interview with vidam | graffiti | the weird
Hello Vidam! Thank you so much for
taking the time to do this interview. Please start by telling us
something about yourself and how you got into graffiti? My name is Vidam, that is a Hungarian word for joyful or just happy.
That's also my artwork: A bright and vibrant style with bold
characters, funny and sometimes thoughtful messages. I always loved to draw and paint and after my studies of graphic design I
founded a design studio called Peach Beach with my mate Look.
Alongside this daily routine in our studio I still love to paint
whether on canvases for exhibitions or on walls. My second
intensive passion is music! I love to produce electronic dance
music. This is a perfect alternation to my life as an urban artist
and illustrator.
Q: Who inspired you?
A: In the beginning when I started to intensify my drawing in my
teenage years, I loved to read Franco Belgian comics like Spirou &
Fantasio, Tintin, Asterix etc. I'd say that my idol from this period
is definitively André Franquin, who's special style influenced me
very strongly.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I don't know, my style looks very funny and happy mostly, but
as a person don't feel like that all the time, I guess it's a compensation.
Q: I really love the surrealistic vibe in almost every
design. Tell me more.
A: There's no rule for thins. Ideas come to mind in thousand different ways. Sometimes you sit on the
bench and
suddenly you have an idea and sometimes you think about
a topic for hours to find a nice solution.
Q: How long have you been into graffiti?
A: Not that long! I was
more into classic illustrations. I never did graffiti on the wall like
writing my name and I guess I'll never do. I prefer to paint
funny characters or bizarre situations. When I came to Berlin almost
10 years ago I got in contact with spray cans and then I
discovered graffiti as a new way to express myself.
Q: Your first love?
A:
My very first love is good old paper with black ink on it. But
nowadays I prefer canvas.
Q: What do you like the most?
A: I always love to experiment with different techniques. I
absolutely still can't say: This is my favorite media or tool or
style or technique. I love bold outlines, I love illustrations
without any outlines, I also really love typography and graphic
design. It's always a balance between all
these fields and I never know what I really like most. Sometimes
that's really annoying!
Q: Tell me about the team work.
A: It's always super interesting to see how others
work and I always learn from it. We enrich each other with our
different views on things and reality. When we brainstorm together,
weird and crazy ideas occur. It's pure fun and a personal gain
for me and I guess also for the others.
Q: What's the funniest thing about being part of "The
Weird"?
A: The funniest thing is to sit together, have some beers
and just talk funny shit. We all have similar backgrounds, so there are plenty of topics to talk about. It
never gets boring!
Q: Many people are trying to "grow" by
copying someone and then trying to make something "different" Your
opinion about the copy cats, the crazy comments, would you take that
as a compliment or you get mad at times?
A: For me it's not a problem if young people who are starting with
design or graffiti begin with copying, that's completely
normal in the early stages. If I see artworks that are obviously
inspired by my stuff, I take it as a compliment. Normally
everybody who really tries it hard to achieve something in the
business of urban art or illustration or something else, realizes
one day that they have to invent something special and unique to stand
out. I don't really care about the crazy comments. I
use social media to show my art, but there are always people who
don't like your stuff and that is ok.
Q: Favorite medium?
A: In the very beginning I started with music. At
13 years I bought myself two turntables and a mixer for DJing. I
loved it, but later I couldn't afford any more vinyl. I stopped
vinyl-DJing and started to work on my second passion, drawing. Now
this is my main focus, but I always wanted to go back
to music and I started again with music production. I absolutely
love it and I practice every day to become better in this field.
Q: Do you take your music seriously?
A: The problem is that I can't concentrate that much on my
production like I wish I could. The good thing is that my passion
for design became a job and it works quite well. I love
it and there is hardly time for anything else. I produce music
very often on the fly, when I'm traveling for graffiti jobs or
exhibitions. There's a lot of time in between like in hotels
or on airports. I usually use this moments for working on some
melodies. I love that I don't need anything else except my laptop.
Q: How do you feel about the
mainstream stuff? What's the dumbest thing you hate?
A: I hate casting shows in TV, because they don't have anything
in common with good and real music. This is the worst shit ever
broadcasted. Of course I never ever watch them, but the fact that
there are people who want to participate and other people who watch
it, drives me crazy, but only a little bit, because at the end I
don't care.
Q: Are there any musicians that
you would like to work with?
A: Yes there are plenty! I can't tell you who I really like most but
right now one of my favorites are Modeselektor/Moderat, Slow Magic,
Ikonika and Marek Hemmann.
Q: Any challenges
or obstacles?
A: To stay true to your art on one hand and to make a living
with on the other hand. It's often a challenge to balance between
commercial sellout and individual work.
Q: What is the biggest mistake when it comes progress?
A: Mistakes are always a good thing, because you learn from it.
PEACHBEACH & DXTR In Amsterdam - Collaboration
Q: Any advice for the
new artists?
A: I worked for three years at a Mc Donald's grill for my income. I'd suggest everybody
to work in a shitty job for some years to realize that you have to
work hard to make your dream of an artist come true. I'm
still trying!
You can contact Vidam at:
Attila Szamosi aka Vidam,PEACHBEACH
Fanningerstraße 3
10365 Berlin
attila@peachbeach.de /
www.peachbeach.de