Interview with Edward Bakst — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Artist / Designer / Professor

Imagination Workshops Conductor

US +1 917 603 0262

Fulbright Grantee

Website: https://ideaforia.com
Instagram: @edwardbakst
Facebook: edward.bakst
Tweeter: @BakstEdward
LinkedIn: tinvurl.com/38besi2z
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ideaforia.com unveils creative & academic projects, artwork, photography, animation, drawing, creative and exhibit design concepts, Imagination Workshops enthused by Gravity Free & Reality Independent ideation.

As artist/designer/director I created imaginative concepts, designs, art, innovative proposals and short animated films for: MTV, SCI-FI, Smithsonian, Nickelodeon, ABC, NBC, Ajinomoto, PBS, HBO, AT&T, NGS, FX/M, UNICEF, BIC, Noggin, Showtime, Sesame and others. Many won international awards. SIGGRAPH Theatre presented my 3 films. I won a Guggenheim Fellow and Jerome grants. My photography exhibited by MvVO ‘20 @ Oculus, Westfield, NYC. I presented “Imagine” @ Emerging Innovation Summit, Australia. In April I exhibit @ VIDAK ‘22 International Invitational Poster Exhibition, Seoul, Korea. In May ‘22 I joined Villa-R International Artist Residency, Sicily. June-Oct artwork exhibited @ Human Rights AIAPI-UNESCO, Italy. In Sept I exhibited art, photography, drawing & conduct Master Class @ Qatar International Art Festival ‘22. Articles devoted to my art practice published by: Artventurous Magazine ’22 & ’23, and Global Art Times ’23; Creative Quarterly CQ71 Award Winner Aug ’23. MADS Gallery has exhibited my artworks in: Milan, Canary Island & La PEDRERA Gaudi Room, Barcelona, Spain and recently in “Caos” Aug ‘23. US State Dept. chose 3 of my photos for the “Impact of Exchange” exhibition Sept ’23 - ’24. Finalist of the SIA Summit Creative Awards ’23 and the iPhone IPPAWARDS. As part of M.A.D.S exhibition, at the end of 2023, my artwork was projected on a giant digital billboard @ the Time Square, NYC: https://ideaforia.com/biography/

In my academic career I designed, directed, consulted and launched new programs at: Pratt; Columbia U; RMCAD, founding “International Animation” and ASIFA-CO; CCS, which granted me full professor. Invited by NTU, I directed curriculum and building design for the new School of Art, Design & Media. Then oversaw launch of the School of Technology for the Arts, Singapore. As a Professor, I was invited to Kadir Has, Istanbul; Kyoto University, Japan, Beijing University, China. In creative and academic projects, I focus on inspiring imagination, self-discovery, exploration and ideation sparking empowerment and self-expression. Feb ‘23 as Fulbright Grantee I conducted a month of Imagination Workshops @ women university, Pakistan.

I see imagination as the Origin of inspiration, individuality, ideation, innovation and invention. Imagination Workshops I conduct explore Creator’s sways in probing ideas, metamorphic stories, worlds of un-realities and ways of visualizing them. These I’ve conducted in: Germany, Malaysia, Poland, Singapore, S. Korea, UAE, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Hong Kong, Japan, Israel, Netherlands, Turkey, Sweden, China, Cuba, USA.

Travel exposes me to varied cultures, lifestyles and realities inspiring photography. Images from Ireland, Peru, Thailand, Taiwan, Oman, Cambodia, Japan, China, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan, France, Spain, Sicily, Doha and Pakistan seeks exhibiting and publishing, I invite you to: https://ideaforia.com/photography/ or https://www.facebook.com/edward.bakst/photos_albums plus the https://youpic.com/edwardideaforiacom/

Seamlessly fusing reality & virtuality into a dimension inspiring imagination, I design concepts probing new horizons and ways to entertain, learn, design exhibits, perform, play or fuse interactivity, VR or AR into the “magic wand” endowing us to envision fantastic "un-realities" as far reaching as our imagination allows us. Within them, by controlling chemical & physical properties of one’s worlds, we become the ultimate Creator. As Fulbright Specialist until Oct ‘24, I welcome worldwide cultural, science museums, academic and artistic institutions or festivals attracted to my Imagination Workshops, creative or academic projects and designs.

