SR x MDC: beyondbola

The interview was conducted as part of the SR exhibition “Motion Design, NFTs, and Art.”

The exhibition features Gavin Shapiro, aeforia, beyondbola, Blake Kathryn, Sasha Katz, Adam Priester, Steven Baltay, James Owen, smeccea, Esteban Diacono, Alessio De Vecchi, and Render Fruit (click links to view interviews)

Co-organized by SuperRare and Motion Designers Community.

beyondbola (twitter.com/beyondbola)

I think you’ll know a true creative when you see their work. You can usually tell at first glance, if the art makes you feel something then they definitely know what they are doing! Great artists / creatives know how to evoke the right feeling.

It is tricky because almost everything that exists in this world is a copy of a copy, Nothing is completely original. I think it’s fine to copy as long as you improve it and add your twist, basically use it as inspiration. That route makes it good whereas copying it completely makes it bad. How do you tell difference? You probably can’t! Because it’s a copy. I’d say you can tell what is original when it feels unique and new to you.

I think the best type of motion designs are the ones with a deeper meaning or backstory. Something that evokes thought and emotion. Though aesthetic is also good! Art is also subjective, a piece worth nothing to someone might be worth a lot another. My advice when collecting is not to buy into trends, as these things die out. Whereas stories and emotion last forever.

To be honest, I’d say I don’t really have a style yet! However I’ve noticed the colour Red is in 95% of my work, mostly because it symbolises the emotion that I always try to conjure in my work. which is usually passion & a lot of times fear. Though it’s funny because Red isn’t my favourite colour, it actually makes me uncomfortable which is why I think it works so well in dystopian settings. A good example of this would be my dystopian dreams series. These worlds tend look pretty cool but you’d never want to live in them! The thought of it scares me which is why I use Red. I also link it to passion because it’s stands out so much, you’ll always notice passion (how it feels or when you feel it) because it’s such a strong feeling and you’ll notice the colour red just as much. I think the use of a specific colour could be considered a style.

For my work, I use Cinema 4D, Redshift, Substance Painter & Designer, 3ds Max.

Zbrush for sculpting, Marvellous Designer for clothing, Houdini, Tyflow & X particles for simulations.

I tend to shift between several themes, with my favourite being science fiction branching into Cyberpunk, Biopunk, Retro futurism & Horror. Though I’ve also recently taken a liking to Renaissance paintings. Overall I’d say my work focuses on the possibility of alternate worlds. we’ve only explored 4% of the visible universe, imagine what else is out there!

I think social media is part of why I even have a career! Sometime in 2016, I shared my cyberpunk image (the piece under passion) in a Facebook group and an art director reached out to me! A week later I was working on a project for a big client.

Hint: The client is named after a fruit.

Thanks to Instagram, I was also able to get work with other Big brands & DJs. Today I work in Pharmaceutical Motion Design, it’s a lot like my normal art but it involves the visualisation of Molecules, cells, bacteria and even COVID. Educating people around the world about what’s in our body and how we can improve our health.

Social media has also allowed me to meet other amazing artists that I can learn from and be inspired by. Looking at or analysing the work of another artist allows you to see things from a different perspective, it’s a very important part of progressing as an artist.

This is tricky. There’s nothing I generally hate, it’s a great opportunity that I’m very grateful for. What I do sort of dislike is probably how value is perceived / determined. A lot of times it’s based on hype, trend, word of mouth & demand. But thats basically marketing to be fair. It probably can’t be corrected but if it was it would give new artists a chance in a community that grows so fast!  

So far It’s been great! I’ve made a lot of new friends, from artists to collectors. It’s a great opportunity for a lot of artists, being able to earn something just doing what you love and finding people who truly connect with your work. Down the line I hope to learn and understand more about Crypto-art and it’s community.