Staying Creative with Victor Geldof.

This week we chat to 2021 Art Comp Winner Victor Geldof about his Art Comp submission and learn how he re-contextualises history and it's many themes to create through instinct. Check out the full interview below. 

To see more of Greg's work, make sure to follow him on IG here.  

First of all, congrats on being one of the Art Comp winners, really great work, tell us about you - how did you get into image making?

I’ve been making images for as long as I can remember. As most kids I loved to draw and make collages and it pretty much never went away. When I was 15 I went to art school and I recently graduated as a master in graphic design. Instagram has always been a great medium to show my art and a great way to explore the fast evolving art world.

Any Artists influenced your work?

My all time favourite artist is Peter Beard. He was an American photographer who used a lot of different media to express his art. His journals and collages have influenced me a lot. He once said “I Like things that don’t look like you’re in control” and I have very much the same vision. I often let randomness and coincidence take over which often makes way for interesting surprises. I believe that imperfection often turns into uniqueness.

What are your favourite themes/points of exploration?

History in general has always sparked my interest. In particular ancient cultures and mythologies, Egyptian or Mayan hieroglyphs, stories from Norwegian and Greek mythologies, etc. History and art go hand in hand, so I naturally got interested in art. Paintings from the Renaissance, Barok, Art nouveau, Orientalism have a special place in my heart. In recent years, symbolism in paintings of the Old Masters have caught my attention. During my master year I specifically focussed on symbolism and allegories and designed 2 books around this theme. I like to explore as many different themes as possible. Often by coincidence. When I stumble upon something I like, I will be completely obsessed with this theme for a while. Until I come across another interesting theme and so on.

Can you tell us about your submission to this year's Art Comp?

The base of my submission was a James Ensor etching. The art of this Belgian expressionist and surrealist, has had an impact on me for a while now. The etching I used “La Mort Poursuivant le Troupeau des Humains” (1896) shows the personified death literally reaping the helpless crowd. This etching appeared in a newspaper during the first covid lockdown, a very fitting picture for the situation at the time. I decided I would make a death/plague themed submission, which sadly enough turns out to be very topical. Dante Alighieri’s inferno fitted perfect in this theme and the story has shaped the way we see hell and death. We also know Ensor read Dante Alighieri’s stories, which makes the circle complete.

 Favourite piece of yours?

In 2019 I designed a bunch of posters around planned obsolescence for a school assignment. The project was called “Dead Media Archaeology”. With this Project I gave criticism on planned obsolescence with a big variety of posters and three publications. Around the 1960s, a movement called “circuit bending” emerged in America. The followers of this movement dismantled old toys end other technological objects and created new ones out of the pieces. They wanted to
show technology deserves a second life and should be more sustainable. With this mindset, I began my project. I collected pictures of old media technologies from the official “Dead Media Archive”. I designed minimalistic posters with 3-4 dead media technologies on each poster. I then made a list of Photoshop actions, which I then placed in random order. I had my posters go through these new circuits to create new abstract posters. 

Any new, out-of-comfort things you’ve been trying?

As of recently I started to experiment with 3D softwares such as Blender. It’s something I have wanted to get familiar with for a while now so I’m glad I’m finally getting my hands on. I believe the future lies in 3D, VFX and especially A.I. So it’s something I definitely want to be a part of.

Any advise for young creatives?

Experiment with as many possible different media as you possibly can. Don’t shy away from things you don’t know, It may not work out but you will have learned from it.

 Favourite film / film that influenced you most?

There are so many great movies it’s really difficult to pick a favorite one. If I have to, let me mention Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola), Prisoners (Denis Villeneuve), The Shining (Stanley Kubrick) and Parasite (Bong Joon-ho).

Dream Client/Collab?

I would love to work for the film industry as a graphic designer. It would be amazing if I could be part of the art department and design props and set pieces.

Finally, any artists/ designers we should know about?

Like I already mentioned above, Peter Beard is definitely worth checking out! Some of my favourite artists are:
Jonathan Castro
Dittmar Viane
Arthur Dufoor
Ryoji Ikeda

Cheers Victor!