Meet the Artist: Tom Sayers
July 16, 2021 / Art
I could see a lot of future focused Blade-runner style work in the NFT space, but nothing re-imagining past artworks so it felt like an unexplored area.
— Tom Sayers
About Tom Sayers
Tom Sayers melds technology and tradition to forge experimental experiences. Hailing from a traditional design background, he felt the practice didn’t allow creative freedom and lacked interactivity. So, he dived head-first into the unknown and began teaching himself 3D, VR and AR. Originating in London, he moved to Tokyo shortly after graduation and now up lives in Taipei where his practice is situated. His love for East Asian culture can be seen in many of his works.
Tom Sayers NFT Store:
https://lootex.io/zh-TW/stores/lootex-originals-taiko-bridge
< Interview Begins>
1. Hello, could you introduce yourself to us? Where are you from, what are you working on now?
Hey there! I’m Tom Sayers, a new media artist and designer from London, U.K, living in Taipei, Taiwan! I’ve just finished my animated series re-imaging a Japanese edo-period woodblock. “Taiko Bridge, Meguro, through the Seasons”. Moving forward I’m excited to collaborate with Museums to bring more historic pieces to life. Keep your eyes peeled!
2. It seems that you know well about 3D, AR, and VR. Why and how did you start to learn these fields?
Curiosity always gets the better of me, especially in my creative endeavours. I’d rather experiment and fail than walk the path well trodden. So naturally through university, despite studying graphic design, I found myself meddling in mediums that I had no former experience in.
When VR/AR and 3D really started to become accessible to your average folk with free and open source software, I naturally jumped in head first. No one around me had any experience in this medium, not even my tutors. I really did have to claw my way up, but I love a challenge. By watching countless youtube tutorials, experimenting, bashing together messy code and networking on facebook; I began building VR/AR experiences with Unity/Vuforia and somehow justifying it as university work.
Many years later I’m fortunate enough to have developed this passion into my current practice.
3. Your artworks are very diverse in style, what influenced your creation?
As a designer and artist, my inspirations come from a mixture of self-expression and what is needed to solve a problem. With my recent work, “Taiko Bridge, Meguro, through the Seasons”, I took influence from my personal passion for east asian culture. Having lived in Japan for a year before moving to Taiwan, I do have a place in my heart for scenes like that depicted by the artwork. I could see a lot of future focused Blade-runner style work in the NFT space, but nothing re-imagining past artworks so it felt like an unexplored area.
4. How do you think NFT will change the art industry?
Undoubtedly NFT’s have already changed the art industry forever. Any artist, anywhere, can now monetise their creativity. There is no going back, it’s clear with Beeple’s historic sale that NFT’s and Crypto are here to stay. But it’s just a drop in the ocean, part of a movement.
Crowdsourcing, Open Source Software, P2P, Crypto, Sharing Economy — in many areas power is being challenged and decentralised, empowering many around the world. I’m excited to see where this movement goes!
5. Have you ever collected any NFT? Or what kind of NFT would you consider collecting?
Funnily enough I get a lot more out of producing art than collecting it. That being said, I have seen some amazing digital works that I would love in a digital frame, especially the generative artworks. We’ll see what the future holds!
6. Tell us about your upcoming NFT creation.
In 1857, Utagawa Hiroshige, the last great master of Japanese woodblock, created “Taiko Bridge, Meguro, on a Snowy Evening”. There is something timeless about the visual of this piece, it’s like a glimpse into edo-period life. I couldn’t help but imagine this scene’s full potential with current technology. Now animated and looping seamlessly, the viewer can become even more immersed in the world Hiroshige set out to depict.
7. What’s your plan in the near future?
For now I’m focused on developing my practice and skills, I seriously learnt a lot making this project! I have an upcoming collaboration with a museum on the cards and other exciting projects like visualising chemical spaces for an AI drug discovery company. Maybe I’ll be dropping some more NFT’s, watch this space!
< End of Interview >
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