Björn Gooßes / Digital Artist (Germany) - unpublished submissions + interview
So much great art out there in the mental maelstroms of dark creativity.
Too much to print them all in the magazine. “Unpublished Submissions” is your gallery. For more evil art propaganda, check out INSIDE artzine
Björn Gooßes
(Germany)
Contact: info@killustrations.com
Websites: Killustrations
Facebook
“Humanity itself as an inexhaustible cornucopia of absurdities”
artscum.org: Your impressive work exudes a somewhat different style than the one usually cultivated in this magazine. Your stark creations stem more from the metal genre, or to be more specific, the death metal genre. Naturally, the stylistic devices there are rather dark and pessimistic. How would you describe a picture that’s meant to appear “evil” to the viewer?
Björn: Thank you for the invitation and the warm welcome! Oh, I don’t even know if I ever intended for one of my pictures to appear so specifically “evil.” And even though I originally come more or less from the death metal scene myself, I don’t really have much to do with it anymore, as my personal tastes are much broader. I also never wanted to limit my art to this sub-subgenre. A harmonious symbiosis often exists due to related stylistic devices, I’ll gladly admit that! My motifs are indeed often quite dark, macabre, pessimistic to the point of nihilistic, morbid… But art is a wonderful outlet for that. My inner sunshine doesn’t need such an outlet – my inner darkness does. And if I can then inspire people – all the better! I don’t really think too much about the artistic means I use to convey one of the aforementioned qualities. It just happens. It’s already inside me and just wants to get out. Simply “pretty” pictures are usually boring anyway. Therefore, with this single, two-dimensional image, I ideally try to tell a story that, in conjunction with what is depicted, then plays out in the viewer and perhaps triggers a feeling of unease, but perhaps something completely different. The main thing is that it touches them emotionally in some way.
artscum.org: Old topic: Can an artist make a living from their art? You do a lot of commissions for metal bands and festivals. What commission has impressed you the most so far, and is there a dream artist (dead or alive) you’d love to capture your imagination for?!
Björn: Luckily, I’ve actually been able to make a living from it since I decided to make a living exclusively from my art. That was almost 20 years ago, man, man! I certainly won’t get rich from it, and as an artist of my stature, you don’t really have much money in the bank either, but I’m getting by. And I’m very grateful to be able to take this privileged path! “Booking” may sound terribly service-oriented, but yes, if anyone is interested in collaborating, just get in touch! I’m interested in a wide variety of projects and like to think outside the box—both stylistically and content-wise. Besides the usual suspects like bands, festivals, or labels, over the years I’ve also worked with writers, directors, clothing labels, NGOs, and many more from over 30 countries, and a connection to heavy guitar music is absolutely not a requirement. I just have to feel a connection to the project in some way and, above all, a sense of the graphic concept. It doesn’t matter whether it’s mine or my counterpart’s. Often, fruitful creative discussions arise beforehand, which sometimes result in a really interesting concept that none of the people involved would have come up with on their own. This kind of collaboration is ideal, because I don’t work for people, I work with them. Over the years, I’ve even had the opportunity to work for some truly great bands. Not in the sense of “big bands,” but in the sense that they mean a lot to me, like Undertow, for example. Having a few really renowned acts on my resume certainly wouldn’t hurt, but an emotional, maybe even personal connection is ultimately more valuable to me. A collaboration like this is currently in the pipeline, for example, but I can’t say anything specific. One of the greatest compliments, of course, is when certain collaborations develop into a kind of “regular customer relationship.” There are quite a few of those, and I’m really grateful for that. And now, just to randomly name a few artists I’d like to work with: Agnes Obel, The Tea Party, The Vintage Caravan, Kalandra, Soen, Kellermensch, Brutus… but of course, I could go on and on with this list! I’ll leave out the obvious “classic bands,” very few of which unfortunately still exist (at least in their entirety).
artscum.org: A great project of yours is “Art Against Crap,” to offer something creative to counter the backward, boring Nazi brood. Are you doing a bit of advertising, and are there any reactions from the right-wing, silly camp yet?
