Creative coding and new media artist Ksawery Kirklewski (35) from Gdańsk (Poland), who will present an interactive light installation at the VI Vilnius Light Festival FLUX - constantly experiments, goes beyond and redraws the boundaries of artistic expression.
The artist, who is called a specialist in the avant-garde of digital creation, uses new technologies, programming, coding and various advertising media in his broad and versatile creations, focusing mainly on the field of digital and generative art, where the logic and rhythm of complex mathematical equations combine with the beauty of visual art. Combining his two passions - technology and art, he successfully creates large-scale installations, complex audiovisual works that attract the attention of both art connoisseurs and passers-by like a magnet.
Coming to Vilnius, during the Miami Art Week (JAV, 2022), the installation of Ksawery Kirklewski has already been evaluated in the art space of the Katowice Academy of Fine Arts "Tauton Lab" (Poland, 2023) and in Prague at the festival of light art and new technologies "Signal Festival" (Czech Republic, 2023) FLUX is an engaging interactive light show that encourages thinking about the influence of modern technology on the speed of human communication. In his project, the artist combines interactivity and automation. The ascending, 6-meter-high and 13-meter-diameter tube-shaped light sculpture on the ground can be controlled by the audience with gestures and voice, and at the same time there is a performance based on footage received from the audience. The installation, which uses 4 high-speed cameras, an 8-speaker sound system, 5 km of double-sided LED strips, operates according to code and is synchronized to a surround sound score. A 144-pixel display that displays 000 frames per second creates an impressive image.
Among the latest projects of Ksawery Kirklewski, which focus on the future, technological progress and aesthetics: the light installation LOTUS, created in 2023. For Paris Fashion Week, Berlin's Khroma Museum of Modern Art is exhibiting the ENTER 2023 project, as well as the generative music website Symphony in Acid, created in collaboration with British electronic and techno music producer Max Cooper.
Talking to Ksawery Kirklewski, there is no doubt that his complex and impressive works hide a more obscure personality.
- You are known as a coding artist, a master of digital creation who manages to combine modern technology, digital disciplines and art into one fascinating whole. Where does this passion come from? When did it start and how did it develop?
- It all started in childhood. I was lucky because my dad was also a huge tech and computer geek who had one of the first computers in the entire neighborhood. I really enjoyed watching a guy who has tried many things in his life, from mechanical constructions to graphic design and graphics, work and play. I spent a lot of time helping him in the workshop among the strange machinery and electrical equipment. We also spent a lot of time in computer stores looking for new hardware, software, games. Later, computers became popular and my friends and I spent most of our free time in front of the screen, not only playing games, but also learning how computers worked. Everything was so new and exciting to us then.
- You graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. You skillfully juggle various complex disciplines and combine them together. Did you take extra technical courses?
- To be honest, I never thought seriously about art until my twenties. I studied math and physics at school, and in my spare time I created websites for small businesses. I was sure that one day I would become a professional programmer. So I enrolled to study IT at Gdansk University of Technology. Once at a party at the Art Academy, I met several people who were so enthralled by the stories about motion design, typography, drawing that I quickly dropped out of IT studies and focused on preparing for the Academy exams, hoping that someday I would be able to somehow combine art and coding. I did it.
- Do you still play computer games? What are your favorites?
- I played a lot of them as a kid. I still feel nostalgic for retro games with their simplistic, imaginative pixel graphics. And sometimes I go back to the first Call of Duty video game series (ha ha ha - laughs) where I still meet a few old gamer friends from the online community.
- How long does it take to create projects like FLUX?
- Each of our installations is a combination and continuation of many ideas that have evolved over time. So the first ones FLUX the version took only two months to develop. But it's still a work in progress in terms of visuals, audio and technology, as each new exhibit receives new feedback and new ideas for how to improve it.
- You are a persistent innovator who is constantly experimenting. What is your ambition as an artist, the biggest challenge today?
- I would like to organize a personal exhibition. This involves a number of challenges, mainly due to the coordination of several projects at the same time.
- What artists do you follow?
- I will mention a few. Japanese video and audio artist Ryouji Ikeda I appreciate the digital perfectionism. I admire the Israeli-American artist Daniel Rozin interactive works - installations and sculptures that have a unique ability to change and react to the viewer. I also like Swiss Andreas Gysin creating code-based art, sharp ideas and their implementation.
- The young generation, various media and modern technologies are inseparable. Do you have passionate followers or disciples among the youth?
- I try to keep in good touch with the people who text me. I like to talk about their ideas and share experiences if I can. Many of them are starting their journey in coding or developing new technologies and I am always happy to help.
by Ksawery Kirklewski FLUX and another 14 light installations and 5 additional objects, we will see at the VI Vilnius Light Festival - in 2024. January 25-28, from 18 to 23 p.m.
