Interview with artist in residence at the Artha Project, NYC.
A few years.
What has been the coolest studio space you have rented so
far?
The current one I'm in, the ARTHA Project
residency in Long Island City.
It's a big industrial space that I share with
two other artists. The ceilings are about 25 ft tall; it’s a good feeling to
walk into a large space like that in NYC.
Tell us a little bit about what inspires you to make art.
A lot of my creative inspiration comes from riding
motorcycles, the tension between advanced technological equipment and
extremities of physical and bodily potential. I like how the roadways of the
city become like a nervous system that is activated into glowing networks by
this vehicle, associations of hyper connectivity and trying to bring that
insanely engaging world into art forms.
The potential of real science and technology mixed with art
is really interesting to me. Regeneration of energy in nature, embracing new
energy sources, and how that energy could be positively used. Collective
experience and consciousness, multiverse theories, and questioning the
differences between digital and physical, crossing dimensions. Underground energy
highways and portals, thresholds.
Lately I’ve been into using LED lighting to illuminate
sculptures, and UV luminescent black light paint. UV luminescent paint can be
used metaphorically to reveal things that are normally hidden, and it creates a
totally alien-like fantasy illumination, it sometimes feels like messages are
being revealed through the glowing paint from other dimensions, some ancient
genius DNA painted as glowing liquid matter. I’m really inspired by
bioluminescence, and the idea that the things we create can generate energy,
the glowing materials kind of symbolize this and grids and fractal lines of
matrix patterns glow like veins of a breathing ghost in the machine, a spirit
inside the internet that that is part of the life-force that connects all
consciousness.
Who are some people in your community that you look up to
for motivation?
Other bikers, hackers, preppers, biotechnologists, people
pushing materials and hybridizing things that haven’t really been made too much
before by others.
I really geek out when things are technically really
involved to make, and when an artist’s concept is like a labyrinth or puzzle
that has psychological depth and is challenging for whoever experiences it to
take in or figure out - conceptually or viscerally.
What’s the funniest story you have from one of
your exhibits?
One time a concerned person walked up to me
after an amazing run of a show I had, and said she felt sorry for me because I
must have a disturbed mind. I still don't know to this day whether that was a
compliment or an insult.
Definitely when the T-1000 changes to a
metallic liquid state, and can re-form after being damaged. My mind is kind of
blown by the concept of Skynet in the series, and how eerily it mimics real
programs right now in the United States NSA program. There is one program that
closely resembles Terminator called MonsterMind, an AI foriegn cyber attack
defense system, that could send cyber missiles to neutralize threats before
hackers have a chance to alter code and sneak through defense systems, if that
went haywire it would more closely resemble T2’s plot line. It's fascinating
how science fiction films that predict the future eventually find
manifestations in reality.
If possible in the near future would you
cryogenically freeze yourself?
Maybe if I knew that my frozen parts were
going into good hands. I’m definitely in favor of using technology to bend
what’s possible evolutionarily. I would definitely switch body parts to
artificially enhanced ones and opt to extend my lifespan if possible, it would
give me more time to make an impact on earth.
What kind of music do you listen to when you
want to get pumped?
Mostly dark techno and black metal to be
honest, music that has a certain kind of hard truth I can relate to, that can
explore things conceptually like the weight of an epic mountainscape or cold
fluorescent laboratory. Almost always something hyperphysical and energetic,
but sometimes drone and ambient stuff too.
Yes, it made me a much better rider.
Out of all the places you have traveled in the
world which one was the most special?
Tokyo, the last time I went it was during New
Years celebrations, less people were there, so it felt really open, and all the
shrines in the city were alive.
What new projects would you like to work on in
the future?
Definitely going to start incorporating
robotics and cyborgs into my work more, because it’s good to get comfortable
with them being a part of our reality, their presence in the work will
maybe help ease in the transition. Also using technology that can read
the audience, like scan them with motion sensors and in sensing them makes
the artwork come alive. Creating experiences that can only happen IRL, which
you need more than social media to experience fully.
I would also like to collaborate with programs
similar to DARPA or NASA’s development team, and even Yamaha Racing or a
motorcycle gear. I’m very intrigued with how motorcycle gear is like an
exoskeleton of an arachnid, and how insect hives can be metaphors for human
activity and the Internet. I want to merge cutting edge technology with art,
collaborate with people from different tech backgrounds to better help realize
what I’m aiming for.
The active volcanoes in Hawaii are on
top of my list, I like the way secondary succession works, how the lava kills
the plant life only to regenerate new plant life back in the aftermath,
apocalyptic fertilizer. I’d really like to make art about that. Also learning
from some ancient Japanese rituals like Shinto, tea ceremonies and Zen on site
in Japan would be illuminating for some of the work I’m dealing with right now.
Having access to secret government labs where experimental research happens
would be tremendously helpful.
Who would you like to thank for inspiring you
to be an artist?
The universe, and the genetic mutation I was
born with.
The best advice you can give to an aspiring
artist who wants to live in New York City?
Spend a lot of time tapping deep in to your
inner source, work outwards from that, and give it %1000.