Uncovering how the Dutch artist WOL75 commenced his career with animated art, and revisited the scene twenty years later.
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Even though time tells a great distance, today the artist’s vision is quite alike. The memories that flood our mind are often distorted and rarely accurate, sometimes blurry, making us question what is real and what happens to our thoughts when influenced by emotion. Living in a student dorm raised this awareness in Jasper, also known as WOL75, who expressed his search for every moment in time changing according to the different living experiences of the same place. People come and leave, yet every student’s memory is preserved in a distinctive way, just like the artist shows in his first animated project; Leaving the stairs taking away my memories. In this project, the artist shows the student faces in a small jar surrounded by water and bubbles. The purpose of the animation was to see the whole picture, leaving space to imagination yet engaging more of your senses and creating an “authentic” memory of it. This increases the understanding towards the artwork, and while the artist’s skills develop in the field, the animation keeps on going.
Matchless since he used to go to Art Academy 1999-2004, the artist was one of the fewest to use a computer for his art. Despite his focus towards animation and animated art, the artists workhorse, available on Kooness, are his mixed media and graphic artworks.
Twenty-two years later, the artist metaphors endure to create more animations. Based on his current artworks, today’s animations are more colorful, relevant (to today) and avant-garde. These animations are very visual and they communicate how our beliefs are influenced by given norms and values, for instance through the internet and the phone. It is no secret that the web has an impact on our state of mind, yet shows us only what we want to see, affecting our personality and how we present ourselves to the world. In the following animated artworks, the artist shows how a living being’s perception is autarchic due to its main source of information, and by representing the “person” through the shape of a finger, that characterizes both the infinite scrolling as well as how we act unconsciously through the corrupted data, that becomes a part of us.
Enthused by Micha Klein, known for being one of the first dutch artists that used a computer to create digital “paintings” and 3D art in the 80’s and 90’s. The use of a computer and software technique of Micha Klein inspired the artist towards the juxtaposition of different objects in his works.
At the same time, WOL75 is inspired by Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, and he explains that rather than being inspired by their artworks, he is inspired by their unique vision that focuses on technical and organic elements. The two artists are unique and well-known, which is definitely an ambition for WOL75: to be recognized through his art.
Animation art is innovative, practical and creates value for you. At the same time, it is an art trend that expands a watcher’s vision. It can be said that WOL75 is a modern and unconventional artist who brings originality to the table. The ever-changing digital expositions on screen push the artist to create more. Discover all artworks from WOL75 on Kooness!
Cover image: WOL75, Slave To The Rhythm III, 2017, Courtesy of Gallery WOL75
Written by: Sveva Berto
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