Exclusive interview to Belgium artist/movies director Vincent Bal

A short intro.

I was a bit scared of the dark when I was a child...
 Since then I started to pay more attention to shadows and light...
 I was lost in some country in Europe thinking on an interview that I needed to do to extraordinary Belgium artist Vincent Bal...
 I was researching two books based on Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh and Spanish painter Pablo Picasso...
 I was lost in touch in reality where dreams were screams that I visioned in the night while observing a candle light...
 Maybe then that was me talking to me...about myself...
I remember that I was listening to a band and a music album from 2001 that I love and that in the night I was freezing to death while I was communicating with fascinating Finnish artist Terhi Ekebom about a project of us together and a solo project that she was helping me with in her birthday's eve (you know that you're the best), I was also communicating with Swedish artist Lars Erik Sjunesson about Swedish vampires, with Serbian artist Svetlana Seferovic about life and with Canadian artist Stan Wany about an artwork that he'll create in the imediate future.
 Later after, I've thought in interviews that I did, I am doing or that I'll do and that can be or will be read in this same blogue on several posts to some of the best international contemporary artists ever in past or future time and that I've thought calling them "coffeeshop interviews" in several languages.
I know that I learn a lot by entering in international artists inner world while trying to give them by communicating with them a bit of who I am also in a cultural/artistic exchange...
 Thanks to all artists and musicians that believe in my ideas and for sharing their unique visions with me and to all readers who read/scroll this blogue...

Thinking 

Picasso paintings and sculptures 

Picasso paintings 

My favourite Van Gogh painting 

A shadow of myself 

Below's a simple song about what I believe either in dollars or in cents.

Dollars and cents lyrics from 2001 Radiohead's album "Amnesiac"
"There are many things to talk about
Be constructive
There are weapons we can use
Be constructive with your blues

Even when it's only warnings
Even when you talk the war games

Oh why don't you quiet down? (maybe I want peace and honesty)
Why don't you quiet down? (maybe I want to live in the children's land and you know maybe, maybe I)
Why don't you quiet down? (maybe I'll wander the promised land I want peace and honesty)
Why don't you quiet down? (I want to live in the promised land and maybe wander the children's land)
Quiet down (yeah, and there, there we can free)

You don't live in a business world and
You never go out and you never stay
We won our goals in a liberal world
Living in times when I could stand it, babe

All over, baby's crying
It'll all be, baby, I can see out of here
All over the planet's dead
All over the planet, so let me out of here
All over the, all over the, all over the, all over the

We are the dollars and cents and the pounds and pence (quiet down)
And the mark and the yen, and yeah 
We're gonna crack your little souls (why don't you quiet down?)
We're gonna crack your little souls (why don't you quiet down?)
We are the dollars and cents and the pounds and pence (why don't you quiet down?)
And the pounds and pence, and yeah
We're gonna crack your little souls
Crack your little souls
We are the dollars and cents"

Interview to Belgium artist Vincent Bal 

Vincent Bal 

1. Your work is awesome and it dwells in shadows. Do you prefer to see shadows or light in life?

Well, life is all about Yin and Yang. You need light to see the shadows, and you need shadows to appreciate the light. I like both.

Yin and Yang

2. I know that you have an extraordinary book named "Shadowology". How does it feel for you as an artist to see your own shadows reflecting simple objects in paper format?

It’s nice to know that my work does exist outside of the digital world as well. I like books a lot. There is something about the feel of paper and the smell of a book. SO I hope people who have the book, keep it in a place where visitors can have a look at it nw and then. A friend told me he kept his copy near the toilet. :-) It’s true people do a lot of reading there.

Book

 3. A book is a simple and also a disquiet object. Have you ever thought on putting them reflecting shadows also?

I think I have made stuff with books already, but the problem is, most books have a pretty boring shadow. Just a square. It’s always nice if an object casts an unexpected shadow. That way you really discover something.

 4. I'm listening to Radiohead album "Amnesiac" right now while doing this interview to you. Do you create your artworks with music in your studio?

Oh yes, I’m always listening to music while I work. I make playlists on Spotify at the beginning at the beginning of each month and then tend to listen to that lost over and over again. I like the music to mark a certain period in my life, that way I can look back and think ‘oh yes, that was the time I was listening to James Brown a lot!’.
This months playlist has (amongst others): Prince, Ringo Starr, Chic, Young MC, Zapp, Charlotte Aldigéry and Vulfpeck

Radiohead's Amnesiac album

5. Do you like to read books or comic books?
Can you tell us your favourites?

I really like reading, with books and comics. I recently read a wonderful little book by George Saunders, called "Fox 8". A masterpiece. Besides that, I am now reading a book by Michael Palin about the Erebus.
My favorite books include "Lord Of The Flies"  (Golding), "Uncle Oswald" (Dahl) and I have a big love for the crime novels by Agatha Christie and Georges Simenon.

