11 Aug Android Jones Talks Creativity, Love and Artistic Collaborations With Tipper and Phadroid

Android Jones Talks Creativity, Love and Artistic Collaborations With Tipper and Phadroid

By: Denice Dal Braccio

How long does it take to create a piece? What is the creative process like?

This is the one question I get asked a lot. When people see something for the first time, they want to know how long it took so that they can put it their own framework and have a better understanding. It’s a strange question, but I understand it. Time is somewhat subjective, but there is objectivity to how many minutes are in a minute and in an hour. I get that, but for me, it’s not about the amount of time it takes; It’s about the quality of my attention and the amount of focus. I can make one hour feel like three hours if I have attention and focus in what i’m doing. If I don’t, what might take one hour could take three days. I probably create between 12 to 25 major works in a year. Sometimes, I’ll work on something for one long evening and i’ll get 90 percent of it done, but then finishing the last 10 percent can take ten times longer to fine tune and refine it. It’s always changing, but it’s all about the quality of focus rather than the quality of time.

Where do you get inspiration for your artwork? Do you think living in Colorado is one of the key factors?

The core of all my inspiration comes from nature and the natural world on some level. For ideas, a lot of it comes intuitively. I start off and I might have an idea and an intention and I just try to create an environment that supports a creative dialogue between myself and that idea. I don’t get a lot of inspiration from other artists or painters.

Colorado is great because I have my own space and it’s very isolated. Some of the best work I’ve created is when I have a lot of space to create and a lack of distractions going on around me. Sometimes, I’ll go to different cities to create art, but I don’t need to be in a Metropolitan area to feel inspired. What I need is to be by myself and to let things come.

Music is another inspiration. I have to make sure there is really good music playing. I make a playlist because the better the playlist I make, the better the art comes out.

What software and hardware you use to create your pieces?

The main program I use is the Corel Painter 2015. As for hardware, I use is the Wacom tablet for strokes and drawing images. I also use Zbrush, SketchUp and Adobe Photoshop to put things together.

How do you go about making your hologram pieces?

First, I create the pieces in Corel Painter and Photoshop. I design them with about three or four different layers and then it’s really a combination of software that interpolates the image and breaks it up. Finally, I laminate it using a tranticular lens.

A bunch of artists have used your artwork as music videos by using a timelapse of you creating your art. What was your favorite video-art collaboration?

One of my favorites was Tipper, “Life Raft For A Death Trip.”

Do you reach out to an artist when you hear a song you like and see it fitting your design or is it vice versa?

It’s mostly vice versa. For the past decade, I’ve grown up in the underground Burning Man/ San Francisco music scene. I was really exposed and happened to be close friends with guys like Random Rab, Bassnectar and Glitch Mob. I knew them before they were famous and we really inspired each other. I’m actually working on a Random Rab album cover right now.

However, Tipper was someone I had been a fan of before I met him. We attended a lot of the same events and festivals and just kind of came together naturally. We understand each other and fit really well together. Basically, I want my art to be the equivalent of the visual version of Tipper. That’s something I aim to be.

When working with Tipper, what is the process like?

Tipper will send me his album before it’s released and usually, I’ll sit with the album anywhere from a month to six weeks before it’s remastered. A lot of times, I’ll put the album on repeat, playing it over and over and over again, just sitting in front of the monitor working it out until something comes out. I’m inspired from the music to make a new piece. That’s what makes it authentic. I’ll listen to the album hundreds of times before it’s finished.

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