5 Questions with Asio Gidup

For my encounter with Asio Gidup was at .......(insert obvious).  The piece somewhat confounded the 2095'er as it appeared to be a paste up which comprised of mini-pasteups but then presented as a single paste up (and if you can follow that thread then you are obviously well entrenched and familiarised with the 2095's "expressionism"s).

Ironically it would also be the day that her ISD was full by full, I mean 4G full AND she had left the second in the confines of her abode for reasons yet to be identified.

Aarrrrghhhh....total frustration, given that the nature of PM3 was to be a (at least this is how the 2095'er wanted it to be) quasi-street-art-hunt where it's a case of "here one day, pasted over the next".

Fortunately the artist in question has provided the 2095'er with a photograph to include in this somewhat rambling intro.

How long as Asio Gidup been part of the 'street art' movement

I started pasting in 2010.  I began making photo collages a year or so beforehand.  I was a toy at tagging in high school but always loved going on missions.

Your technique is incredibly complex yet when one sees the final "product" it has the appearance of being deceptively easy.  Can you explain the methods used from start to finish for these incredibly impressive masterpieces.

Well thank you!  What a lovely thing to say, you're very kind.  I take lots of photos from multiple perspectives and angles of the same object (a landscape, object, person etc).

I don't use a tripod (to which the 2095 cheers loudly!) I try to take photos in the same sitting because I find I take the photo sets differently depending on my state of mind.

The task involves concentration, so if I am in a depressed mood for example, I'll possibly experience anhedonia (slowing of the thoughts) and I'll take a set of photos differently compared to when I am in a state of joy or love.

I sort the photos out and take them to print. Depending on the location I have in mind, I will make the poster in to segments or at times will put together on the spot.

What has been your largest installation to date

Largest to date would probably have been a beach landscape at Holloway Eye-ware warehouse in West-End (Brisbane) for Lost Movements in December 2012  (4.6 x 5.2)

What drives you to create

I'm driven by torment from obsessive thoughts and compulsion to realise them.  Music and women inspire me most.

Do you Asio Gidup as having a certain "shelf life" or will you continue to create for as long as the desire to do so exists

I guess I don't really understand the question.  This is the way I have found to express my ideas and feelings that comes easily to me and brings me joy, peace of mind, satisfaction and much more: all as essential forms of introspection and self-healing.

So to say "shelf life" implies I will only want to continue to visually express myself for a short period of my life, which is not the case.

It's possible that your philosophy of self expression differs slightly from mine, and if so that's ok (nb: as a personal aside the 2095'er believes that as long as there is a person there will always be self-expression in whatever form it may take)

An element of disagreement in any conversation is a good thing.  It means everyone's paying attention and participating.

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My thanks to Asio for sharing part of his life with the 2095'er and allowing photos to be reproduced for this article.

5 questions with OX

As the 2095 became more confident in her exploration of the Inner West, yet maintaining the "if i can hear a train or a bus I know I'm not too far from safety" thought process as it were, she chose to walk through Camdenville Park to get a shot of a wall on the other side of a train track she had previously seen.

What she spied instead was a funny little pasteup that required IMMEDIATE investigation.  

Still not terribly familiar with the area and having already done the unthinkable (racing across the train track) she felt duty bound to take the long way around in order to get a closer view of the paste up in question.

Fast forward to (yep....here it comes again...) PM3 and  the first incredible image the 2095's eyes clamped on was not just hypnotic but made SUCH an impact, upon return to the confines of her abode, she simply stared at it admiring it in all its intricate political seductiveness for an indeterminate amount of time.

It was also due to this piece, that the impatience to return to said Outpost and discover more by this artist drove all around the 2095 up their own walls which in itself is an enormous achievement even by her standards!!

What was your initial entree to street art and can you give a rationale in regards to your tag name

I guess I started a few years ago when I was doing a bunch of live art shows around Sydney for free drinks. I enjoyed the speed of it all and wanted to start playing around with spray paint so I could start using more colour at speed.

I met Bafcat and Resan (a couple of painters) earlier that year and ended up going to some abandoned factories to hang out and have a paint.  I really enjoyed using cans, learnt a bunch of little tricks pretty and have been hooked on painting since then.

OX comes from the fact that I always had a hard time telling people my last name.  Not that's it particularly long or weird or anything; just having a semi-English/Australian accent people seemed to get it wrong in a variety of bizarre ways.

i wanted to go by something incredibly simple and something that was symbolic above just letters.  I like how both the symbols O and X are used in so many different contexts other the letter format.

I have always preferred images over the written word, so I think OX represents my work well.  There are a bunch of other reasons but I won't go in to them as they probably equally as boring.

What drives your creativity

Not sure really.  It's just something I do, something I enjoy working hard at and exploring new ways to create.

Art in whatever medium has always been attractive to me.  There are no rules, no wrong answers and on one who can stop you from doing it.  It can be incredibly difficult and especially financially unrewarding at the best of times, but no matter what I do, there is always an element that is predominantly positive.

It's important to me that I'm never going to be able to master what I do, I'm never going to reach 'that point' where I'm finished.  I'm always learning and there will always be something that I'm just going to suck at.

I think that probably what drives me most: just trying to do work that's better than my last piece.  I want to be a grizzled old man one day who still worries over his filthy painting.

Some of your work is incredibly complex with specific reference to the first shot I took at PM3 (as seen above).  

Is there a specific "story" for each creation, or is it almost a continual work in progress to the point that while you may personally never be 100% satisfied with the finished product ("it needs a tweek here"), others perceive it as a perfection 

Improving my techniques is definitely what drives my work, but in each piece I try to tell an ambiguous story I guess.

Most of my work is character based and I have a background in animation which is where the story-telling element of my work comes from.

I like to give people a character that they can imagine a story for: in that way the viewer has a role in the creation of the work as well.

Do you prefer the freedom of wall or the restrictions of design

I like elements of both.  I enjoy being able to take as long as I want in the studio trying to perfect whatever I am working on at the the time getting lost in illustration really chills me out, but after a few days I start to get some serious cabin fever.

So that's when I really like getting outside and painting with some mates for fun; it's really the only environment I can make art and be social at the same time.

It's fast and takes me to new places that can only be compliment endless hours in the studio.

In a perfect world where do you see yourself as the artist being within (say) the next 5 years

I would like to be illustrating and painting full time.  Having enough clients that I can life purely off selling my own art and doing illustration work that I really enjoy.

The freedom of that kind of work would allow me to travel around and do more mural work than I am capable of doing at the moment.  AND the opportunity to exhibit my work overseas more often

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My eternal thanks to OX for sharing a bit of his life with the 2095 and allowing reproductions of his work for this blog.  

Love the work, and hope to see it hit the international heights it deserves my friend!