Meanwhile, I’m seek greater exposure, representation and exhibitions of my art, photography and drawings, and concurrently pursuing realization of some of my concept dreams: https://ideaforia.com/concept-design/.

Can you share your journey towards becoming a successful artist? Were there any pivotal moments or challenges that shaped your career?

For me, life in general offered both challenges as well as inspiration motivating my strive forth, inspiring ideas and need for expressing and sharing my personal and emotional expressions. I deem that growing under Communism sparked strong rebellious reactions against feeling of oppression and lack of freedom of speech. My artwork of that period was very defiant. Yet, once a wave of antisemitism swept my former country, these feelings intensified. A new sense of pride in who I am arouse. It further intensified when I found myself being chased by many of my own classmates, now former friends, whose eyes and minds were soiled by governmental propaganda. Rebelling against being seen as less equal, I chose to resign my citizenship, becoming a political refugee, departing as both stateless as well as a persona non grata. By leaving behind all the earthly possessions, and departing for the unknown, I discovered freedom and meanings I never knew till then. While deprived of all the material goods, the next two years were some of the most meaningful and free of my life, for I had nothing to lose anymore and, I did not “belong” to any country or its politics. And, as I started to travel, I discover the world full of contrasts and contradictions.

Thus, I began to think of myself as a “Wandering Jew” as well as a citizen of the world at large. Realizing that I have gained considerable experience and knowledge, in order to pass it on to next generations, I began to mentor, launching and leading creative programs at colleges and universities, both in the USA as well as overseas. Each of these new pages of life, diverse countries I visited, people I encountered, their perspective, and of course women I fell in love with, or ended up having relationships with, unveiled and sparked new emotions, ideas, passions, inspiration, perceptions and pathways for personal, creative, artistic and emotional self-expression. In retrospect, while at considerable costs, I still highly recommend.

How did you venture into multiple disciplines, and what inspired this path?

My creative journey began in drawing and painting, maybe because they are the most organic and tactual art forms. Later came sculpture and crafts, likely as a way of adding the 3rd dimension. In my college studies, disliking Advertising I foolishly elected for my domain of studies, I solicited my dean to hire a teacher of printing and etching. Surprisingly, he obliged! I had a wonderful time, especially with the latter. The smells of acid and burning sugar were enticing, so was their artistic impact and possibilities they unveiled. I felt like an alchemist performing magic! And, in case you wonder, no, I never resorted to drugs. Why would I, when I had art inspired by vibrant and hungry imagination.

Discovery of photography furthered this attraction to organic aspect of chemical reactions and processes resulting in creative expression. In my last year of studies, I asked the dean to hire a film teacher. Again, he indulged! This initiated my filmmaking exploits which continued at the US graduate film school. But then and there, I met a beautiful woman who was into animation. Therefore, to spend “animated” time together, I chose to join her. While enjoying being together, she taught me everything about the media.

I instantly fell in love with the magical power of animation as an art media endowing artist with a creator like might to imagine and bring to life one’s own worlds and visions of reality, as well as ways to escape it. Time flew, the beautiful woman left, and I continued, initially with 2d cut-outs, then 2d drawings and, eventually, stop motion. It introduced me to dimensional space, lighting and staging, and led to clay animation which, in addition to dimensionality, unveiled to me sensuously tactual and breathtakingly metamorphic potentials of plasticine, I loved it! My exploits won the Guggenheim Fellowship.

