Brian Gawlik. “Ok. Give me six months”
Brian Gawlik.
PhD in Mechanical Engineering.
Generative artist.
Lives in Austin, TX.
Favorite Food: Tacos!
◾️How long have you been doing fine art?
Just for the past couple years. I’ve always been into creative stuff, but for the most part had been exclusively focused on music.
◾️Through what impressions did you come to generative art?
I started generative art simply as a side project to get better at programming at a time when I thought I might try to pursue a career in software. By chance, I got interested in branching algorithms and took on the challenge of trying to make a generative tree. The tree/nature stuff really stuck, and formed the basis of my current style.
◾️What/who inspires you?
Music has always resonated the most deeply with me, and there are a handful of musical artists that have inspired me in a big way. There are too many to list, so let me just pick 5 for now…
MARO
Submerse
Dntel
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble
Charli XCX
As far as art goes — generally speaking, I am inspired by anyone else doing generative nature/tree art. I found Nat Sarkissian’s recent drop Bardez to be a real bar-setter. Beautiful work.
I’m also super inspired by traditional digital artists doing nature work. Like wow, some of that stuff is incredible, and I aspire to match that level of quality with generative approaches.
Actually, I don’t even know who these artists are at this point — just things that pop up in my Twitter feed.
◾️How interested are you in cultural life in your city?
If by cultural life you mean grabbing a drink at a local spot, then yes. Hahaha.
◾️Do you visit exhibitions? Do you have any bright impressions connected with it?
I’ve never been one to go to museums and stuff like that. The only art exhibits I’ve really ever been to were recent, and they were my own… But, the experiences were really cool — I enjoyed the atmosphere, getting to check out other artists’ work, and everything else. So, I think it would be great to get more into that type of thing.
◾️Have you had any experience of cooperation with exhibitions?
I have done a couple physical exhibitions around Austin — One of which was with an art gallery curated by the Bee Cave Arts Foundation, and another was with the tech art school, dadageek.
◾️How and why did you start issuing NFTs?
I got into the NFT world as soon as I realized what a great opportunity it was to do something serious with my work. A big part of this realization came after being introduced to someone who had been collecting in the space for a while. He saw my work and immediately began urging me to get into it.
I had heard about NFTs before, and even knew vaguely that there was generative art presence in the space, but I think that’s when things really clicked — here was a real life person who seemed super stoked about my work telling me I had to do this. I was like, “ok. give me six months.” Lol.
◾️How immersed are you in the NFT community?
I’d say I am decently immersed in the NFT community, but only really my little corner of the space — a space which extends into other areas that I know I don’t really understand. In the little/big world of tezos (and more specifically fxhash) however, I think I am fairly in touch with the community.
◾️Have you made useful contacts and like-minded people?
I’ve made many new friends in the space — random people on Twitter who noticed me, gave me sage advice, and invested in my work. I’ve spoken with a handful of other artists too. What a great little corner of the internet this is :) Happy to be a part of it.
◾️Who would you like to collaborate with?
Right now, I am not particularly open to collaborations. I’ve only released a couple projects so far, and feel like I have so much more to do on my own. Maybe further down the road a collaboration would be a fun and fruitful experience. The artist Kira, comes to mind :)
◾️Are there qualities in you that you would like to upgrade or eliminate?
I get bored super easily and it’s a frequent source of depression. I’d like to figure out ways to deal with that better. I’m usually happy when I’m coding, but I can’t just code all the time. Haha. I think I have to focus on growing my social life and also having more patience for quiet moments.
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