Binary Fluidity: A Short Interview With Belgium Artist Arn Gyssels

I discovered the work of Belgian artist Arn Gyssels years ago, thanks to Flickr. At that point, he seemed like he was just beginning to hone in on a tripped out collage style full of decay, glitches, and geometries, and I was instantly captivated. Now, on May 25th, 2012, Gyssels has a solo show in Antwerp, at the H.O.T.F.O.X gallery. Binary Fluidity will showcase “a series of contrasting fluidic forms that are believed to represent, within our own streams of consciousness, certain aspects of reality. It is exactly this content of experience and discovery in all its simplicity that will give the observer a visual tour on the border of an ectoplasmic experience.”

Gyssels has come a long way in defining his style, and in working his worldview more and more into his visual style. Below is a short Q&A — just an introductory preview of the artist before a more in-depth collaborative feature with Gyssels and his girlfriend, Line Oshin.

(R) “This is one of the creatures that came out of putting black and white acrylic paint on a paper, scanning it in, and mirroring it from one side. You can see some form of underwater intelligent entity.”

“Love and light. Everything should be treated with the utmost respect and understanding.”

“The green in the background was a something weird I made with acrylic paint — nothing special actually. The orange was a picture of a creature from under the microscope; I just cut it up and made it more geometric in a abstract way.”

“This one is actually several layers of faces and teeth put in a order [so that they] almost match. [I] ripped of some pieces to give it a good composition.”

“It’s acrylic on paper. [It’s] a piece of blue Photoshopped image and a piece of carved rock that I copied and made some sort of geometric form [with].”

Recently, I thought back to when I was a really young kid, and I would make overlapping squares and circles in MS Paint and then fill each overlapping shape with alternating colors. That was my first memorable connection to geometry, and I was wondering if you can recall back to an early time in your life that stands out as a precursor to the artist you are today?

Well to be honest, I actually can’t recall any geometry-related memories, but I do know I have always been in touch with nature and the animal world, and used to catch bugs all day long when I was little. Now, I’m obsessed with animals and plants; it’s more like a starting point to a unfolding universal knowledge that expands with the years of working, thinking, and experience around that essential area.

Did you ever struggle with your aesthetic being ‘unpopular’ and people not understanding what you were all about?

No, I grew up more like a silent yet popular type of guy.

The internet has made it easier than ever for people to find other artists and musicians who are doing similarly esoteric things. People who would otherwise not know each other whatsoever are finding parallels in their music and art, thanks to the internet, though they might otherwise known each other. What do you make of this? Do you think there is any bigger picture significance to be had in all this?

Definitely. The big picture is actually that we are all evolving in a rapid way on the consciousness level. We have been so disconnected from our primordial source for a long time, and the reason why there is a massive revival of the occult and shamanism is because these are sciences that brings us closer to nature and closer to the nature of our own species; it’s a natural movement of the big picture.

What appeals to you about duality, in your personal life, or in concept? What are some dualities which are particularly interesting to you?

Well, I do love to work with duality because it holds everything in our universe. There is no one without the other, therefore all is equal, and I think the key ingredient is balancing the two. As for a visual point of view, I like to work with it because our brains automatically recognize natural physical aspects of it; for example, with black and white forms, you get a a lot of weird-looking creatures that have a strong human look.

Do your pieces follow a theme from the very beginning or is that something that evolves as you create?

It really evolves; I look at pictures and search by feeling, color, and atmosphere. That’s why some pieces become abstract.

Galactic Geometry is a great name for a website. How did you come up with it?

That’s a good question. When I had to type in my name for the website, I didn’t have anything in mind; it actually just popped up in the place I should’ve been typing. I think I used to type it in there a long time ago when I was planning on making one — but I couldn’t recall when that was. Weird.

Do you have any life philosophies you live by?

Love and light. Everything should be treated with the utmost respect and understanding.