George Saunders

Michael Palin

William Golding 

Roald Dahl 

Agatha Christie 

George Simenon 

In comics, I really love the Belgian masters like Franquin, Vandersteen and Morris. I started loving comics in the eighties and was then blown away by people like Yves Chaland, laughed with Frank Margerin, Hanco Kolk and Peter De Wit…

Franquin - Artwork 

Vandersteen - page 

Tribute to Morris Lucky Luke character by Vincent Bal 

Yves Chaland - page 

Frank Margerin - cover 

Hanco Kolk - page

Peter De Wit

Other artists I really love; Lewis Trondheim, Christophe Blain, Robert Crumb, Charles Berberian…

Lewis Trondheim

Christophe Blain

Robert Crumb

 Berberian

One of my favorite comics from last year was a Belgian series called ‘Les Beaux Etés’ by Jordi Lafebre and Zidrou.

‘Les Beaux Etés’ by Jordi Lafebre and Zidrou.

 6. Do you create your artworks with the help of shadows in public spaces such as coffeeshops or bars?

I have done that sometimes yes. When I see the sunlight falling in on a table, it’s hard for me not to start fidgeting around with the objects on the tables and see if something appears.
But mostly I do my drawings at home. I have  some little lights that I use, so I can work in a relaxed way.
The sunlight is better, gives the best shadows, but it’s always stress. The sun moves, so the shadows change constantly, and then I’m not even talking about clouds that mess everything up. 
Since I live in cloudy Belgium, it’s a safer bet to work with lamps. 

01

 7. You're also a director. How do you do to create a static artwork like a simple drawing with a shadow by turning it into several framed images in movement while creating shadows within shadows in your mind's eye?

I’m a film director, which means I can direct movies of all kinds, sometimes also animation. But I’m definitely not an expert in animation. When I work on a live action film, I depend a lot on my actors. They have to create a powerful performance and I am there to help them and steer them in the right direction. In an animation project, it’s the same with the animators. I have to work with them, so that everybody on the film is telling the same story. All the noses in the same direction. Hence the word Director.
With my shadowology movies, the crew is just me. That means I can work really intuitively, my hands do the thinking more than my brain.
I can sometimes create movement with objects that move, or I add the object to an existing drawing, or sometimes I draw it on cabers and speed it up.
My little movies are like primitive cinema. There is something very artisan like about them, very ‘Meliès’. I like that.

Poster by Vincent Bal for the screening of his movie "The bloody olive" at San Francisco 

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "The stranger"

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "Man of steel"

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "The bloody olive"

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "Kika & Bob"

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "Brabamçonne"

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "Zig Zag"

Poster of "voyage to the moon" by French director George Mélies 

8. Sometimes you use fruit, forks and spoon to create shadows in your drawings. Are the fruits something that you eat or ate after your artworks are made?
Do the forks or spoons belong to you or are they in your own kitchen?

By this time, I have used almost every item that we have in the house. I have looked through all the drawers, used my kids toys etc. So it’s really true that most of the stuff comes from my day-to-day life. If I’m eating an apple and like the shape, I might try to make something out of that.
Besides that, I sometimes go to thrift shops and gadget shops and look for little cheap items that I could work with. Afterwards I donate them to our recycling shop.

 9. Can you tell us if the above mentioned objects mixed with your drawings and words create several narratives in your mind or do they only create a huge narrative inside your inner soul?

For me my work is like cloud watching. I look at the shadows and see shapes appear. The shapes that I see, wil undoubtedly have something to do with things that are on my mind at that time. 
What I really enjoy is the moment where I see an image that tells a little story; A guy waiting for his date, two people in love, a father and his son… 
The same object can be the inspiration for multiple images. I remember making three different images with same grater. In one images the little white circles became the faces of a choir, in another they were raindrops.
There are a lot of stories in the shadows if you take the time to look.

10. What do you think when you see a mountain reflecting itself in an ocean, do you think that nature ressembles what is inside your shadowology ideas?

Nature is of course a big inspiration. It’s amazing how a leaf looks like a tree, looks like the lungs of people… The shapes and patterns in nature are astonishing.
Some of my most favorite pictures are those where an ocean appears in the shadow of a glass. All these values of grey, I love that.

Reflection of a mountain in water 

 11. Can you tell us a bit of who you're when you're in a coffeeshop or a public space observing people or objects?

I’m just myself. I start most of my days reading a newspaper and drinking a coffee in a nearby coffee bar. I love the privacy of that moment. And the thought that a whole fresh day is ahead of you.

Coffee ready to go

 12. How do you see the XXI century where everything is digital? Do you think that mankind will lose its apetite for arts because of seeing several random images in the internet or even social networks?

It is tricky. ON one level it’s really great that I can find an audience all over the world thanks to digital media. I don’t need a ‘middle man’, I can communicate directly with an audience.
On the other hand, I have the feeling that a lot of things get more and more ethereal. People want something new every ten minutes. That means they also get less patience to sit down and enjoy a book, or a sunset (without taking one million pictures for social media). So I guess we as people will have to find a way to deal with it, and try to still take our time to do absolutely nothing now and then.
Dare to be bored, because that’s the moment where great things happen.

Below is a short video by Vincent Bal.

Check his videos out in platforms but PLEASE buy Vincent's book "Shadowology" because he's clearly a genius worth spending some dollars (or cents) in his artworks 

Manuel