Björn: My works aren’t explicitly political. Indirectly, though, they probably are, because they simply can’t be separated from me as a person, and as part of society, I’m naturally also a political person—and with a clear stance on many things. Hence, the idea of simply making a statement independent of my paintings. I could expand the list considerably, for example, to include sexist, classist, ableist, speciesist bullshit, and so on. But the three I’ve mentioned so far were simply a bit more catchy for now. The reactions are 99% positive, which is certainly also due to the fact that people often move within their own bubble. Concrete negative reactions have been extremely rare so far. Only one person has personally expressed their displeasure at a recent exhibition. But I can deal with that. Anyway, it originally started with this “meme,” and now there are shirts, girlie shirts, hoodies, zippers, mugs, bags, and other such things. If you’re up for taking a firm stance, doing something good, and supporting a small artist at the same time, feel free to check out www.kunstgegenkackscheisse.de!
artscum.org: The world seems to become more and more a violent, unkind place. Greed and egoism seems to be the only impulse of any change. Did mankind still have the chance to build a peaceful, sustainable world for every living and feeling being or would it be better if somebody dispose everything in the sewer of the evolutionary failure?
Rudolf: Wow, that’s a tough one. Every day, the tides within me battle in this regard. Between optimistic highs and pessimistic lows, the waves sometimes surge high, and the current pulls you far out… I’m torn, but even though I, as a human being, generally want to maintain a basic level of hope and confidence because there are incredibly great people capable of achieving wonderful things, I believe humanity as a whole is doomed. The planet would certainly be much better off without us, I believe. Flora and fauna would finally be able to breathe in peace and freedom again without humans. No other creature seems to me to work against its own instinct for self-preservation as much as Homo sapiens. One would therefore actually have to deny the existence of “sapiens.” This probably brings things full circle, as this is precisely a recurring theme in my work. Humanity itself as an inexhaustible cornucopia of absurdities, so to speak.
Rudolf Paluch / Painting (England) - unpublished submission + interview
So much great art out there in the mental maelstroms of dark creativity.
Too much to print them all in the magazine. “Unpublished Submissions” is your gallery. For more evil art propaganda, check out INSIDE artzine
Rudolf Paluch
(England)
Contact: drawingsbyrudolf@gmail.com
Website: Instagram
“Death is unique, both deeply feared and peaceful”
artscum.org: Who are you?
Rudolf: I’m a horror artist and raw expressionist, born in Starachowice, Poland, and raised in Barnsley, England. My work reflects the raw emotion behind my interpretation of the things I feel or experience. and I’m also deeply inspired by the things I love, like horror movies, anime, games, death metal, and all forms of dark media. I create original, creepy, twisted, and unique pieces of art for people like me and for horror fans.
artscum.org: Darkness is not only the absence of light. What is lurking in the shadows (of our mind)?!
Rudolf: Without light and darkness, we as human beings wouldn’t be able to see the beauty of either of those two. In my view, darkness is one of the greatest things in life. It’s quiet, calm, peaceful, both a little warm and a little cold. And within the darkness, there is always a small light inside us.
artscum.org: What is the most important taboo in art?
Rudolf: I think the most taboo subject for us is death. Death is unique, both deeply feared and peaceful. It’s a natural part of being human and often portrayed in art, yet we’re still afraid of it. It is not taboo for me, but it is for other people.
artscum.org: What question would you ask the most evil person on this planet?
Rudolf: How they are feeling and what they are thinking about.
artscum.org: The world seems to become more and more a violent, unkind place. Greed and egoism seems to be the only impulse of any change. Did mankind still have the chance to build a peaceful, sustainable world for every living and feeling being or would it be better if somebody dispose everything in the sewer of the evolutionary failure?
Rudolf: Violence has always been a part of human history, and it’s effects can be both devastating and long-lasting. As a species, humans have a tendency to repeat the same mistakes, despite the lessons we’ve learned from the past. Ultimately, it’s up to us to find a way to break the cycle of violence and move toward a more peaceful future. It won’t be easy, but it is possible. Only time will tell if we can truly learn from the past and create a world where violence, war, and other destructive forces become a thing of the past.
Samuel Boudaud / Painting (France) - unpublished submission + interview
So much great art out there in the mental maelstroms of dark creativity.
Too much to print them all in the magazine. “Unpublished Submissions” is your gallery. For more evil art propaganda, check out INSIDE artzine
Samuel Boudaud
(France)
Contact: samboudaud@yahoo.fr
Website: Instagram Facebook
“So is it good or bad to hope?”
artscum.org: Who are you?
