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Lumen Interview: Geert De Coninck from VJBooking

FrontFX Magazine

Published

10 years ago

on

Geert De Coninck from VJBooking

Lumen: Hi Geert, please introduce yourself for our readers.

Geert: My name is Geert De Coninck. I work as a freelance cross media designer in Belgium. I recently became a proud dad of a boy named Ray. 

Geert De Coninck from VJBooking

With a VJ-prince – Ray.

Lumen: That’s the most positive introduction ever been on Lumen! Our congratulations! 🙂 Please, continue…

Geert: Also I’m a VJ enthusiast and currently working on a video installation #PerformingCanvas. I’m the creator of www.VJBooking.com, a network dedicated to Visual Jockeys.

Geert De Coninck from VJBooking

#PerformingCanvas: click to see the video!

Lumen: Do you see a connection between design and VJing?

Geert: Video technology became a lot easier, faster and more accessible over the years and because of this you see a lot of visual styles develop faster. Many people, educated in Graphics and Design, coders and developers discover VJing as a new medium to be creative.

Lumen: Did you experience an evolution when it comes to design in VJing?

Geert: As I mentioned before, the technology became much better and faster. VJing already had a rich heritage as an art-form in the past. The last couple of years the image quality improved immensely. Exciting times ahead for sure.

Lumen: Do you prefer a pencil & sketchbook or a tablet with graphic software? Rate your preferences for us. 🙂

Geert: I love to sketch my ideas before going digital. It gives me a clear view on the result that needs to be achieved and makes the creative process faster when going digital. So they go hand in hand for me…

Lumen: Where did the idea of vjbooking.com come from?

Geert: Some bands approached me on Myspace and I did some VJ gigs at underground rave parties back then. The idea developed there, listening to the demands and frustration of this band finding a VJ for their show. So there was clearly a demand but no place with nice visual portfolios. I created the first VJBooking website in one week with a lot of coffee, reheated spaghetti and no sleep. Those were the days!

Geert De Coninck from VJBooking

Office setup

Lumen: Sounds awesome! Even about spaghetti! But is there a business idea? What’s the goal of the website?

Geert: The first VJBooking website was targeting Belgium but it got international over night sort of speak. So it quickly got much bigger. Our goal is to become a place where new talent or styles get noticed and agencies or bands can find and book their favorite artists.

Lumen: Please, tell us how a booking works on VJBooking service.

Geert: The Artists can create a FREE portfolio. We share their work with the world. Clients can make a booking by providing some basic information about their event like budget, location, date, expectations and we start our search.

Sometimes we produce visuals on demand or just handover the client “lead” to the artist or appropriate agency that fits the client needs. We really want to help the client, while kick-starting new VJ talent on VJBooking.

Lumen: Can an artist become popular without posting on VJ networks?

Geert: Of course, you can’t argue talent but posting your work online on a VJ network will get you noticed faster and the artists will have more time to focus on creative process.

Lumen: Describe the nowadays VJ community, its’ professional and cultural level. What countries are the leaders in the number of VJs?

Geert: I don’t really think a number is relevant. There is a lot more information available on a professional level. For example: VJ stock footage, forums, facebook groups and magazines. Some countries have a lot of talent or produce fun stuff based on cultural diversity.

I remember some Mexican visuals with a Día de Muertos (Day of the dead) theme. That video work was oozing color and contrast. Loved it!

Lumen:  Is there a location with more visuals artists than other in the world?

Geert: Not really, every country has its own demand. Some countries are more ‘open’ to the idea of a visual artist than other.

We send-out 2 projection mapping artists to a music festival and they were announced in every single piece of advertisement as “must see” artists. Definitely THE way to go!

Geert De Coninck from VJBooking

Lumen: Describe your VJbookig rivals. Is there any serious competition between different booking agencies?

Geert: We see the website as an online portfolio platform for other booking agencies. We made some nice contacts over the years and I hope to work with them more in the years to come. No rivals, only connections to produce better quality which is key for our goal as a VJ promoting website.

Lumen: How does the price of artist performance evolve and what is the impact of booking agencies in that case?

Geert: We always provide advice on pricing, but we also aim to make the gig as pleasant as possible for all people involved. Don’t get me wrong… We all have bills to pay but producing quality in a friendly atmosphere is priceless.

Lumen: Let’s have a look into the future! How do you think the VJ scene will evolve within the next years? Will it go mainstream and are there going to be the really big artist?

Geert: I’m not sure if VJing will become as popular, as DJing but we really like that idea. It’s definitely a goal for VJBooking.com to be the place to discover talent and provide Visual Jockey related information. We encourage projects where VJs get appreciated and develop a solid relationship with a band or organization.

Lumen:  How will the art and design spheres develop? Can you see the future for a visual arts market, Geert? 🙂

Geert De Coninck from VJBooking

Loop in the caption.

