry was a natural way for him to build his identity as a musician. “It was a model, a framework that I felt really kind of harnesses a lot of my interests and passions – combining music with art in a capacity that really means something”.
Blind at The Age of Four
His latest album Blind at The Age of Four was released in summer 2023 and explores his own lived experiences with Thiel-Behnke Corneal Dystrophy (TBCD), an eye condition that can cause temporary blindness in an episodic manner. During Jack’s studies, he developed the idea of Blind at The Age of Four five years prior to his showcase at the ICA.
He expressed that the production of this record allowed him to shed a lot of weight that he was carrying while navigating the music industry and the art world. In this period, he connected with his manager Jim who already had a deep interest in the world of multidisciplinary art hence they were able to work together naturally whilst giving Jack the space to grow and develop as a visual artist and music creator.
Securing funding for the showcase
The showcase for Blind at The Age of Four was funded by Arts Council England, with the help of his management team at 3345 who were able to secure the funding for this project. Jack speaks briefly on having a management team behind his artistic practice and how this has allowed him to develop his art in a holistic way. “I luckily found a great dynamic where I can still freely make music, but I don’t necessarily have that pressure of having to think about the ‘algorithm’. That’s just not intuitive for a creative to think about. But obviously labels, managers, agents – they all do that, and I think for me it’s really unhealthy to think in that way”.
His approach for his ICA showcase for Blind at The Age of Four encompasses his encounter as someone with TBCD by performing in complete darkness. He worked in close collaboration with D/ARTS and Collective Agency to develop an inclusive gallery experience. The exhibition reimagines the norms of how we interpret and interact with visual art. It incorporated co-created audio description, physical wayfinding features and AR experiences developed with visually impaired and sighted collaborators. GAUNT redefines what it means to create an inclusive space.
“Funnily enough, the week of my album campaign I had an episode, and I hadn’t had one in like six months, which is quite a long time. And literally the album was all about this experience, so it’s really odd – more than a coincidence.”
What’s next for GAUNT?
Southbank Centre – our first platinum Live Events Access Charter members – has announced that in 2025 they will be launching a large-scale experimental audio project Concrete Voids. It will feature a series of concerts that allow artists to flesh out their artistic practices with a custom built-in system of loudspeakers transforming Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium into a three-dimensional instrument. GAUNT will be one of the featured artists presenting a brand-new audio-visual performance, Augmenting the Void -ULCY, in October 2025. Included in this performance will be four large-scale paintings by Jack Warne.
