Howdy peeps!

Here we are with another killer flickr featured artist-this time we gave the task of interviewing an artist to Plymouthian slickster Haacht- The jazzy fizzer reached out to interview one of his favourite flickr artists, Berlin based creative powerhouse, Oliver of the Sky.

1. Could you tell me a liltle about yourself, name, where you are from
and when did you start drawing/painting?

“My name is Oliver of the Sky, ‘of the Sky’ being a translation of my name in Dutch, van der Lugt. I was born in the Netherlands and raised in New Zealand, where I also studied towards a BFA. Then i quit and heeded the call to take to the wind.. In the past two years I have based myself between Melbourne, Australia and Berlin, Germany, with as much travel as possible in between.
I started drawing when I was two or three I suppose. I have some excellent memories of drawing farm animals and basketballers and cars at the living room table with my brother when we were little!! But in terms of committing seriously to drawing and visual art, that happened when I finished high school and decided to go to Art School. So circa 2005.”

2. Your work is very graphic based, how important is aesthetics to you and how much is it conceptually based? or is a large part the idea of the process?

“I have found myself working in a way that mediates between conceptual ideas and a more intuitive aesthetic experimentation. I see it as a kind of continuum, and different works sit at different points on the line between those two ways of working. Some drawings are a very clear illustration of an idea that is resolved already beforehand, while some are improvisations from start to finish. I have a keen sense of aesthetics; when I experience other people’s work it hits me first on an intuitive visual level, which either resonates with me or it doesn’t, and I have this sense with my own work too. Process is also very important. A lot of it feels like posing questions and then working out solutions. Problem solving! New directions and questions always arise through the process of previous/ current projects.”

3.So what would you say are your main influences both conceptual and aestheticlly? Does music play a big part?

“I think I’m influenced most by people that I meet who are kind enough to share their world with me. I definitely owe a lot to my friends and loved ones. I’m really inspired by people who work hard and are doing things with heart and conviction and thoughtfulness. Music is important; I always listen to something while I work. I love experimental music and noise, but also trashy pop and hip hop and a lot of the music my friends make. Last winter here in Berlin I listened almost exclusively to the Wu Tang Clan, and lately I’ve started getting into some interesting field recording podcasts.
I’m also influenced by weird fashion and style, queer culture and DIY, the vast and magical world of the internet, travel, cities and nature, critical theory that I read all wrong, good healthy food…

My more direct art influences are pretty diverse. I love ‘bad’ graffiti and doorways covered in tags at the same time as some far out high-art world stuff like Katarina Grosse or Olafur Elliasson. Aesthetically I’m obsessed with the hybrid post-Fort-Thunder-meets-weird-euro-style-in-the-retro-future kind of stuff that’s really proliferating and mutating right now thanks to the internet. Flickr and Tumblr are rad! My conceptual framework I think is shaped by all of the above; I appreciate things that challenge me and make me think and/or that manage to bypass my criticality and fill me with a sense of wonder.
Three recent things that have really inspired me are:
The films of Ryan Trecartin, Lucky Dragons, and as an ex die hard skateboarder, Epicly Later’d.

4. Ahhh Wu Tang, I’m feeling that. I’ve been hitting Cuban Links hard lately.
so whats’ a day in your life? and where do you see yourself in ten years?
And could you tell me a little bout ‘on crunk’ ?

“OK, a day in my life can be quite a fluctuating thing but lately it has been: Get up, make an espresso and some breakfast, answer some emails and have a little wander on the net. If my job needs me, pop in and put in a couple of hours work, otherwise cycle down to the studio I am sharing with a friend and draw as long as the light allows.. I have my work set up on a wall next to a big window that gets really nice natural light for most of the day. Then cycle back home and cook some dinner, and if I don’t have a music performance, DJ set, drawing evening or tattoo session lined up, chill in my room reading or scribbling or researching/ experimenting with some other projects. Going and getting an ice cream and sitting in the park often slots in at some point these days too..
Haha thinking beyond a couple of months is actually quite new for me at the moment, let alone a decade. But I’d be happy if I had a nice shopfront studio like the ones I see sometimes here in Berlin, surrounded by a good community of committed creative people making mess and noise and changing the world one art project at a time. Interspersed with plenty of travel I hope..
ON CRUNK was an exhibition I recently had with a good friend of mine, Nathan Menglef . We met in The Netherlands last year and instantly connected over drawing, and both happened to move to Berlin at about the same time. We had been talking about having a show for a while, to see how our work would communicate and collide together in one space. It was super fun, we made a little website for it complete with crappy html and blingees of our work, and there was a really good atmosphere at the opening. I am quite honoured to have been able to show together with Nathan; his work is really tight/ challenging/ developed. ‘ON CRUNK’ was the only name that came up in the planning process that seemed to fit; it’s kind of absurd enough to come back around and be perfectly legit. I know the first time I heard Lil Jon I was really taken aback.. His music is totally crazy. The idea of crunk as “a heightened state of excitement” and/or being simultaneously stoned and drunk is really interesting to me, and I think the title reflected the intensity, faux bling, and geekiness of the show nicely.”

5. I must say im not feeing Lil Jon, abit to much for me haha.
I must say tho I dont mind lil wayne (not all of it tho) Anyway, you mentioned tattooing……..i see you have a project going on there too?

“Yes I have a project going on. It’s called Constellation Search. I’m redirecting the ancient human activity of charting images in the night sky towards the body, and together with participants finding constellations between beauty spots, freckles and moles. I tattoo them with a very subtle dotted line with a stick and poke tattoo technique. It’s simple and fun; so far I have made about a dozen with a bunch of lovely people. The tattoos take about a week to stabilise/ heal, and catching up with everybody after that time to get photos is proving to be half the project though!! I’m planning to continue with it for a while; eventually I hope to build up a catalogue with lots of nice photos of tattoos I make in the different places I live in/ travel to.”

6. Do you have any things or projects coming up in the future?

“My main focuses for the coming month or two are the Constellation Search, and a large new drawing. I am also coordinating a series of drawing nights with Nathan here in Berlin, where people are invited to come down and draw and eat snacks. It’s nice to build community around those things. And loosely working towards a new body of music/ sound work. At the end of September I will return to Australia and then back to New Zealand for a while, where I’m sure plenty of new projects will arise.”

7. And where can we see more of your work?

My website: www.oliverofthesky.tk and flickr: www.flickr.com/standongonachair , www.constellationsearch.tk . Also on the 20th of September myself and Stevie Hanley will be holding an open studio where I will show some last new works here in Berlin. More details on my site soon!

8. Any shouts outs or anything you wanna get off your chest?

“Keep it real, not the same” that’s by queer grrrl rapper Jane Bang. Far too many people to give shout outs to, but a few very important ones are Holly Fluxx , Ghostpatrol , Miso of the Mitten Fortress, Herr Menglef and my family!

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Rockin stuff eh?! Props to Haacht for setting the questions and mad thanks to Oliver for taking the time to answer them.

Be sure to hit up Oliver Of the Sky’s flickr/website and all the other links available-lots to check peeps, don’t sleep.

And don’t get to frettin’-we have more articles on creative cats from round the globe coming real soon!