Sami: A guy who does what he can to get ahead in life and paints to find meaning in it.
artscum.org: Darkness is not only the absence of light. What is lurking in the shadows (of our mind)?!
Sami: Light and shadow don’t exist without each other: a gray square on a black background is light, the same gray square on a white background is shadow. It’s all a question of relative perception. Interpretation differs from one person to another… The dark part of our spirit is simply that part of ourselves which is considered negative by society and should be hidden.
artscum.org: What is the most important taboo in art?
Sami: The themes of nudity, sexuality, violence and religion have been widely dealt with in art, but what seems to me to be taboo today is what art itself has become, a tool for speculation, a financial investment that deviates from its original purpose: to express a part of what makes us human via an original prism.
artscum.org: Why is the beauty in ugliness so fatal?
Sami: Art is the expression of a form of humanity, something common to us all, and in this way beauty in ugliness reflects a part of our own ugliness. Either we accept to look it in the face and appreciate the beauty of being able to perceive and be touched by it, or we reject it and it becomes ugliness.
artscum.org: The world seems to become more and more a violent, unkind place. Greed and egoism seems to be the only impulse of any change. Did mankind still have the chance to build a peaceful, sustainable world for every living and feeling being or would it be better if somebody dispose everything in the sewer of the evolutionary failure?
Sami: I don’t recognize myself in today’s world, but each person’s perception of this world is unique, depending on his or her analytical prism. We can focus on the shadow or on the light. I think it’s better to live in hope of that light, at the risk of great disillusionment. So is it good or bad to hope? I don’t know. It’ll just be the story of mankind, which isn’t much on the scale of the universe.
Ian "POISONER" Andrews - Rise of the Art-AI
"Generate" instead of "create"- Interview with Ian "Poisoner" Andrews about artificial intelligence in art
Is AI in art evil? For us? Have we let a genie out of the bottle, perfecting itself more and more with every one of the millions of clicks it gets every day? It is difficult to say where this will end, but one can assume that the abilities of an "artificial intelligence", due to its much higher pool of material, will eventually overtake the ability of humans for creativity! In terms of speed, this has already happened.
We talked to someone who should know: American artist Ian "Poisoner" Andrews is a master of the art of engaging with an AI trained to create art. Let's just follow him...
I think many art lovers do not (yet) know what “MidJourney” or “Prompts” are. Please explain how your art is created from a purely technical point of view.
“I’ve been an artist in various forms over the years, including an amateur writer. The Prompts are the language used to essentially tell the AI, in this case Midjourney, what the parameters are for the generation. Prompts are composed of three sections. A main theme, the first section of the prompt sequence; secondary details like setting, atmosphere, type of image (photograph versus oil painting, for example); and the third section of the prompt is all the tweaks, like Finely Detailed, or Photo taken by Sony. These are the embellishments. It’s about understanding how the AI interprets key words and phrases, and it creates weights or priorities to these words based largely on if they appear earlier or later in the prompt.”
You could almost say that the real “art” in this kind of artistic implementation is the definition of an idea and no longer the craftsmanship of this idea. Since AI makes it possible to create any motif in any imaginable style: How concrete is your idea before you start? Or do you also work with the possibility of how the AI deals with your idea?
“I almost look at myself and my relationship to the AI as being a director working with an actor. The AI is the artist, but I am the one telling the story through the prompt. I have a specific style that I lean towards, mainly fantasy type art, but the idea isn’t always completely formed. I may start with a prompt that says “Female Assassin in tactical gear” and then see what comes out the other side. If there are other elements that come to mind during this process, I will copy the prompt and add until I land on something that I like. I do think I have learned through experience how to get the AI to produce a certain result in terms of style, but there are still things that happen for unknown reasons. I was trying to generate an image of a dark elf laying on a bed, and it was giving me just a normal image of a normal woman laying her head on a pillow”
You can find it frightening or fascinating: How do you see AI’s performance in this process? Is it a purely technical matter of computing power and programming or are we entering areas where we admire the result of the machine even though we can no longer understand exactly how it came to this result (called a “black box” in technical language)? The disturbing mystery of an artificial intelligence….
