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Excerpt from the full interview:
"Part of the challenge for today’s generation of artists is mitigating this hyper-technological world we live in. Technology has never been so pervasive and integral in our every day lives, and artists who assume the task of exploring the cultural zeitgeist and human condition of their day will find much fodder for their creative practice. But technology isn’t just affecting the subject matter and themes explored by today’s artists, but also their materials and process.
Take artist Julio Cesar Gonzalez, for instance. Gonzalez never set out to pursue an interest in technology—his practice was originally rooted in film and video production—but started experimenting with kinetic sculpture and analog synth construction during his time at RISD. He taught himself how to use and build these tools via the internet, searching for guides, resources and bits of code that he could hack together in order to manifest his ultimate vision. The open access to DIY resources opened up a whole new world of possibilities for Gonzalez and enabled him to explore the fundamental elements of video—time, movement, and sound—in an entirely new way.
As champions of technology’s ability to enable new creative pursuits for artists of all kinds, we were particularly struck by Gonzalez’s self taught approach and willingness to experiment with and adopt new tools. We sent him a few questions via email to learn more about his work and how he made the transition from video to kinetic sculpture and photography.
The Creators Project: You started out as a video artist, studying film & video at RISD. How and why did you make the transition to the kinetic sculptures and photographs you work with today?
Julio Cesar Gonzalez: I couldn’t truly give you a how and why because it’s been such a slow transition from video to sculpture. I think it’s been mostly driven by gear. Basically, in school I had a lot of equipment and, more importantly, time at my disposal. I moved to New York the day after I graduated (thanks Angie for renting that car!) and found myself with neither of those. My video ideas always involved a lot of monitors and speakers and cables. While I was in school in Providence, I would just find televisions and speakers in the street and store them in the basement of my apartment. In New York, space is expensive so storing things in my apartment wasn’t an option. I just had to adapt over the years...."
Read the full interview on thecreatorsproject.com
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