Yet, this happened to also be the time when earliest computers invaded tactual and organic artistic world. Therefore, thanks to my fellowship, I took a year off to overcome my fear of technology. Using Atari 800 and beta drawing software, I started to experiment with 2d computer animation. Yet once again, enticed by dimensionality, and offered access to a 3d facility, I modelled a primitive head. It was a thrill when producers working for Nickelodeon, asked me to create a :10 sec. Nickelodeon station ID. “Nick Brew” was so successful that it won numerous awards, launching my career as a designer, direct and creator of computer animations. This was also the first time my short computer generated film was selected by the SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater, a delicious boost to my moral. I loved CGI’s ability to make impossible seem real and likely, when it actually was not. I coined it “Gravity Free & Reality Independent” creation.

How does your creative process differ between disciplines? How do the different disciplines you work in influence each other?

Retort to this question will likely differ for everyone asked. For me, some disciplines, especially animation or computer animation, and especially filmmaking, require much more extensive thought, development, design, planning, storyboarding, testing, even teaser or pilot, plus extensive budgeting prior to funding-raising enabling further facets of pre-production, all of these prior to the initiation of the actual production.

Others, such as organic drawing or art are more personal and do not require hiring specialized teams for the various stages of creation. As such, they can be much more instantaneous and spontaneous, at least for me. On the other hand, yet again this is in my experience, concept development and poster design fall in-between the above two scenarios. In my particular circumstance, photography, which denotes my newest passion, is the most reactive while also spontaneous and instantaneous. Still, it does not make it in any way less challenging, and its eventual outcome less emotionally impactful.

In fact, instantaneous in-camera non-leaner panoramic photography, currently by far my favorite, often calls for a lot of trial and errors, prior to capturing a desired visual outcome. The irregular and non-linear camera motions I practice and thrive in, result in paths that are curvy, breaking away from usual pictorial representational photography. Most importantly, to me, they enable me to explore a given subject, or and environment, in its entirety, as though I was painting it with a camera as a art brush, moving it through time as well as dimensional spaces. The outcomes are a truly indisputably formidable reflection of my “Gravity Free & Reality Independent” ideation, perspective on reality or never seizing desire to escape it.

What are some unique challenges you face as a multidisciplinary artist, and how do you overcome them? How has your style or approach evolved over time across different mediums?

As children most of us live in our heads, brewing with unconditional, unrestrained untamed or unpolluted imagination. But, as we progress in our growth, initially under impact of primary education, as well as, however well-meant parental instructions, shadowed by peer pressures, and eventually unavoidable need to fit into social and professional settings, our open horizons narrow and our imagination progressively dissipates. In retrospect, the driving motivation propelling me to explore various media was curiosity about an ability of each of them to advance my ongoing search for the ultimate one that will not just foster but also spark, empower and propel my imagination forth to the point where it feels unshackled, liberated from limitations, rules and logic of the ever-present and already too well experience gravity and reality.

As I had already revealed, I believe that discovering animation as the magical media empowering me as the magician able to create worlds of my own imagination and, furthermore, to explore metamorphic storytelling capable of evolution through time and space, all of which under my own control, was a determining moment.

Now that I have reached the so-called ripe maturity, still very much minding the discoveries made throughout the journey of my life, and still very determined to explore new horizons, I focus most on the meaning of ideas and themes which are most critical to me as an individual and an independent artist. Therefore, while continuing to seek greater recognition, I do not equate it with making it a profitable success, which I do not deem to be my priority or essential to me. I judge that this, though maybe a naïve attitude, extends to me a more innocent idealistic freedom and independence.

In other words, even though rejections, or occasional lack of interest, or hearing criticism are never pleasing, though sobering, but definitely not encouraging, I strive not to allow them to deter me from following my personal calling, goals or self-determined mission in both my creative as well as personal life. In the reality in which “money make the world go around” the above principals, ethos, as well as my self-determination, remain more important to me than everything else, or treasure chest at the other end of a rainbow. But, if I ever discover it, I will likely not turn away from what it would extend to me, ability to realize many of my conceptual designs or futurist projects, some of them in this world while others in VR.