“I can see both sides, but I favor the more optimistic view. There are some phrases I use in my prompts that I have no clue what actual affect it has on the overall image. This comes from the early days of copying other people’s prompts in the event that had a good looking generation. But as time has gone on and AI has improved so much in such a short time, less words will be needed to generate even more amazing results. Even now that Midjourney has entered into its fourth version, with a fifth just a few short months away, it’s already creating results far superior to even the most accomplished artists. But words will still be needed, and people who understand how the AI communicates will always produce better results than those who don’t. I see it all the time on DeviantArt, my online art community. There is plenty of AI garbage being churned out at an impressive speed. I always try to generate quality over quantity.”
As long as “Ai art” is labeled as such, the viewer can decide for himself whether he wants to look only at the idea or at the idea AND the craftsmanship of the artist. If these markings are missing, it becomes difficult in my eyes. Isn’t that a kind of fraud?
“I have been in this conversation many times. I understand why traditional artists are annoyed or even pissed that it is now easier for a layperson to sit down in front of their computer, type a few words, and end up with an amazing piece of art. You’ll noticed I’ve used the term ‘generate’ instead of ‘create’. I don’t view myself as the creator of these works. I add my edits and special touches through Photoshop and various other programs, but by and large, I didn’t create the piece. And I feel for the artists who have had their work be the foundation for training the AI. I won’t go as far to say that it is a copyright issue. If you think about it, all art is derivative. We all get inspiration from other people, and we tend to adopt what we like into our own work. Some of my earlier traditional art when I was younger was heavily influenced by H.R. Giger, although I have no where near the talent he had. So in that sense, the AI never copies an artist, it merely emulates and produces an unique piece in the style of said artist. I personally do not reference any artists in my prompt because it does feel like cheating, but I know a lot of people who don’t have such reservations.”
Finally, a look into the future: this way of creating art (and in my opinion it is!) is very new and its development is certainly not yet at its end. Where do you see future dangers, what will revolutionize art and our view of it?
“Not to sound cliché but the cat is out of the bag when it comes to AI art. There is no putting it back. On the one hand, this has made the act of creation itself so much more accessible to so many people who may not have had the same creative outlet. People with disabilities are able to express themselves in newer ways. And it’s only going to continue to get better over time. Art will be more accessible to the average person, and great artists will still be in demand because AI is far from perfect. As for the future, I know that deepfakes are a real issue in many cases. Pornography, love it or hate it, will be much easier to create. Many working traditional artists will need to adapt to survive. But like all advancements in technology, the industry will adjust and change. New opportunities will present themselves. Since I have been generating AI art, I have created an album cover for an established music group, I’ve been commissioned to create works of art using photographs, I’ve been commissioned to help with a board game. And I was asked to be a part of your publication. None of these things would have happened had it not been for my involvement in AI art generation. I think this shifts the meaning of ‘art’ to something that was once only attainable by the few, to something that is achievable by the many.”
Ian “Poisoner” Andrews Website: Deviant Art
AI recourses for art:
MidJourney
Dall-E 2
Stable Diffusion
Or if you want to start right away: https://huggingface.co/spaces/stabilityai/stable-diffusion
Thanks for the interview. If someone would ask the questioner for his opinion… In my mind, looking at the pure creative output of high quality art, AI is an asset to art. Many people who have great artistic visions and ideas now have a tool to implement them. What otherwise would not have been possible due to a lack of craftsmanship. The more people on this planet who create art, the better off we are. However, if at some point the Chinese (or whoever from our political alpha plague) hacks the internet and destroys it, then AI is dead. And we will have forgotten the craft of painting pictures….
Sarah Miller / Painting (USA) - unpublished submission + interview
So much great art out there in the mental maelstroms of dark creativity.
Too much to print them all in the magazine. “Unpublished Submissions” is your gallery. For more evil art propaganda, check out INSIDE artzine
Sarah Miller Creations
Artist • Writer • Wanderer (USA)
Contact: sarah@sarahmillercreations.com
Website: sarahmillercreations.com
“Very few things are more beautiful to me than our own ugliness.”
artscum.org: What I find fascinating about your great work is this contrast between often bright colors and a very sinister mood. To me, they rarely seem threatening, rather melancholic and somehow familiar. Surprisingly, many people can quickly agree on what they find ugly. When it comes to describing “beauty,” opinions often differ widely. How would you describe these two poles of perception. Is there beauty in ugliness and vice versa?
