This year, we flew out to Berlin from Edinburgh in order to attend the 2014 Pictoplasma Conference in Berlin! which was held at the Babylon Theatre just outside the centre of the city. Although I was utterly terrified of flying/being outside/away from home/around strange people I hardly knew, I was determined to be optimistic!
One of the first talks I went to was "Buff Monster"'s. Buff Monster is a well known American Painter and Street Artist, whose main influences come from the oxymoron-esque combination of bright colours, the "cute" Japanese culture and heavy metal. And he has used this style of work to create huge pieces of street art, murals, painting and merchandise including prints, stickers, vinyl toys and plushes. I really enjoyed listening to Buff Monster's workflow and some of the reasoning behind his work, which is relatively simple with no main reasoning other than it's what he likes, and emphasises on the colour pink to show confidence, individuality and happiness which is consistent throughout his works. His work has definitely inspired me to start emphasising on the more grotesque and obscene elements which rarely show up in my work, and use inspiration from darker sources to get a variety of different outcomes.
Another Artist I enjoyed viewing was Tim Biskup, his work was very experimental and had a rather edgy visual effects on anyone who viewed it, which made it stand out vastly against the rest of the artists, as well as bring in a whole load of detail that could keep us looking at it for hours. I think the reason that Biskup's work is so successful is to do with the fact that he works with playful and vibrant psychedelic imagery. He creates this work by using a rather diverse selection of media such as silk-screening, textile production and rotocast vinyl. I think looking at Biskup's work has definitely influenced me to experiment with materials more, as well as style, as I think using mixed media in pieces and working with methods that are foreign to me, will help enhance my current style and even create a new one.
On the next day of talks, I got to see an artist that I'd never heard of before. Kimiaki Yaegashi is a well known Illustrator based in Tokyo, Japan. His work is rather simplistic with thick lines and bold colours and shapes. Admittedly I wasn't sure on whether or not I would find his work as appealing as some of the other artists, but I appreciated it none the less. However, once Kimiaki began going through his pieces it was clear that his work was greatly inspired by his heratige, as it included representations of well know Japanese spirits and that is what I appreciated most about his work. He also included his love of western productions, such as pizza, which, as we discovered later at his art show, was very much a part of his shows and gallery work.
The last artist that I went to see, was Austrian street artist, Nychos. I had already been aware of Nychos' work through Instagram and was rather excited about seeing him explain in some detail about his work and why he does it. His work is heavily detailed and focuses, typically, on forms of bodies, and them being almost dissected in order to show all aspects of the figure. In this particular image, it shows a cartoon styled wolf getting his skin ripped off, then his bones split in two as well to show his insides. The images are always quite segmented and orderly which fits in well with the places they are usually sprayed upon, such as office or industrial buildings and I think his work has inspired me to start trying out this style of art. Where I should concentrate on content and how I can make images such as this blend in well with their background.
Over all, the 6 day trip to Berlin was probably something I'm never going to get, and definitely worth the two hours of sweaty anxious hell that I endured on the plane there. I literally cannot wait for next year and I think with more confidence and research into a number of the artists, I'll be able to communicate to them better and possibly engage them in some sort of conversation. I also had so much fun exploring the city as well, because not only is it a rather easy city to get around, it is teeming full of culture and passionate people, and it's definitely somewhere I want to go back!
Oh, and we also went to an aquarium where the entry required an awfully awkward family photo:
