I see the 3D world as
the closest thing to thinking
about something and
making it happen.
love that 3D rendering is used in most practical purposes
ANDREA: So you incorporate a lot of humor into your
such as product pre-visualization or architecture.
work, but unlike a lot of digital art, you don’t rely on
glitches for laughs. In fact, it’s easy to mistake your
ANDREA: Would you say that Fake Shamus is a form of
work for photography. Do you strive to instill a sense of
self-portraiture or self-invention?
suspension of disbelief in your viewers?
SHAMUS: I started with the concept of him as a digital
SHAMUS: Yes, sometimes I want viewers to be complete-
Golem. When I first got into 3D, I was readin g a lot about
ly doubting what they’re seeing. They think what they’re
the Golem myth and something just clicked for me: that
seeing is tricking their brain, yet they know it can’t be real.
you can make this sort of clay, figure-like creation and
I build things in my scenes to look almost photorealistic,
there were a lot of similarities in the way you were bring-
but I think there are characteristics of them that don’t quite
ing it to life in the digital sense. Everything you tell the
make it all the way there. That’s what makes it interesting.
computer to do is followed literally, completely literally.
Anything that goes wrong is actually your fault. There’s
ANDREA: Would you consider your digital work a form
a lot of Golem mythology where that same thing happens
of photography, sculpture, or painting?
– you tell it to do something and it takes it very literally,
and ends up demolishing a city or whatever. Over time,
SHAMUS: It’s something completely different. Obvi-
it’s almost like I wanted to give him a life of his own.
ously, there are elements of all of those processes built
So instead of him just following my words – the instruc-
into it because you’re building visual sculptures. But then
tions that I gave him – I wanted him to become more of
you’re giving them color, tone and texture through more
my nemesis, or someone who was taking over the world
of a painting process. Then you create the final rendered
as I was creating it. I was building these environments
image with a virtual camera within the software, which
and putting him into it, and everything he touched he
has all the characteristics of a real camera. So you’re play-
inhabited and made trashy. There are a lot of references
ing with all of these different things, but it’s not equal to
to low-culture, especially in the earlier work.
any of those original mediums.
ANDREA: Who are your artistic influences, both digital
ANDREA: I’m waiting for the day when you can just talk
and analog?
to your computer and it will do what you say, so I don’t
have to learn how to do all of this.
SHAMUS: Most of my favorite artists are painters from
growing up. A lot of them have an irreverent streak, I’d
SHAMUS: That’s actually one of the links I think about
like to say, like Sigmar Polke, Kippenberger, Mike Kelley.
all the time. My problem with painting was my frustra-
Polke’s paintings from the 60s, 70s, 80s were a huge influ-
tion with it not being able to come out the way I was pic-
ence on how serious you should take the art world or art
turing it. I see the 3D world as the closest thing to think-
in general. There’s an aspect of him being very serious
ing about something and making it happen; the digital
about making art that’s not entirely serious – I see myself
stuff will come directly out of our heads and we won’t
and my goals in the same way.
even have to touch anything.
Shamus Clisset. Astronaut, 2015.
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