By Michal Waclawek
What is your piece titled?
Montjuïc (Olympic Tower)
How long do you think it took you to make this art?
Like 2 minutes.
What is your favorite part about this piece?
The soft lighting on the tower.
What was a challenge in creating this ?
Finding a creative perspective to represent.
What medium did you use to create this artwork?
Photography.
What is the meaning behind your artwork?
That is a bad question. Maybe look my the inspirations and focus on what I’m taking a photo of. Maybe the meaning is that everything in life is beautiful, artistic, and intentional (minus AI slop) and that it is up to the viewer to figure out meaning in art and in everything. Honestly it is not the job of the artist to serve the meaning behind a work on a silver platter. I’m not trying to be mysterious or rude but half the point of art is trying to understand it and people who don’t desire to put in the effort it takes to understand art are shallow and don’t deserve to understand it in the first place.
What was the inspiration behind this piece?
The freedom and bliss of a high school summer and Lorde’s “Solar Power” album cover
What do you hope viewers will take away from this artwork?
Be happy because you are lucky in your life to be where you are with the people you are with. Also stop feeding the part of your mind that compares because it is the thief of joy.
What was the process like in creating this piece?
I was on a walk with a friend in Barcelona when we stumbled upon this stunning antenna in the city’s olympic park. I then climbed the base and took a picture from below. Then I put the camera on my phone.
Who is your favorite artist and why?
Rosalia is the goat because in a world of anti-intellectualism and slop, she puts a scholarly level of humanity and intent into every record. For example, her song “Reliquia” from her latest album “LUX” sees her following the story of Santa Rosa de Lima who was a saint that had her body scattered across churches following her death. On this same album, she also sings a chorus in Arabic which loosely describes the story of an Islamic profit. Also, like all great artists, she reinvents her style on every album, making sure that her sound is fresh while also adhering to her overarching artistic vision. As she put it in her Zane Lowe interview, “[my last album] was minimalist. This is maximalist.” She also treads a fine line between celebrity and reserved composer which allows her to control her image while also allowing her to create a reserved suspense before announcing a new work. Rosalia was also one of the first Spanish artists that caught my attention and she truly inspired me to learn her language through her music which then led me down to investigate other pop-flamenco artists and more recently reggaeton. Without her music I may never have furthered my interest in Spanish and I would never have thought to learn about hispanic and latino cultures at the time that I did, and for that I am eternally greatful and really think she is the goat tbh.