Imagine finding yourself in an utterly immersive VR space as it metamorphically and marvelously evolves and unveils around you. Its look, feeling, smell, scale, shape, behavior, gravity, physical, chemical and material properties, literarily substances of everything around you, are able to alter before your very own eyes. Best yet, everything, the very virtuality itself, can interactively transform according to your wishes, motions, actions or sounds and, one day soon, also concurring to your own emotions or thoughts. This kind of powerful impact converts the artist, or a user, from an observer, or player, into the ultimate Creator of unknown un-realities restrained only by scope of one’s own imagination! What a thrill it will be…!!!

Can you describe one or two of your favorite projects and what made them particularly meaningful or challenging?

I would like to mention two others. Conceptual Designs empowers us to envision futuristic, forward-thinking imaginative notions and solutions. Over my creative and academic careers, I conceived several such dream wishes. In addition to the above concept for “VR Creator”, “Museorbium” and “Imaginopolis” are the most ambitious and can be further investigated and explored at: ideaforia.com/concept-design.

My travels have exposed me to diverse people representing range of cultural heritage, storytelling, myths and their artistic visualization, histories and traditions varying from a region to region. Jointly they portray a vast richness of human experiences accumulated and magnified throughout ages. My exploits have also made me realize that the current globalization and mingling empowered by relative ease of travel are increasingly diminishing and diluting these contrasts, such even further impacted by Western influences.

Sensing an urgent need for preservation of diversity of cultural heritage inspired “Museorbium”. Its aim is to transform diversity of cultural legacies into an exciting fully 4d physical sensory entertainment environment immortalizing the most imaginative stories, myths, arts and spiritualism as an interactively immersive odyssey adventure via time, space, ideas, mythologies and stories of creation, to inspire our own imagination, for all to experience, be proud of, enlightened, inspired, enriched and empowered by.

“Imaginopolis” imagines a futuristic city as an interdisciplinary innovation, experimentation research Oasis and beaker space where future is imagined, envisioned, prototyped, realized and eventually unveiled to the public as a proof of concept, for them to experience, interact, explore and be amazed by. Their interaction and retort would dictate refinements and re-invention of the multifaceted ways “Imaginopolis” could alter our lives, the ways we enjoy, explore and experience it, from the very birth to the other worlds. Such synergistic eco system would benefit both the public, able to step into the future, and the world’s creative and visionary innovators, educators and humanitarians who are eager to join “Imaginopolis” to transpose their dreams, ideas and aspiration into reality advancing and humanity enriching experience.

How do you hope your audience perceives and interacts with your work, especially when it spans multiple disciplines?

To me, what I do is about an expression of emotions, ideas, perceptions, thoughts, reaction to a given topic and, especially, my perception of the state of humanity as is in my current time. Hence, how I do it, the media, discipline or technique are all secondary, for they are chosen by me as the most relevant form of expression for a given topic. If the very idea, or the essence of what I strive to express, are unsound, then the technique and the media should not matter, unless the viewer is impressed by glossy, shiny and shallow gimmicks or, simultaneously, the artist is willing to provide whatever it takes to attract audience.

In other words, in general, I perceive art as the mirror of the time of its origin. If one is to follow this logic, artist himself is a mirror, mainly a reflector, an interpreter, a storyteller, or a satellite dish within which current events collide and are distilled into impressions transcribed by the artist into an emotional yet still personal expression. In the end, this intellectual dialogue between artists and the audience is vital to both.

Thus, if the particular artist is not embraced by the audience, which has happened many times throughout history, it can imply that he/she is, or was, uncommunicative or irrelevant, or the audience is, or was, too shallow or superficial to grasp the vital sense or warning the artist is or was striving to project, share or emphasize. I admit, there are some artists whom I am impartial to or, worse yet, do not grasp at all.

