interview with artist chris von szombathy

chris von szombathy photographed by cesar bañares II

chris von szombathy is a visual & auditory artist, art director, designer and writer residing in vancouver, canada.

DB: please could you tell about your background and how you came to be an artist?
CVS: I grew up drawing, went to art school, joined some bands, left art school, left the bands. I got my first solo show in 2006 and that got me back into the fold. since then I haven’t stopped much.

monumental accident

snake & ladder: a futile game

DB: how would you describe your work to someone who hasn’t seen it before?
CVS: that might depend on the person. the work is usually about futility and desire and how those things are linked, ultimately. with that in mind there’s a lot of food and sex. occasionally death. the basics!

DB: what has been the biggest singular influence on your work?
CVS: both of my grandfathers were artists but my maternal grandfather was a professional. before he died I went to go see what would be his last show in the ginza district of tokyo. huge gallery. beautiful work. this was when I was still in my late teens. he looked at the work I brought and he said that he didn’t like it. in fact he might have said he hated it. it completely crushed me, which was great in the long run. it made me realize I’m not my work, I’m just of my work.

son, there are things out there you wouldn’t believe

big desires

DB: which piece or project have you enjoyed working on the most to date?
CVS: I had some custom dice made that were bright red and they say ‘no’ on every side. I made them to ‘aid with the decision making process’ and, as well as being totally childish, are probably the most honest thing I’ve made. I keep one on my desk at all times. I made them into an actual packaged art piece. the dice themselves feel nice in the hand. I love the manufacturing too because they’re all identical, which is very satisfying.

DB: which mediums and materials do you enjoy working with the most?
CVS: I like working with forgiving materials. certainly you need to work with anything for a while to get the ins and outs of its properties but I like responsive things to work with. I hate fussiness.

untitled

untitled

jumper

blasta

DB: what are you hoping to explore over the next year?
CVS: redo my website. eat more vegetables.

DB: what do you do to keep your ideas fresh?
CVS: there is so much written on the subject of idea-making and the answers generally end up being a little precious because they’re so personal. I don’t really care about freshness or staleness: ideas are ideas. I’m far too neurotic to be an accurate judge so I don’t bother trying to filter anything until it’s at least on paper. if you want fresh ideas to come out of the oven often you have to load the damn oven often first!

DB: what do you know now that you wish you knew when you were a teenager?
CVS: creativity is a currency, spend it like crazy.

cherish the thought

sausage grinder

poker face

box cutter

DB: do you have any superstitious beliefs?
CVS: I was about to tell you no but the more I think about it, I’m completely full of superstitious beliefs. I’m agoraphobic and have been for over half my life so I’m a pretty acute example of how people’s lives are informed completely by their habits. and what could be based in superstition more than our habits?

DB: what’s the last thing that made you say ‘wow’ ?
CVS: my parents bought a ping-pong table.