by Benek Lisefski (Nov. 2004)
page
1 of 2
exhibit52.com
Please
forgive the grammer mistakes. Most of this was translated from French
to English using BabelFish,
so it’s not perfect.
Benek: What are your artistic inspirations?
Micael: All that surrounds us, not only media
(television, movies, internet, magazines, pubs). Even if I am not
considered a photographer I like to take photographs enormously
and to start from these elements of reality to compose them, to
play with, to create interfaces which will emphasize them, and conversely,
of the photographs which will emphasize interfaces. What interests
me in the photographs themselves is that they are
the angles of sight, ratios of proportion, and contrasts between
clearness and blur. They inspire me rather by their number than
individually: that they increases my visual knowledge of reality,
my intimate library of images. I grow bigger and become inexhaustible
in images. From that rises illustrations, story board, animated
sequences... the photographs are my base.
The artistic inspiration as such comes from a constraint: for
my work I must code, to make interactive applications which must
meet very precise needs. That obliges me with always creating and
exceeding myself. The quality of a work comes from its completion.
Lastly, the fact of looking at what the others do: to keep up to
date with technologies, the tendencies, without inevitably following
them, but at least to be able to be evaluated: am I good, not good?
does my work remain original? Many things have an urban style, and
are very flashy. It is a tendency with much of the young people
to get caught up with that. But it is often empty of expressivity
and things to say.
Plagiarism: one looks at what the others do and one copies those
that one likes: is this bad? It is good to be a sponge and to take
as a starting point what surrounds us, to make the synthesis and
to add its small trick with oneself. This is the principle of creation:
one is always influenced, inspired, whether it is or is not wanted.
To copy people is not bad, this would be only to learn and seize
what is the best; The great painters learned by recopying the 
canvases
of the Masters. There are always better people. This is true in
graphics as in all other arts. The true talent is to recognize the
talents in others: to see what is good. It is necessary to not sponge
the shit but the best!
Benek: What is your creative process like—from
the creation of the first ideas for a project all the way through
to the finished product?
Micael: That depends enormously on the projects
and the guidlines from the customers. Maybe there is already a very
definite scenario and it is a team work. When I have a blank canvas
with which to create the finished product, I seek ideas. The note
with the drawings and measurements on notepad, that can be rather
long. Then when I have enough contents I produce by layers: a first
draft, which I improve on many times until it is appropriate to
me completely.
Concretely, the process for a project: one is halfway between creation
and the industrial production! That gives:
Concept, ideas
Images
Model/Structure, code
Production of the illustrations/technical
Graphics
Realization
Integration of the content
Debugging
Delivery
Corrections
And sometimes, I drop all and I start again!!
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