Max-O-Matic Interview
Max-O-Matic | @maxomatic
Max-o-matic. It’s an honor to have a chance to interview you today. To start, can you tell us a bit about who you are, where you’re from, and what you do?
Let’s start with the easier part of the question: where I am from. I was actually born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, way back in 1975. But I've been living in Barcelona, Spain since 2002, so if you were to ask me where I'm from, I'd say Barcelona. Don't get me wrong though, I'm still proud of my South American roots - I just feel more connected to the people and the place here in Barcelona after spending more than 20 years here. About what do I do: like most people, I've got my fingers in a bunch of different pies. Rather than try to explain it all, I figure it's easier to give you a rundown of some recent things I've been up to:
•First and foremost, I'm a dad to a teenage kid. It'shard work, but it's also pretty darn fun :P
•I worked for many years as a graphic designer.
•I worked (and still work) for many years as an illustrator -which is today my main source of income
•I've been making collages since the mid-90s (back when I was doing it all DIY style), and I've really ramped it up since moving to Barcelona in the early 2000s.
•Music is a big love of mine - I'm not great at playing guitar, but I've been playing around with it since I was a teenager. I used to play in bands, but now I just make music at home for fun.
•Back in 2010, my friend Rubén B. and I started The Weird Show - it's a platform that's all about contemporary collage. Over the years, we've put on exhibitions all around the world, held workshops, published a few books, and chatted with a ton of artists who are shaping the collage scene today. Rubén's moved on to other things, but I'm still running TWS solo, curating, editing, and producing meaningful content to help me (and anyone who’s interested) to understand what collage is today and how it has changed since Picasso and Braque stuck that famous wallpaper onto their canvases. It's a ton of work, but it's super rewarding.
•I'm into sports too - I spend time practicing different ones, but I won't bore you with the details.
Finally: who am I? Well, I'm just a curious dude who's always been more interested in getting things done than getting them perfect. After a bunch of trial and error and lots of years doing lots of different things, I'm finally starting to get a little closer to my own personal idea of "perfect" - and I've got a whole bunch of experience and learning packed into my backpack to show for it.
2014
I’m fascinated by the way you create digital collage illustrations as well as collage on paper – your style is so distinct. Can you share how you ended up with your current style?
As a self-taught artist who studied Communication Sciences, I've always believed that creating and making mistakes is the best way to learn and find my own style. My journey to where I am today is marked by the projects and people I've encountered along the way. It all started back in the mid-90s when I began making zines. Initially, I was focused on writing and didn't have a special interest in the visual side of creativity. However, I made some silly collages to illustrate my texts, and that sparked my interest in the visual arts. It was a gradual process, but I kept pushing myself to see what I could learn and create by participating in various projects and taking risks (which, in hindsight, weren't risky at all). When I moved to Barcelona in the early 2000s, I was already working on graphic design and creating images for zines and art projects using Illustrator and Photoshop. Collage was always something I had in the back of my mind, but it wasn't until 2002 when my laptop broke that I started making collages with images from random magazines at home. That month-long hiatus turned out to be a eureka moment for me, as I discovered the joy of the process and the outcome of making collages. Over time, my paper collages went through a Dada phase in the late 2000s and a "Baldessari" phase in the early 2010s. It was during this time that I started working on The Weird Show and questioning what collage means today and how it differs from 100 years ago. I realized that I had been replicating past styles and artists without adding anything new to the conversation. I knew I had to move in another direction and find something fresh. In late 2014, while preparing for a solo show in Barcelona, I rented a little house in the mountains with some friends for Christmas. Because we had a small car and lots of things from my kid to take with us, I jut brought my scissors, cutters, glue, and a stack of 4x4 inch color papers with me, not expecting to do anything special. However, every night after the kids went to bed, we would gather in the kitchen with a glass of wine and chat. I found myself unconsciously cutting weird, wavy shapes into the small color papers while we talked. I wasn’t thinking about what I was doing. It was almost if my subconscious was talking through the cutter and the paper. By the end of the week, I had tons of papers cut with the same wavy/coral/organic shapes that I had been unconsciously drawing in my spare time when talking on the phone or attending (boring) meetings. Those color papers became the main element of a series that marked the way for the work that I'm doing now. Mixing the color shapes with pictures felt like I was entering new territory, and I loved the rush of making something I hadn't seen before. Focusing on the scraps left from cutting (the square papers with all the holes left from the wavy forms) opened up a new way of approaching collage. The process was organic, slow, and took some time to evolve into what I'm doing today. It started in late 2014, and I'm still evolving it as we speak, always trying to find new ways to tell my stories in a personal and compelling way.