Sarah: Absolutely! At least, to me there is. Beauty may be subjective but at its core there is also a universal language, unspoken and deep-rooted, that guides our aesthetic preferences. We are collectively drawn to symmetry, to symbols of health and fertility, to nature, to death even—images that trigger biological and psychological responses so deep within us we often aren’t even aware of them. The same goes for repulsion, motivated instead by fear and the unfamiliar. “Beauty” and “ugliness” are really just measurements of feeling and association. And though they are often at odds, one cannot exist without the other, and they can easily coexist.
For example, I paint a lot of death and horror, and to some, the inherent fear of dying might cause my art to translate as “ugly.” At the same time, however, one might simultaneously feel comfort in openly contemplating their own mortality and impermanence, and therefore find my work beautiful. (I’ve actually had many people tell me my art was “beautiful and terrifying!”)
What we find familiar in the dark and sinister are often just pieces of ourselves we don’t yet know how to name. We can be both horrified and enchanted by the same ideas, by the same unknowns within us, and that’s why I find these subjects so fascinating. In the deepest parts of our existence is a language we all feel but don’t know how to speak.
And what is art if not the unspoken conversation of these concepts and connections.
That’s what much of my original work is about: exploring the bridge between art and psychology, having conversations in pictures what may not be able to be shared in words. I am an autistic artist, after all, and am better versed in speaking feeling through creative outlets.
Is there beauty in ugliness (and vice versa)? I believe there is.
Very few things are more beautiful to me than our own ugliness.
artscum.org: In the course of the Corona pandemic, a survey was conducted in Germany on the social relevance of occupations. “The artist” was one of the last to rank. I think that art is the only language that can be understood by everyone. The visible bridge between reality and fantasy. What “function” does art have for you and what relevance could or should art have in a society?
Sarah: It’s a shame the public stance on that is taking so long to evolve. (Though I’m glad you personally agree on the importance and reach art has in society!) The answer to this question bridges quite nicely from the last: if art is a universal language embedded deep within us thanks to evolution and expression, I daresay it’s as important as language itself, if not more so.
Picture a world without art of any kind—painting, graphics, architecture, illustration, film, fashion, music, dance, literature—and what you’re left with is a void of existence unimaginable because of just how essential expression is to living. It doesn’t matter the form it takes; we evolved to need art as a way to communicate, to reach one another beyond the borders of standard language.
Thanks to entertainment and mass media, “art” is often mislabeled as a luxury or privilege. But art should be treated with more widespread reverence. It should be more commonly practiced, shared, and celebrated—accessible regardless of class, grown and nourished regardless of what “value” one’s current skill level offers society. Let art be spoken without need of cause or reward, without comparison of voice. Let it be as natural as our right to speech
artscum.org: I read that you can speak Japanese!? Apart from the fact that it’s a very difficult language, what fascinates you about the country where even adults are allowed to find everything cute (keyword “kawaii”)? Are Japanese allowed to be kids longer? Do you have a connection to the anime/manga culture of Japan?
Sarah: Oh yes, I am a huge nerd for anime & manga! I grew up on fantasy, comics, and anime, and also happened to be a big nerd for languages (I considered studying linguistics among my many interests before I decided to be an art student), so studying Japanese was inevitable for me.
I took classes in high school and college and just sort of kept up with my lessons (thanks to language apps). I can’t comment much on the culture itself as an American, but there are definitely differences in lifestyle that have always fascinated me. It’s been a long-time dream of mine to visit Japan one day and learn more about the culture and its people firsthand!
artscum.org: If you met the most evil person on this planet, what would you ask that person?
Sarah: I don’t believe a person is inherently good or evil, and don’t even truly believe in evil beyond in concept. People can be born without empathy for other humans, or raised in an environment that does not teach them to value compassion for others, and most people we see as “evil” may well have turned out differently if their life circumstances had been different. Even the most cruel person can be guided toward understanding if given the right amount of time and support.
But, hypothetically, I might ask the most “cruel” or “wicked” person, “What is the most painful thing that has happened to you?”
Or maybe about the last time they felt happy.
artscum.org: If we want to see more of your art: Are there any exhibitions, books, prints of yours? Can you be booked for commissioned work?