In a perfect world such a dialogue between artists and audiences, is vital to gaining an understanding or mutual enlightenment. Unfortunately, we, or our predecessors, have been neither perfect or edified. And, if I sound negative, it is because our world is driven by greed and some museums and cultural venues are focused on profits and hence elect not to be accessible to most needing or currently deprives audiences. As from the perspective of many passionate and yet undiscovered artists, too many small galleries enlist artists for seeing them a source of fees, instead of believing in supporting their strive and aspirations.

What is your artistic philosophy or ethos, and how does it guide your work across various mediums?

Over time, travels, creative and mentoring exploits, I concluded that imagination epitomizes the very Origin of everything. Without it there would be no curiosity or ideation sparking explorations inspiring arts, science, technology, innovation, invention or progress. In fact, there would be no civilization as we know it. This realization has shaped my life, guided my search, drive, philosophy and ethos. All my creative and academic projects strive to ignite, provoke, cultivate and empower imagination in those who come in contact with what I do. This strive for the ultimate way to provoke, inspire and further my own imagination, gave birth to the “Gravity Free & Reality Independent” ideation term. Why? Because I deem that “gravity”, both physical and mental, deflate our inborn imagination, inhibiting the so call” flights of imagination”. As for “reality” as we know, once we accept it as the only way our existence or life is possible, it brainwashes us, restraining, confining our thinking and perspective from imagining alternate prospects or probabilities.

Realizing the sway of “Gravity Free & Reality Independent” ideation, and creative promises it unveils, I began to seek ways of promoting and sharing it with others. Thus my “Imagination Workshops” came to be. I deem them impactful to all in whom imagination has fallen into hibernation, and teachers who shape minds of future generations. Https://ideaforia.com/imagination-workshops/ presents concepts, ideas, art and simple matchstick sketches created by interdisciplinary, international participants of past workshops. As a Fulbright Grantee, last year I conducted Imagination Workshops at a women's university in Pakistan. Participants were composed of students, teachers, administrators, even a hygienist. Discussion of topics rarely bridged in this culture was emboldening to participating female. The final exhibition of art, sketches, concepts and ideas was thought provoking, meaningful, impactful, empowering and enlightening to all. However, giving the range of skills, their impact was not due artistic talent, chosen media or technology used, or anything else, but purely due to emotional and deeply felt and expressed personal ideas.

How have your travels influenced your artistic style and the themes you explore in your work? Can you share a memorable experience from your travels that had a profound impact on your creative process or perspective as an artist?

The exciting aspect of the experience known to us as life, is the unpredictability of it. At times it is by our own choice that we elect to travel. However, in my case, curiosity about other lands and people was a consequence of a wave of antisemitism that led to my becoming a “Wandering Jew”, back as a teenager.

Why? Because, whether I liked it or not, I was thrown into an unknown all new world of reality, customs, culture, language, social structures, dynamics, beliefs and tensions I could not ignore or disregard but had to join in and swim or else drown. At the same time, for me, it was an influential transition from the “Prince” to the “Pauper”, from a youngster growing up in a well to do, even though broken family, to a reality in which I had to promptly start earning money as a naïve and unskilled laborer, just so to “make the ends meet”, while learning a new language with which to communicate within the new surroundings.

Yet, in retrospect, I think of this stage as the most traumatic but also challenging, testing and enlightening. I would not have given away this experience, or the time within which a new me was being forged by new circumstances, pressures or choice I was forced to make. Thus, I discovered a meaning of true freedom.

Why do I mention this? Because, as I discovered through my travels later on, finding oneself in all new and unknown lands, and especially when needing to make one’s life there from a new, is challenging but also empowering, enriching, eyes and mind opening, and hence, inspiring, invigorating and enlightening.

