#ArchinectMeets is a series of interviews with members of the architecture community that use Instagram as a creative medium. With the series, we ask some of Instagram’s architectural photographers, producers and curators about their relationship to the social media platform and how it has affected their practice.
Social media has undeniably affected the way we perceive, interpret and share opinions about architecture today. While we use our own account, @Archinect, as a site for image curation and news content, we wanted to ask fellow Instagram users how they navigated the platform.
We spoke to Maxim Zhestkov, the media artist and director behind @zhestkov. Trained in architecture and digital technology, Zhestkov launched a studio/workshop where he with his friends and colleagues developing new forms of moving images and producing motion content for brands and companies all over the world. His videos exist on Instagram to bridge the divide between architecture and the latest in digital animation.
What is your relationship to architecture?
I studied architecture and I suppose it shaped my perception and the way of thinking.
In the second year of studying architecture at university, I realised that digital technology could give more creative freedom rather than the real world and I moved into virtual spaces.
I love computer graphics and this combination: architecture and computer graphics became the main passion of mine.
View this post on InstagramHi friends, here is a new animation for our upcoming art film Layers. This is so exciting to make stuff and share it with you. Thank you for the feedback, sharing and comments. Really appreciate it! Друзья, очередной эпизод для нашего следующего фильма Layers. Так волнительно работать над ним и сразу делиться с вами! Спасибо за ваш фидбэк, репосты и комментарии. Мы очень это ценим!
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How did @zhestkov begin?
I'm working on CG art films for more than a decade now and I'm always looking for new ways to express some thoughts.
View this post on InstagramAn inner sunrise in a dark city. An excerpt from our upcoming open title sequence for @fitc Amsterdam 2019. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Внутренний восход в мрачном городе. Выдержка из титров для @fitc Amsterdam 2019 над которыми во всю сейчас работаем.
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About two years ago I started sharing some of my process of working on art film and commercial projects.
How do you produce your imagery? About how long does each video take to produce?
I found a comfortable pace - 4 art films each year... it means I'm working for about 3 months for each art film and while working on the film
I'm sharing some pieces and excerpts on my social accounts.
This is so exciting that people think that this is some kind of "real" installations and architectural spaces.
View this post on InstagramWhat is the singularity in the art world? The idea behind the Ray Kurzweil's singularity is the final technological frontier where AI exceed human performance and start expanding its knowledge and abilities with exponential power. I love to make some analogies with the art world. New tools allow us to make things impossible in reality with 100% immersion... and in 10-15 years artistic environment will be so different from what we have at the moment and everything will be possible. AR will open new horizons for the future digital sculptors and animators. Animated 3D objects mixed with sound and story will fuse into new visual languages, narratives and art forms. 10-15 years. OK, what about 50 years? Yes, 2068... So exciting! :) Here is a new (100% digital) exploration for out upcoming project - Layers. Max.
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Has Instagram (or social media in general) affected your views toward the profession?
I love to share my thoughts and I love to see that huge amount of people feel something about it.
Do you see yourself taking the imagery into any new directions?
Because at my studio we are producing art films on a regular basis, we can experiment with different directions and ideas.
View this post on InstagramHi! We've just got the Vimeo Staff Pick for our art film - Optics! What a great news! @vimeo , we love you! So, a new art film - Layers - is in the development. Check out this short piece... and get ready for the next 3 months filled with visual thoughts about compound geometric structures and colourful layers. . Привет! Мы только что получили the Vimeo Staff Pick за Optics! Вот круто! @vimeo , мы тебя любим! Новый арт-фильм в разработке - Layers. Посмотрите эту анимацию... и приготовьтесь к 3 следующим месяцам полным визуальных мыслей касательно сложных геометрических структур и цветных слоев.
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At the moment we are finishing our art film - Layers - where we dissected some solid monoliths with extremely colourful layers inside.
What we really love is the "post architecture" way of thinking.
When CG could make something real - where are the boundaries?
Thousands of people think that what they saw is 100% real.
What are some of your favourite Instagram profiles to follow?
@Wired, @designmilk, @artsy, and @booooom
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