Sarah: Yes! You can find my work on my website, sarahmillercreations.com, and buy your favorite pieces, or sign up for my newsletter to get updates on future projects and exhibitions! You can also check out my upcoming psychological web comic, Crow & Arrow, on my Patreon: patreon.com/sarahmillercreations (in fact, the piece ‘Crow’ you’ve featured is concept art for an upcoming cover page).
I have other projects in the works as well, including my first Art Book, which I plan to release soon!
As for commissions, I have worked with game companies and individuals on a variety of different pieces, and I always encourage people to reach out with commission opportunities (even if my waitlist status is closed on my FAQ page). Just drop me an email at sarah@sarahmillercreations.com and I’ll let you know if I can work with you!
But, hypothetically, I might ask the most “cruel” or “wicked” person, “What is the most painful thing that has happened to you?”
Or maybe about the last time they felt happy.
artscum.org: Mankind more and more develops into a heap of selfish, daft selfdestructors, both as for globalization and respect for one another.What is left of the beauty of the cosmic creation? Of the creative spark for perfection? Does Mankind still have a chance, or would it be better to flush the whole shit down the toilet of the evolutionary failure to give the future protozoa a shot for life?
Sarah: These are quite possibly the best questions I’ve ever been asked, formally. Hahah
I’m an existential optimist at heart, so I’d like to believe Mankind has not quite doomed itself. Not yet, anyway. Though we’re likely to suffer through many more fumblings of progress while we wrestle with our greed and learn to prioritize the good of all over the good of one.
There is still so much yet for us to learn, to grow from, to see and understand—about ourselves and one another. Better to keep trying to get it right, so long as we’re able to try.
Hércules Santos Trigo / Graphic artist (BRA) - unpublished submission
So much great art out there in the mental maelstroms of dark creativity.
Too much to print them all in the magazine. “Unpublished Submissions” is your gallery. For more evil art propaganda, check out INSIDE artzine
Hércules Santos Trigo
– Concept Artist and Visual Development (Brasil)
Contact: contactme@hstrigo.com
Website: www.hstrigo.com
“…everything is in our mind, we just look for places to enhance the unknown.”
Q: Who are you?
Well, my name is Hércules Santos Trigo, I’m Brazilian and I’m trained in fine arts and graphic design.
Q: Darkness is not only the absence of light. What more is lurking in the shadows (of mind)?!
We can find everything we want there. Because everything is in our mind, we just look for places to enhance the unknown.
Q: What is the most important taboo in art?
For me there is no taboo for the art world, at least there shouldn’t be. The way each artist expresses himself is unique and necessary. There are those who express themselves through classical painting, sculpture, engraving, some are very expressive, others not so much, some with more color, others with less.
Q: Why is the beauty in ugliness so fatal?
In general, the beautiful is placed in art as a form of perfection, a way of subjugating everything that is considered ugly. However, such perfection and beauty loses its position when we have new perspectives in the art world. In this sense, new conceptions are acquired giving us different options and access. All this generates representation. Therefore, this question about beauty in art is very subjective, because what is beautiful for some may not be beautiful for others.
Q: What question would you ask the most evil person on this planet?
I never thought about it…. but I think I would ask: Do you have a cigarette? ha ha…
Q: The world seems to become more and more a violent, unkind place. Greed and egoism seems to be the only impulse of any change. Did mankind still have the chance to build a peaceful, sustainable world for every living and feeling being or would it be better if somebody dispose everything in the sewer of the evolutionary failure?
Well, we are driven by desires and many end up generating greed, envy, neglect and a hundred adjectives that disqualify human beings. I think that we are very attached to the matter and that makes it difficult to have a true look at the other, in the human sense. I personally believe in the human race. I believe that one day we will be able to overcome many of these vices that torment us and that our evolution will not only be technological, but human.
Griffin D’Zmura McGuire / Painter (USA) - unpublished submission
So much great art out there in the mental maelstroms of dark creativity.
Too much to print them all in the magazine. “Unpublished Submissions” is your gallery. For more evil art propaganda, check out INSIDE artzine
Griffin D’Zmura McGuire
– mixed media painter (USA)
Contact: griffindmcguire@gmail.com
Website: Linktree griffindart
“The looking glass has broken, we must brave the Kaleidoscope mirage…”
Q: Who are you?
I’m Griffin, an artist on the other side of a degree in Philosophy from UC Berkeley. My favorite mediums are acrylic paint and ink. One of my aims is to invite viewers into another world, one which will remain with them in the hidden alleyway of the subconscious mind.
