Timon Botez

TIMON BOTEZ
Artist
City of residence, OSLO, NOR

WEBSITE

Timon Botez is a Norwegian-Romanian artist educated in London (University of the Arts). He is firmly established in Oslo after many years working in Boston, London and New York. 

People's relationship to man-made environments is a recurring theme in Botez’s work. Having spent most of his life in urban settings, he is influenced by the erratic behaviour and incidental interactions that take place around him. Through pseudo-scientific research, Botez explores the underlying behavioural patterns detected in his surroundings. 

He's work lies in the intersection of technology and mechanics. He is inspired by the Dadaists’ abstraction of language and letter forms and find parallels to the Futurists noise-oriented approach to making sound. 

For the past 10 years Botez has been working with sound and sculpture through conceptual compositions and orchestral installations. Like light, sound can be shaped and formed. Botez explores the space in front of a sound source by funneling and projecting the moving air as a way of sculpting audio waves. 

Along with his artistic work, Botez runs Storck, a  non-profit exhibition space, Indre Oslo matforedling, a small scale butcher/meat curing business and Bar Lardo, a wine-dive, all situated in downtown Oslo.

QA:

COL: Who are you and what do you do? 
TB: Timon Botez, artist, butcher and bar owner.

COL: What characterize you work? How would you describe your personal style? 
TB: My work draws on personal experiences in every day environments. I look for the odd things in the daily flow. A break from the pattern. 

COL: How do your own experiences influence your work?
TB: Pretty much 100%. Observations and experiences become concepts for projects.

COL: What will you be showing at the uncontaminated festival?
TB: Gems from the "half floor", a sound piece made from recordings of junk stored by my father in an old basement. To be shown with Roger Ballen's photographs.

COL: What do you want to communicate through your work? Is there a message - political or otherwise
TB: Id like to take you some where you haven't been. Somewhere you didn't imagine. 

COL: Do artists of today have some kind of of social responsibility?
TB: I think they always have. Just different generations have different forms of social engagements.

COL: What is the most important thing in your life?
TB: Work. Family. Experiences. 

COL: How do you feel right now?
TB: Tired. Happy.

COL: What are the main reasons you are joining us for the festival this year?
TB: Never to turn down a invitation.

COL: What is the most important drive for you to create and why?
TB: I explore, learn from that and move on. Again and again. Progress over perfection.

COL: Who or what do you value as a great inspiration for you creatively?
TB: People. They do the most unpredictable things. 

COL: Can you elaborate on an important moment in your life where you experienced a big change, chose to make one or another event which altered your way of thinking or your approach to creativity ?
TB: Napalm Death, Oslo 1987 (I think). Lost my hearing for 3-4 days. 

COL: How does digital and social media affect or inspire your life and creations?
TB: Digital media is a great tool box. Social media is a great source for input. 

COL: What do you define art? 
TB: If its art its art.

COL: What is your definition of artistic freedom?  
TB: Freedom is the reason for working artistically.

COL: Is there a difference for you between art and commercial/commissioned work? 
TB: Yes.

COL: Do you struggle to find artistic freedom in the span between commissioned work and your personal needs to express yourself?
TB: Boundries are often a good setting for creativity. Keeps focus.

COL: What do you aspire to? In the near future? In life in general?
TB: People, fruit, the tropics.

COL: How do you feel art and fashion intervene?
TB: Like ketchup and mustard. 

COL: What is a great example of a fashion art collaboration in your view?
TB: Kurt Russel, Escape from LA.

COL: Where do you think art and fashion is heading in our digital age?
TB: They will thrive. Together.