A small chat with Tom Segev about art and the Internet
By: Tal Levy 25 July, 2021
few weeks ago I invited Tom Segev, a young and talented artist to my studio to eat a very spicy Thai quick mill noodles and to talk with him a bit about his practice and works.
As strange as it may sound, Tom explores nature through the digital dimension and seeks the way to bring it back to the physical dimension.
In between bites we talked about his inspiration, his art and his creative process.
Segev is part of a cultural evolution of artists with extremely unique and inspiring ideas.
A
'moth' by: Tom Segev
Hi Tom, Tell us a little about yourself.
I'm 21 years old, I live in Shapira (neighborhood in Tel Aviv) , I like to deal with computers a lot.
Where did your passion for art begin?
I basically grew up in a house that was full of art, but I never cared about it. I think it was so obvious to me because my dad works in the field and is a gallery owner.
Three years ago I realized I can find joy in looking at things. I was a very cynical kid and I took things for granted.
I would underestimate it, I wondered why a human being creates something, it felt to me like a waste of time, it just stands in space after that? What is the purpose?
I don't know, my mom makes bolognese and I eat it and it is tasty, In this I found a purpose.
But in recent years I have found more meaning in it, not even in the way of expressing myself, it just really entertains me to do these things, it's fun for me.
How would you describe your work to someone?
I would say that it's never related to anything or any topic that I want to deal with, but very much to myself and my world.
I'm not really trying to prove anything.
You could say it's digital but I don't define it and don't think too much about what I do, I just do it.
I'm trying to not define anything because I feel it limits me.
The only law I have is that I must do what I want, once I don't do what I want it creates problems for me.
What are you working on now?
Right now the most exciting thing I'm working on is the exhibition ('Thin Mental Tremors' - artoftmrw's group exhibition summer 2021).
Another exciting thing is a clip for an big artist whose name I cannot say at the moment.
Do you feel that the works you create recently are different from the previous ones?
So far I've been working a lot on images and lately I'm working a lot on animations.
I've noticed that there is a lot more room for composition there. When you think about it you can only create one moment and if you make a video and the camera moves and you see all sorts of things it is suddenly harder to create something that feels believable. So now I'm practicing video a bit.
Photo by : Tom Segev
When you start a new project, do you plan what you're going to create or improvise?
I'm spending a lot of time on the internet, I see a lot of pictures, consuming a lot of information all the time.I see a many pictures of nature so I know it's something that preoccupies me, most of the times I think to myself Fuck I would like to be there. 3D is a format that makes it possible, to create those places and make them believable. It's one of the only things I think about, it gives me the starting point.
Lots of times, I learn from YouTube or any other site pretty much by myself and every time I learn a new technique I start working on some 3D scene and what guides it is the new technique I learned, I try to specialize in it.
My first experience with the technique usually yields a very interesting product.
I really like the mistakes in my works.
'Valley Blanket', Tom Segev
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I'm a lot on Tumblr, following nature blogs and just pictures that people posting.
'picture' by: Tom Segev
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
I have some collaborations that I know are going to happen and I'm really excited about them, especially with the label I'm working with right now.
I want to surf more to the physical dimension because I have lived on the internet and inside my computer since I was 6 and my parents bought me the 'Compedia' - it's a computer game.
So now I'm looking for how to incorporate the physical dimension into my work.