Q: Darkness is not only the absence of light. What more is lurking in the shadows (of mind)?!
Shadows conceal, but also provide form and feature. The play between shadow as a metaphor and shadow as absence of light provides an interesting field of exploration. In my work I often explore autonomously without intention. I feel that this allows me to explore the shadows in my own mind without censorship.
Q: What is the most important taboo in art?
For me, I find the association of a price tag with a piece of to be a taboo that is worthy of deeper exploration. Many of the artists that are most widely spoken of are known in part due to the notoriety of their sales volume as opposed to the questions their work explores. In this strange dynamism between value and creativity there’s much more to think on and is one of the reasons I decided to move my digital work into the blockchain space.
Q: Why is the beauty in ugliness so fatal?
Art is not just a pursuit of Beauty. In the unsettling, and disturbing, a whole range of emotions which are under-explored and critical to artistic exploration are able to be brought into the open.
Q: What question would you ask the most evil person on this planet?
Though I’m not sure there’s someone who is the most evil, I’ll ask them if they enjoy Pineapple on pizza.
Q: The world seems to become more and more a violent, unkind place. Greed and egoism seems to be the only impulse of any change. Did mankind still have the chance to build a peaceful, sustainable world for every living and feeling being or would it be better if somebody dispose everything in the sewer of the evolutionary failure?
From my perspective, it seems that history shows us a world in which violence is the norm. We see much more of the ugliness in the world with news and the advances in new media, though this doesn’t imply that the world is actually more violent than it was in the past. A new slate, a Tabula Rasa, can be an appealing idea but in practice only leads to forgetting our standing as humans and moves us away from working on the problems we face.
Richard A. Kirk - STRANGER IN A STRANGE MIND: Black and White madness
Gallery and gonzo interview from the fever dreams of a drugless mind
RICHARD A. KIRK IS PUBLISHED IN INSIDE artzine #18 (PREVIEW/BUY)
+++ Chris Mars (USA), Seth Siro Anton (GRE), John Santerinerros (USA), Absumaniac (Poland)
When, finally, I felt strong enough to open my tired eyes completely I realized I wasn’t alone. Not very far away from me, there was an inconspicuous guy in white clothes sitting huddled in the corner, drawing on the wall with a black pen. A black-and-white flood of details arose behind him, like the arms of a naked, dancing octopus. All over the windowless walls, the inaccessible ceiling, the pristine-white PVC floor, up my legs, and out into the crowded, dysfunctional universe of a world without brains. And the things that trickled onto my tense retinas really frightened me. ME! A human-looking bird skull which was entwined with sly, plant-like vines. Swollen flowers, their delicate heads bent into the urinary puddle of daze. Thin skulls, filled with empty eyes. Mouldy mushrooms on seething bodies. Dumb figures in poisonous flower meadows. A woman like weaved of chlorophyll. Spiky insect arms, spindly child legs, torn skin, proliferating, sprawling, weird. And all that in such an obsessive, nightmarish wealth of detail that you had to gasp heavily.
“If you want me to help you, you have to talk to me.” His voice made me wince like a pig at the
butcher’s. I heaved my skull but couldn’t see very much because of all that drool and snot. All I could do was hissing, “… call my lawyer then, asshole!” His pen continued scratching on the wall while he talked to me, “Nobody is here without a reason…” His voice sounded polite and bored, but between his words I could perceive something powerful, something freaky. Something authoritative. I could feel the taste of burning styrofoam trickle into my thoughts: “Who the fuck are you?”