Unless one travels to new lands only to lay on beautiful sandy beaches and to delight in all new cuisines, without bothering to “step on the wild side” by discovering what it is that make this new place and culture unique and special, how the natives live and think, their arts, concerns, politics, limitations or challenges, then one owes oneself an encounter with what’s behind the curtain, or the sunny travel brochure photos.

Discovering new cultures, traditions, heritage, history, beliefs and people’s thinking is edifying, ideas and imagination inspiring, and resulting in new creative explorations, styles and themes never vented before.

How has worldwide recognition impacted your life and work as an artist? Does it influence your creative decisions or the way you approach new projects?

Over the years of my ever-altering directions of my personal creative journey, I have won many awards and gathered certain international recognition. Yet, and I mean it sincerely, I do not think of myself as an artist recognized by the world at large, at least not yet. But I am not giving up on achieving such a high objective. Afterall, which artist would? Yet, at the same time, I am not willing to delude or sacrifice my own believes and time-tested principals in order to achieve this highly desired goal. For I do believe in myself. And, if it is true that artists epitomize the most tormented people, then I can safely say, I am a true artist.I try to closely follow what other artists, photographers, designer are sharing on their various social media. There are many whom I admire for their esthetics, range of artistic and technical skills and visual power of their ideas, beliefs and expressions, yet, to me they represent universes of their own. Therefore, I do not foresee theirs colliding with mine. We are all unique not just anatomically but, due to our personal journey, upbringing and experiences, we see, feel, perceive, experience and express ourselves differently. In other words, I feel that the utmost challenge I face is myself. Moreover, I see myself as the harshest critic of my ideas and creative outpour. And, noticing how fast, spontaneous and prolific some artists are, yet not me, makes for many sleepless nights, these followed by daytime of reckoning sparking guilty self-reflections.

Therefore, observing what other artists are doing, and realizing that what they do is distinctly different, is reassuring because it leaves lots of space for me, my ideas, voice and art. On the other hand, seeing what is currently most recognized and successful, and realizing that it is not what I am about or interested in pursuing, is often personally or emotionally challenging. Consequently, for me, it is about reconfirming my own beliefs, ideas and principals rather than bending to the waves generated by success of others. However torturous at time the belief in oneself is, it is, in my opinion, critical to one’s self-being or sanity.

What advice would you give to young artists who aspire to be multidisciplinary in their creative pursuits?

Do not listen to anyone but yourself. Follow your instincts, your inside voice, your passion, aspirations, emotional soul and, only lastly, your intellect, all this is unless you choose to become a commercial artist.

However, if you have doubts, second thoughts, hesitations, then do try working for an advertising agency or other commercial entity and see how it feels and what it does for You, not your pocket or bank account. In fact, everyone should try to work for any hierarchical organization and see what the “real” world is like.

Otherwise, do not try to be someone else, for what suites others will most likely not satisfy you. We are all unique and that is the key. Feel, reflect and then distill and define what makes you YOU and what it is you want out of your time in this dimension and reality as we know it. It has been said “life is short”, in fact, much too short, and that is what make is so precious. Therefore, do your own thing, not someone else’s.

My mother wanted me to become an interior designer. Thankfully, they discovered that I was color blind.

Make your own mistakes, learn from them, and then passionately strive forth following your own mission in your life. Above all, keep your imagination vibrant. Do not hide from self-reflections. Also, watch out for what education does to you and your individuality or imaginative ideas. or your own loving parents, even if they want and wish the best for you. Ignore the need to fit in, known as social pressure. In other words, protect your individuality, your dreams, aspiration, hopes, visions, “Gravity Free & Reality Independent” ideas and perspective. Do not become a copy or a clone or shadow or, worse yet, somebody else.

As for being multidisciplinary or not, do not be concerned about it. Chose whatever media expresses you best. And then, if you grow and evolve, be open to experimenting with other forms of expressions. At the end, in my opinion, what is most vital and precious are your ideas, your voice and being true to yourself.

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