Danish painter Carl Krull is one of the leading young artists of his generation. He works primarily with painting, drawing and various art forms of animation. His paintings are more like sketches that reflect his thoughts and focus more on the process of creation rather than the final result.
He has already started his practice with VR technology. Carl received the first prize in Hokkaido Comics competition that took place in Japan in 1994, won the Jan Matejko Academy Prize for the best graphic diploma in 1999, came first in the category of Digital Art Diesel New Art Competition in 2005 and was selected from the Art Studio Itsukaichi Residence Program in Tokyo in 2007.
Q=Tezign
A= Carl Krull
Q: You first started drawing during the road trip across the U.S and created the art series, Scroll Drawings. How did you come up with the idea? Is it the reason that you became obsessed with the lines?
A: Basically I’ve been drawing all my life. I’ve done like contours drawings where you make outline of the thing, then I was looking for a way to do background and foreground unite. I used to draw a lot of lines in the background to pull out the image, but then I was annoyed by all the lines in background as its being not as important. Eventually I started drawing ripples on water and I realized that there was some sort of potential that I hadn’t tried.
I made the drawing a couple of years ago before the road trip, the background and the person merged into one drawing. I was drawing the line which became the face or the eyes and became back into the background. I discovered that this technique of making lot of lines through which I could pull out images, is like sculpting.
So I thought perhaps I could roll the paper round, groups over the paper and make circles, which basically is an interpreter like scanning the drawings, same way as a copy machine. I had the idea before the trip, but it is a completely new technique. The whole trip made me focus a lot on the lines as I was seating in my passenger seat with my wife driving the car. That was a big scroll like 1.5 meters tall and 3.5 meters wide, the technique actually works well for me because I only need 1.5 meters and I scroll the images.
Q: During your road trip, have you got any impressive experiences?
A: I think that traveling in the U.S is exciting and you see a lot of scenes in the movies. Besides enjoying hanging out with my good friends in New York, there are really great impressions on some of the national parks.
I love seating on the road and watching the nature, or driving through the desert. There was a national park called Arches National Park, which has beautiful stones and fantastic formations of the nature. The other one is the Badlands National Park, which actually reminds me of a lot of drawings that I was doing.
Q: Do you take pictures and store them to use it later when creating your work?
A: Usually I don’t work from pictures, I don’t take pictures and look at them and then draw as it is like a copy pasting process. When I draw, I have a concept or idea that I know I will make, for example, a face, then I use the technique to make a lot of lines. I think the most interesting thing for me is that when you make art, you might have some kind of plan, but you will still be surprised by your drawings. There is a feeling that I know I was doing this drawing, but it seems that it was done by somebody else.
I think the most interesting thing is to create something you don’t even know. You saw the raw materials, something came out. From my imagination, I might have a plan, but when I start drawings, it takes you to a detour. The thing is while I draw, the lines take me to different directions. It’s like the person who direct the music, control everything, by seeing something that is very interesting, I go to that direction.
Q: We found that you are also using quite strong colors in your works except black. What kind of philosophies you want to deliver to the public through those series of works?
A: I have been working with black and white drawings for 5 years. Now I started to do something with ink drawings.
But working with color is completely different from working with black and white. In black and white painting, you draw and make the border,
When you have colors, you started mix them. There are no borders and everything is moving. It’s not as much instinct. It’s like you are putting your feelings inside the color. I think in the future, I will work more with colors, but black and white is still the basic that I do.
Q: It’s quite inspiring that you have already used VR in your art creating process. Like you used do a VR drawing performance at the Royal Danish Theater. How do you feel about that? Do you think that would be a trend？
A: Art is always embracing technology. The basic stuff of art is always there, but for sure, VR is part of the future of the art. It’s a different way of expressing yourself. When I first do VR, it’s kind of like something in between drawing and sculpting. While you can make 3 dimensional work, of course it is fascinating, but for me, when I started drawing with VR, I started drawing with eyes. What is fascinating for me is that when I move around, I am drawing under the surface of the sculpture which I am creating.
I have one experience in my life which is pretty strange many years ago. It was when I was in Thailand at the night time, I dived into the water for nearly 12 meters, it was completely dark. I turned off my flashlight underwater, then moved my hand in the water. Because there were some fluorescent animals, I had light around my hand! VR kind of reminds me of that experience.
In a way I have to say, VR also gives me more confidence in sculpting. When I am doing the VR, basically I am doing the 2 dimensional things on paper. But when I see the shapes, also the work I make, I am sculpting my drawings.
The funny thing is that when I have the VR equipment, I have been drawing for two weeks nonstop in my studio. (Laugh) But it’s good for me to not have it all the time alongside, because I have to do basic things on the paper.
Q: VR creating is more like “creating in the air”, won’t you feel a little bit out of control as all those stuff is not real.
A: I don’t feel out of control. Actually, I feel it’s really present because there is nothing else other than me and the lines that I am drawing. Even though I had this strange control in my hand, but I am 100% sure that it is here. The thing is, when you are running, you don’t think about your legs. I just see the lines in front of me so I don’t feel detached, rather, I feel that it Is very real.
Q: Is there any limitation for the VR creating process?
A: I think there is. But the main reason for the limitation is that the VR equipment is not really made for artist.
At first, I want to draw with both hands because that is more natural, but that is not yet possible. When I was doing the performance, I was thinking it would be interesting to do that in big space in the theatre which is 10 times 10 meters. But because it is more like a consumer product, you can only draw maximum 4 times 4 meters.
There are limitations, but the technology is always there to make all the things I can imagine. But first, you need some custom hardware or more advanced equipment. I would say, my imagination is better than the equipment. (Laugh)
Q: Have you thought about integrating other new technologies such as AI in your art?
A: I am fully confident with my brain, so I don’t think I need it (Laugh). Actually I don’t think AI is really in my style, as my work is more about being physical in the working process, your body has to interact with your work, but AI will separate me from the physical process.
Q: Could you share with us what’s your next big project?
A: The next project I am going to do is that I am going to dig two big holes on the ground, which will be half face on each side. It is pretty big like 2.5 meters long holes for each. The I will fill them up with concrete, and when they dry up, there will be a big head with each of them is 2.5 meters tall.
So you can see that I started drawing faces, then I started doing VR and I was doing sculptures which is like faces and now I am doing sculptures, there might be a strange world that is not existing, but the skills or the experiences that I add in this physical world I can bring out and use in the physical world again. So what’s also interesting about technology is that you take something in the real world, put it into the computer and in and out, back and forth… that is a really interesting process.
