Artist in Focus: Lance Weiler aka Culture Hacker
Artist in Focus is an ongoing series featuring hic et nunc artists. Interested in being featured in the series? Please complete this form.
Lance Weiler (who goes by the alias Culture Hacker for the work he posts on hic et nunc) has been an artist for 20+ years working in film, installations and code. His work is difficult to classify as it tends to jump across mediums. He’s exhibited at major film festivals such as Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca and New York and has also presented work at MoMI, MoMA, the New Museum and Wallplay.
PT: What’s the story behind the piece you selected to share?
LW: I’m interested in movement and the perception of movement within still images. My path in the arts started with photography, and then I quickly fell in love with film which is 24 images per second. My love of motion is something that I attempt to bring into all of my work. Untitled #4 was a piece that I made for OBJKT4OBJKT in celebration of over 10,000 works being uploaded to hic et nunc. For me, the piece captures a sense of a timeline and/or a visualization of data. I often find myself working within a color palette that includes oranges, reds and browns. This piece is an extension of a series I’ve been working on called “Sinking.”
PT: Can you share an element of your creative practice?
LW: I’m fascinated with the deconstruction and remixing of images. Much of my artistic practice focuses on breaking things. Pushing digital to the edge. Letting it artifact and then combining it with analog elements. I got started by making films on 16mm. I would process the film myself. I was so inspired by experimental films that I took a road trip to Colorado when I was 20 to find legendary filmmaker Stan Brakhage. I eventually met him at the University of Colorado. He was so welcoming. We ended up hanging out for two days, and I even got to shoot some film with him.
I work with Miro often. I love the infinite canvas. I can spread out my work and then easily begin to make collages. I find that the tool moves at the speed of my creativity. I often subvert Miro (which is normally a productivity tool) and use it as a collaborative storytelling tool. For instance, I’m currently running an immersive storytelling experience entitled Where There’s Smoke. This piece is a mediation on life, loss and memory. Upwards of 60 people navigate the experience via Zoom and Miro. It’s exciting to experiment with Miro for this, because the piece actually started as a 4-person physical installation at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019.
PT: What’s a recent work that you collected on hic et nunc that you’re excited about and why?
LW: I love what Iskra Velitchkova is releasing on hic et nunc. What’s striking to me is the way she brings an organic quality to her work even though her pieces are collaborations with a machine. The use of color is stunning. Her work is some of my favorite on the platform. I have a single a piece of hers currently, but I’m hoping to collect more very soon.
Click here to view Iskra’s hic et nunc collection.
Lance’s collections
Lance has two collections on hic et nunc. The first is for experiments and early editions of work. The second features limited editions from his everyday project where he mints work that he makes daily.
To view experiments collection click here.
To view the everyday collection click here.
