Episode 026 --- MPKoz

Michael Kozłowski, often known by mpkoz, is a media artist & software developer who works with real-time graphics, mixed reality, and interactivity. Michael joins Chuck for the final episode of 2023 to talk about the before and after of his professional life - working for years at Microsoft and in corporate settings then making the leap to fully independent artist in 2021. We discuss growing up in Montana, being a film major, on-the-job learning from the big brains he worked with at Microsoft, using company resources for your own art, mushroom foraging, his foray into NFTs, fooling people into thinking code-based work is hand-done, mechanically-generated art with clocks, and fantasy football.Episode artwork by Chuck Anderson/NoPattern Studio. Episode music & production by Yuri Rybak & Josh Chin.

Diana Sinclair is an artist & photographer based in Jersey City, NJ. A personal favorite interview of mine, Diana shares her inspired journey both personally and creatively to this point in her life; at 19 years old she is the youngest guest to date, and is stunningly accomplished for such an early stage in one's career. Having already exhibited work with Christie's and worked with the likes of TIME and Meta, Diana's career is off to the races. She also discusses her relationship to swimming and water as a major point of inspiration in her life and work.Episode artwork by Chuck Anderson/NoPattern Studio. Episode music & production by Yuri Rybak & Josh Chin.

ThankYouX (Ryan Wilson) is a Los Angeles-based artist who has risen to prominence in recent years thanks in large part to his innovative work combining physical and digital work in exciting new ways. Whether he's embedding an actual screen that contains digital artwork & an NFT into a large painting or bringing his brushstrokes to life with 3D and moving works, ThankYouX is constantly pushing boundaries and building bridges from screen to canvas and back again. We discuss all of this as well as his upbringing, early days in street art, collaborations, and his upcoming show 'inertia' opening at Sothebys LA in late November 2023.Episode artwork by Chuck Anderson/NoPattern Studio. Episode music & production by Yuri Rybak & Josh Chin.

All Seeing Seneca is a visual artist who rose to new levels of prominence after having conceptualized the original creative direction of the characters in Bored Ape Yacht Club, but there's so much more to her work and story than that. We get into her upbringing and how drawing and creativity tied in to her life, the impact of subcultures and music on her teen years as she was coming of age, her time at Rhode Island School of Design, freelancing after college, her wild entry into the world of NFTs and seeing her work at auction, having a team as an artist, and we get a bit into her new big project Perils of Sēsē.Episode artwork by Chuck Anderson/NoPattern Studio. Episode music & production by Yuri Rybak & Josh Chin.

Eric Elms is an artist, graphic designer, and creative director based in LA. He recently announced the launch of his new studio S.E.E. (Studio Eric Elms) and joins me to talk all about the name, the work, his process, how he distinguishes between his art practice and commercial design practice and how the two relate to each other. We also get into Eric's beginnings as a teenage assistant to and mentee of Shepard Fairey, a studio assistant to KAWS, and designer for Supreme and how those roles led to where he is today.Episode artwork by Chuck Anderson/NoPattern Studio. Episode music & production by Yuri Rybak & Josh Chin.

Benjamin Edgar is visionary multi-disciplined designer from Chicago and happens to be one of host Chuck Anderson's oldest friends. Having formed seminal early internet blog THE BRILLIANCE! together in 2005 (later joined by Virgil Abloh in 2006), Chuck and Benjamin have a storied history and much to talk about. An overarching point of discussion in this interview focuses around beginnings and the start of an idea. Benjamin has become well known for his wide-ranging object designs including a Carrara marble clothes hanger, his infamous single cigarette holder, candles, incense holders, clothing, sculptor's stools, a stainless steel mug that weighs 2.75 lbs, and much, much more. We discuss all of this and more including a prolific 2023, daily routines & workouts impact on ideas, some dream objects Ben would love to make one day, and Ben shares how he would show Chicago to someone visiting for the first time.Episode artwork by Chuck Anderson/NoPattern Studio. Episode music & production by Yuri Rybak & Josh Chin.Created in partnership with ZORA. 

Shawna X is an American artist of Chinese descent, born in Xiamen and raised in Portland, Oregon, currently based in New York City. Shawna joins Chuck for episode 20 to talk about living in Chicago (briefly), where she thinks about living in the future and how location impacts artistic identity, finding time for work, focus and creativity as a parent, learning to work with glass, finding the confidence to introduce a new medium to the world as part of one’s existing artistic practice, incorporating AI into her work, and looking forward to getting older in order to make the best work of her life.Episode artwork by Chuck Anderson/NoPattern Studio. Episode music & production by Yuri Rybak & Josh Chin.Created in partnership with ZORA. 

Marc Horowitz is a prolific Los Angeles-based artist who works in painting, performance, sculpture, and much (much) more. We have a super fun, very wide-ranging talk about dreams and if you should tell people about them, growing up in the midwest and heading to LA, how he manages to work across so many mediums while avoiding worrying about categories, stopping painting to work in more experimental media and returning to it after a 12 year break, launching his own experimental crypto in 2015, buying a log cabin in Montana, getting a grant from Nouns DAO to produce his absurdist video series 'Worst Case Decision', his relationship with Stefan Simchowitz, and we talk Hole DAO, he and Yuri Rybak's idea to raise money to...dig a hole.Episode artwork by Chuck Anderson/NoPattern Studio. Episode music & production by Yuri Rybak & Josh Chin.Created in partnership with ZORA. 

Kyt is a visual artist from New York by way of Los Angeles. We talk about her very early obsession with the internet and computer art while being in a strict household and having that all kept at arm's length, her strained but ultimately successful journey through art school, being given the title "Junior Graphic Design Apprentice" at her first job, GIFs leading to work with Miley Cyrus, how meeting Flying Lotus led to a long relationship working with Adult Swim, starting and running her own studio DAISY and the burnout that came with it, her introduction to and journey with NFTs, what she's been up to in 2023, her work with Two Shell, surviving burnout, and how she got her 3-letter Instagram handle.Episode artwork by Chuck Anderson/NoPattern Studio. Episode music & production by Yuri Rybak & Josh Chin.Created in partnership with ZORA. 

Raihan Anwar is a co-founder of Friends With Benefits DAO, a dot connector, an artist & music manager, an MBA haver, and a fragrance designer; in other words, a wearer of many hats. We discuss the dawn of FWB, the current state of NFTs, only wanting what's weird, why forward-thinking artists should not be scared of AI, what to do during a sabbatical, and more.Episode artwork by Chuck Anderson/NoPattern Studio. Episode music & production by Yuri Rybak & Josh Chin.Created in partnership with ZORA.