| Interview with AARON AXELROD... |
| Written by Venus Tong | |||||
| Tuesday, 20 September 2011 10:21 | |||||
Straight out of the Valley, AARON AXELROD was born and raised in California. Axelrod attended BFA California Institute Of Arts in 2007, then begun spending a couple of years working on exclusive portraits for Coachella artists and the music company Golden Voice with numerous projects. He's done artwork for Radiohead, Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bjork just to name a few. He's also done projects for the Jay Leno show, Falling Whistles, TOMs and he has recently finished up a huge project for Skee TV. Between all the Hollywood crazyness and weirdos, Aaron happens to be my neighbour and good friend (which is very hard to find in a city like this). I caught up with him in our backyard and had a little chit-chat with him...
VENUS: How long have you been making art for? What made you get into it? AARON AXELROD: Since pre-school. I always remember making art all through my life... Lincoln logs & legos to doodles & paint. I was very shy, so that was where I could go and do anything I wanted, with no-one judging or telling me what to do. V: If you weren't doing art, what do you think you'd be doing? AARON AXELROD: Very bad things… V: What do you see yourself doing in 5 years? AARON AXELROD: Same shit, more dough. V: Where do you draw your inspirations from? AARON AXELROD: I love movies, they play a huge roll in my art practice. The recent film 'Enter The Void' was extremely inspiring, I remember when I left the theater, all I wanted to do was make cool shit. That’s pretty much how I determine if I like a movie, I need that feeling inside my gut that tells me to do something like what I just saw. Some others off the top of the dome are 'Gummo', 'Edward Scissorhands', 'Pulp Fiction', and 'True Romance' to name a few. There have also been certain acid trips that have been very life changing and inspirational... Especially the visuals of the trip... the melting, and dripping of altering colors... that has definitely helped form my current aesthetic.
V: Who are your biggest influences? AARON AXELROD: Dr. Seuss for his life lessons, Banksy for his balls, Quentin Tarantino for his story telling, and Animal Collective for the soundtrack to them all - one of the only bands where I can actually listen to colors. V: Coolest project that you have done this year so far? AARON AXELROD: 'Melting Rainbows', an experimental film I did for the Vortex Dome Theater. Imagine a screen that completely surrounds you, with paint dripping and melting all over you... it feels like you're tripping. I'm definitely gonna do more things like that! V: If you could work with ANY artist who would it be and why? AARON AXELROD: Damian Hirst... not only is he amazing, but his sculptures of real animals, submersed in cases of liquid are genius. And his butterfly stained glass pieces are the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in person, but he has the most money, to do the most shit. It would be cool to do a project where you're limited only to your imagination, that would be exciting... no budget and no strings. V: Favourite musical artist of all time: AARON AXELROD: Wu-tang for the beats, Bob Dylan for the rhymes.
V: New York or L.A.? and why? AARON AXELROD: New York is amazing, the people are cool, the food is amazing, and its energy is super inspiring. But when it's all said and done, I’d go with L.A. - the weather makes me happy. V: Favourite food place in L.A.? AARON AXELROD: 'Pacé', a cool little restaurant in the middle of Laurel Canyon, the food is delicious and it's surrounded by trees and cool canyon homes. You’d never think you were in the middle of L.A. - get the steak! V: Advice that you would like to give out to people that aspire to be like you? AARON AXELROD: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter, wont mind” - Dr. Seuss. V: What do you know about New Zealand? AARON AXELROD: Kiwis have cool accents... and they have bomb lamb chops.
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