2015
“At the end of the day, though, we shouldn’t think of Instagram as the be-all and end-all for showcasing our art. There are so many ways to share and display our work, both digitally and analog, and we should never limit ourselves to just one platform.”
I’m so curious -- do you prefer to work digitally or analog?
Personally, I got to say, I love them both! Sometimes a project just needs to be done digitally, and other times it makes more sense to go old school with scissors/cutters and paper. But regardless of the medium, the process of gathering ideas, conceptualizing the project, and making sketches happens in both digital and analog. And whether you're working on a computer or with physical materials, it's important to plan ahead while also being open and leaving space for improvisation. I have to admit, there's something special about working with paper. There's a certain tactile quality to it that just can't be replicated digitally. But on the other hand, I'm not afraid to dive into digital creation either. I think both mediums have their own unique ways of showcasing your work. A paper collage can look good on a screen, but seeing it in person, up close and personal, really brings out all the details and makes it shine. And let's not forget about digital installations – they can be just as breathtaking as a painting hanging in a museum. At the end of the day, though, we shouldn't think of Instagram as the be-all and end-all for showcasing our art. There are so many ways to share and display our work, both digitally and analog, and we should never limit ourselves to just one platform.
I love the way you use color in your work. Can you tell me your thoughts behind your palette – bright, bold, moody, or the contrast of black & white with color?
Thanks for the compliment! I love playing with color too. One of the techniques I use in my digital work is inspired by Pop art. In this style, images were screen printed, and colors were limited to a specific palette. I find this technique allows me to control the mood of my images and convey the feelings and ideas I want to express without needing to show direct representations of those emotions or issues. The use of color can shift the relationship between image and meaning, which helps me to subtly deliver my message. I try to use color in a way that supports my ideas and makes my pieces visually engaging.
2016
“Those color papers became the main element of a series that marked the way for the work that I’m doing now. Mixing the color shapes with pictures felt like I was entering new territory, and I loved the rush of making something I hadn’t seen before.”
When I first saw The Engine, I was drawn to the endless possibilities it creates. I had never seen anything like it before. Can you tell me about that artwork?
The Engine is a creation of mine that I developed in collaboration with Marcos Biagi, who coded it. The Engine is the outcome of The Abundance project commissioned by NEW. The project came about when NEW first commissioned me in 2020 to create something around the theme of love using paper collage. The result was The Infinite Love project, which was a huge success for both parties involved. In late 2021, NEW came back to me with the idea of exploring the concept of abundance through generative art. I was immediately excited about the prospect because it was a new and challenging medium that I hadn't yet worked with. I'm always eager to learn and find solutions to new problems, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. At first, I was overwhelmed by the vast array of options within the realm of generative art. I quickly realized that I wanted to create something that was connected to my previous work but could still take it to new places. The project, which took about nine months to complete, started with extensive research into the history of generative art. I was fascinated to learn that Dada poets had used generative rules to create poems, while the Surrealists had used the Cadavre Exquis method to generate images. Even writers like William Burroughs and Georges Perec used generative rules to create some of their most innovative writing. With this in mind, I began working on the structure and rules that would govern The Engine, as well as the content that would feed it. The final product was a computer program capable of generating an astounding 126 sextillion (126,142,272,949,218,750,000,000 to be precise) different collages, each one unique in its own right. By mixing layers of images, text, and masks, The Engine was able to produce an unfathomable number of outputs. It's difficult to explain exactly how The Engine works, but essentially, it's a matter of combining many elements randomly. And the notion of random combinations brings in the element of unexpected or even unwanted combinations, which is central to this project. While I selected all the elements that The Engine would process, there were some combinations that I wouldn't have chosen myself due to personal taste or experience. Unlike an AI, which can "think" and make decisions, The Engine is more like a machine from the industrial revolution, performing the same task repeatedly without consciousness. This unconscious operation leads to many unexpected and surprising outcomes, which I find both exciting and revealing. The resulting collages have a lot of my personal touch but also feature new elements that I wouldn't have included otherwise. These elements add new layers of meaning to my previous work and keep the creative process fresh and exciting. One of the most interesting aspects of the project is its connection to the present. Once a collage is generated, it will never be seen again. Each output is a unique work of art that will only exist for a brief moment. This idea of appreciating the moment is something that really resonated with me while working on The Engine. It's a reminder to take a step back, appreciate the beauty around us, and be present in the moment. It may sound a bit corny, I know. But that’s what I felt when seeing collages coming and leaving and wanting to go back and couldn’t.