Geert: People lose touch with art when too much technology is involved and don’t consider it as art at some point.

If you look back on art and history you’ll notice that photography is finally getting accepted in the art scene but it had to fight for its place as an art form.

In the past, it had a bad image of “just pushing a button”. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?! Today everybody plays with their mobile camera and people start to understand the creative process involved in creating a great digital image.

I’m hoping that making videos is getting mainstream and quality is going 4K and up, we’ll finally get some quality work out there. The technology is here for the taking. Creatives will jump on it and www.VJBooking.com will be part of it for sure.

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El Chuco Inspirations: Become a part of the art at Paradox Immersive Art gallery

FrontFX Magazine

Published

3 years ago

on

August 27, 2021

By

A new interactive art gallery located at the historic Socorro Mission Trail (EL PASO, Texas) is officially open to the public and offers an experience unlike others.

Paradox Immersive Art is a vibrant, interactive gallery where you become a part of the art through digital projections and art installations.

“The space in general kind of looks like this mystic desert space where people think ‘Wow, where am I?’ It’s kind of like traveling but within your own city limits,” said Laura Turón, local artist and founder of Paradox Immersive Art gallery.

The outdoor gallery showcases art by Laura Turón and features artist David Delgado.

“Little by little, it started growing and that’s when I invited David Delgado to create his projection art installation and exhibit it out here,” Turón shared. “The cool thing is that the space is outdoors so it’s kind of compliant with COVID and good for social distancing, we have a lot of space. That’s how this all came about. Just little by little, setting up my studio and the nature of my art, we became this immersive art gallery.”

Paradox Immersive Art made its grand opening debut in the beginning of August, however the installations found at the gallery have been works in progress since 2017.

“The concept of all the pieces is that they’re ephemeral and that they can be installed anywhere,” said Turón.

Turón shared how she started building the Paradox traveling art bus in 2017 and from then on began creating different art installations that are immersive – inviting an opportunity for people to participate in community art.

“The bus itself, to just convert it from what it used to be, an old school bus, that one took an entire year and that’s when I was barely starting so it was mainly just on my own and with volunteers,” Turón said.

One of the installations that immediately catches your eye once you enter the gallery is the Paradox Pyramid. Turón describes the project as a huge puzzle and the pieces built connect together to create the pyramid. It was first featured at Chalk the Block in 2018, “This pyramid took about two to three and a half months to complete, but working 16 hours a day because we wanted to set it up at Chalk the Block.”

“When she moved to this space, I was helping her build the pyramid and I could see the potential right away. When people came in, they liked the installations and I told her about setting up my projections here so we decided to go for it,” said David Delgado, local artist featured at Paradox Immersive Art.

The newest project art installation featured at the gallery is interactive as well and users can control images they see with a dashboard. Turon explains that the piece combines concepts of art and science, “That’s my newest piece, and I collaborated with David Delgado, the featured artists, and students from the EM lab at UTEP.”

Delgado’s installation at the gallery is a digital projection called “Sinestésico” (Synesthesiac) which is based on synesthesia, a rare neurological disorder that affects different senses that get tied to each other. In the case of Delgado’s installation, he configured audio and visual senses.

“I never knew how to draw growing up, but this was the way that I could create art, with technology and with our own movement,” Delgado shared, “A lot of the things I touch are a little bit existential. Things that remind me of real life, so purposely my installation is ephemeral. It only lasts as long as the interaction, and it requires the interaction to exist.”

Both artists said they’ve seen many people come and experience the gallery since its grand opening.

“I think it’s my favorite thing to watch people come in and see them be mesmerized by all the installations and interact with all of them,” Delgado said.

The gallery can be found inside of Hacienda Apodaca (10180 Socorro Rd.) It’s right across the street from Casa Ortiz and Three Missions brewery, creating a trifecta of activities people can experience all together.

Turón said one of her concepts as an artist it to make art accessible for everyone, and to install or take art in areas that have limited to no access to art.

“When people decide to come over here and support us, we’re able to stay open, continue growing and do more things,” Turón shared.

“Community art has always been a huge aspect of Laura’s work and something that I related to right away. It’s something that I’ve always been into,” Delgado added. “So it’s really nice to be able to bring it out here outside where you’d normally see a gallery like this and bring it to other communities.”

Both artists agree that success can come from surrounding yourself with those who make you feel inspired, be creative, and encourage others to do the same, “Sometimes all it takes is reaching out, believing in yourself and not being afraid,” Turón.

“As a community, we can’t get very far by ourselves, but together we can really create change,” Delgado added.

Paradox Immersive Art is now open from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays. You can follow the gallery on Instagram @paradoximmersiveart. To follow Laura Turón, you can find her on Instagram @turonlaura and David Delgado @mister_self_destruct.

To get tickets, click here.

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