„I am Richard Kirk, a 59-year-old artist – illustrator born in Hull, England in 1962. I grew up in a small industrial city in Ontario, Canada. I’m a draughtsman by nature and the vast majority of my artistic production is done in ink. I also work in silverpoint, a technique with its own special challenges. My choice of technique and subject matter compliment each other. The images come from my imagination, and I represent them in naturalistically, drawing much inspiration from form found in nature. My art explores natural processes. This interest is the focus of my work that lies beneath the narrative: decay, transformation, growth, evolution, and dissolution. My work is frequently described as organic. I am the owner of Pekoe the wonder-dog.“
I stared on the floor in front of me, my balls dug into the ice field. Directly from under my fastened feet, a
walking beetle wriggled itself out which had strange mush-rooms on its head
growing into its mouth. The floor was completely full with his drawings. They seemed to creep towards me and invade through my soles into my skin. It was itching terribly. I wondered whether I should ask him. Beg him. To unfasten me. Or at least scratching me. But then I preferred him staying in his corner. “Eh mate, you’re
frightening me. I really don’t want to know where do you get your ideas…”
His voice sounded as comfy as HAL9000 now: „Nature provides me with a lot of inspiration, as does literature, but it helps to be open to many things. Ultimately, when I sit down to draw I’m not that conscious of external inspiration… “
READ THE COMPLETE STORY IN INSIDE artzine #18 (PREVIEW/BUY)
PRINTS: Big Cartel
NIHIL (France/Norway) - VENTRE - art book review
Artist images & texts: Nihil
Artist music: In Slaughter Natives
Titel: Ventre
Features: Hardcover, 17x25cm/7×10“, Book 115 pages, CD 39:18 min
Contact: www.nihil.fr
Purchase: www.nihil.fr/shop/artbook
Nihil’s work has been accompanying me for several years now through the hidden valleys of a remote art taste. The French photographer and picture manipulator has always been a welcome guest in our mental asylum for a reason – his works conceal something that only comes to light under the most extensive physical effort in a genre, characterized by darkness and despair: elegance! Sublime poses burst upon grotesque wrenches here, graceful silence upon seething menaces. And the pictures always seem to lack something. The iris in the eye. The expression of the face. The hairs on the heads. White surfaces where secondary habits expect primary sexual characteristics. This lack of physical identity puts his figures into the fleshless light of saints and martyrs. Because they suffer. This is the last remaining expression which cannot be taken away from them. Heavily depressing and wonderful at the same time.
The dark, brooding soundscapes of the industrial band IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES of the enclosed audio CD are integrated perfectly between the full-screen refined pages. A perfectly successful cooperation of two masters of dark art. And finally, to draw a line between the two unholy covers of this publication, Nihil provides us with reflective, dark stories for our restless sleep, all of which confidently float between dark dignity and menacing doom. An amazing artistic synthesis!!
Felix Roca / Painter (Spain) - unpublished submission
So much great art out there in the mental maelstroms of dark creativity.
Too much to print them all in the magazine. “Unpublished Submissions” is your gallery. For more evil art propaganda, check out INSIDE artzine
Felix Roca – Figurative painter (Spain)
Contact: frocaganges@gmail.com
Website: @felixrocaart
Statement:
Faith and fear of Death, an action reaction to each other, come together to be opposed, for the same duality,
by Childhood and Game. The Summing of the four concepts can be understood as the day to day struggle of the adult life. Not as a pessimist view, neiter, as a chant to innocence, but a consecutive presentation of individual postcards as allegories in which one of those four concepts is more imperant than the others.
Q: Who are you?
I am a Barcelona Based painter. born in 19991 who is scared of death and paints about it, and what it means or we have been told it is supposed to be an adult, that will be all.
Q: Darkness is not only the absence of light. What more is lurking in the shadows (of mind)?!
Answers, the shadows are those spots on your mind that you have been luring into, your self doubts and where you really find yourself, if you are sure about everything, which is imossible, you are dead and an estatich creature. Is that doubt that will move you forward and keep evolving. Like the Age of Empires Pc game map.
Q: What is the most important taboo in art?
Money, everyone works and paints for it, but it is supposed for us painters, in the art business, to paint and draw because we need to express ourselves, and to have a large mistic reason paint for paying your bills is not what it is expected for us to say.
Q: Why is the beauty in ugliness so fatal?
Those fucking greeks and the renaissanse, god is beauty and the devil is ugly.
Q: What question would you ask the most evil person on this planet?
Would you pose for a portrait? The prison guards will let me in once a week if that’s ok for you.
Q: The world seems to become more and more a violent, unkind place. Greed and egoism seems to be the only impulse of any change. Did mankind still have the chance to build a peaceful, sustainable world for every living and feeling being or would it be better if somebody dispose everything in the sewer of the evolutionary failure?
Self destruction is an inner part of human nature. Technology has put it on a great scale. But at the same time humor and going down the pub is as human as well, and for those as we are, interested in creation and art, let’s have a beer an art talk and paint it until the bomb explodes near us.