2017
“The use of color can shift the relationship between image and meaning, which helps me to subtly deliver my message. I try to use color in a way that supports my ideas and makes my pieces visually engaging. ”
You’ve worked on many different projects with some prominent companies. Do you have a favorite project or does anything stick out to you that you’d like to highlight?
My favorite projects are usually the most recent ones, as I'm always trying to push myself to learn new techniques and incorporate fresh ideas into my work. As a result, I don't have a definitive top 5 or all-time favorite. That said, I'm truly grateful for all of the companies that have entrusted me with their projects over the years. I value each one not only for its visual impact, but also for the lessons I've learned along the way. Working with talented art directors has been particularly helpful in my career. I always take their feedback seriously, as I know they have a wealth of experience and knowledge to share. As a self-taught artist, I'm always looking for ways to improve and learn from others, and working with art directors and their teams has been instrumental in my growth.
2018
One of the reasons I reached out to you initially was because of my love for your podcast, The Weird Show. Can you tell me about the podcast and what your goal was in creating it?
I absolutely love podcasts and listen to them all the time while I work. When I started The Weird Show back in 2010, I didn't even know what podcasting was, so we focused on written interviews. But eventually, I discovered podcasts and felt a little intimidated by them at first. The shows I enjoyed had big teams doing all sorts of things that I couldn't even pronounce correctly. But since I already had some experience with sound editing software from recording music, I decided to give it a shot and see how it felt. The goal of The Weird Show podcast is similar to the platform itself: to explore the world of contemporary collage and give voice to the artists who are defining it. It's not about my personal tastes, but about showcasing artists who contribute to the ongoing conversation about the nature and possibilities of collage. That's why I don't just interview paper or digital collage artists, but also painters, sculptors, musicians, and installation artists. Collage, to me, is a way of approaching reality rather than just an art medium. It's a mindset that allows us to combine elements and play with context. As Todd Bartel once said, "Ever since the Big Bang, it's all collage." Producing, editing, and sound designing the first episode of the podcast was incredibly fun, but also exhausting. I chose Brazilian-born, LA-based watercolor painter Alvaro Naddeo for the first episode because I wanted to make a statement about the nature of collage. I hoped people would see that if a watercolor painting can be considered collage, then many other things that aren't made with Life magazine can be collage too. Since I enjoyed the process so much, I decided to do a whole season of the podcast with 11 episodes, almost one per month. I had the opportunity to interview some amazing artists like John Whitlock, Mac Premo, Mario Zoots, and Mark Wagner, among others. It was a joy to meet them and learn about their work and lives. But producing a monthly podcast all by myself was a lot of work, especially since I'm not a professional editor or sound designer. So by the end of the first season, I reached out to NEW, a company that had commissioned me for projects and was interested in collage, to see if they would be interested in supporting the show. They agreed to fund me for a new season, which took place mostly in 2022, and I am forever grateful for their generosity. Thanks to NEW's support, I was able to hire a small team for the second season to help me produce it in a more professional and healthy way. Matías Rossi, an amazing sound creative, helped with editing and sound design, and Adrrà Navarro, a wizard when it comes to sound, made everything sound amazing. This season was a dream come true because I could focus on the interviews and content while leaving the technical work to my talented team. The second season included interviews with some personal heroes of mine like James Gallagher and Charles Wilkin, as well as interviews with other artists like Pablo Serret de Ena, Diane Meyer, Michel Lamoller, or David Henry Nobody Jr, who work in film, installation, performance, embroidery, and photography. Each conversation was a true gift. Now that the contract with NEW has ended, I'm thinking of new ways to continue the podcast without having to do all the work myself. Hopefully, I'll find a way to come back with a third season.
Is there anything you’re particularly inspired by at the moment? A book? An artist? A project?
The most inspiring thing I’ve experienced in the last month was going to an exhibition here in Barcelona called Graphic Constellation, Young Women Authors of Avant-garde Comics (at the CCCB, Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona). Not only the work of these artists is amazing, but the design of the exhibition is really great. If anybody who reads this is near Barcelona, I recommend them to check it out -it’s open until May 14th, 2023.
2019
Lastly, what is next for Max-o-matic? Anything we can be on the lookout for?
What’s next? Always keep on moving and looking for new challenges and not being (too) afraid of failure. The rest will be love, work, fun, run, eat, sleep.
2020
Máximo Tuja aka Max-o-matic
@maxomatic | www.maxomatic.net
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