Felt Zine presents Issue #70 featuring digital artist Frenetik Void, a science-fiction post-human artist exploring virtual identity, physical reality in relation to surrealism, and more. Explore the interactive NFT issue here, or read the interview below.
What’s the meaning behind your artist name?
It came out quite naturally. I tend to use alter egos, and love roleplay video games, and stuff. Comes
out of the feeling I get when I’m about to create, or in the process of it. It’s a strong, shaky
sensation, an abrupt movement inside the emptiness (void). So that’s it, “Frenetik Void”. The
initials are the same as my name.
What are the essential or main ideas in your work?
This one’s tough. I think I don’t really try to keep themes or ideas. I consider it as a “diary” of my
emotional life, bringing daily emotions and putting them out there as I can. Sharing them helps
me a lot, I really really feel relieved once I “finish” each piece.
Although if I see them I recognize some kinds of patterns that clearly mark important moments
of my life. I tend to explore and relieve mostly the negativity out of myself.
So the themes tend to be negative or dark, cause it’s like a kind of expulsion or vomit. Seven years of psychoanalysis (here in my country is quite common) made me quite conscious of my issues and I try to
constantly work on them and embrace my shadow/darkness. Most of these issues are “natural”
or “normal” if you have my age and social position; sexuality, relationships, adulthood, economic
independence, etc. I do not know what the piece will look like when I start working on it, which
makes it very interesting for me. It’s like going to sleep. I don’t know what I’m going to dream
about, then I wake up with all this information that’s very useful for me to know what my
unconscious has to tell “me”. It’s revealing.
Where do you look for inspiration?
Damn, everywhere! The streets, relationships, internet, life. From the vegetable I ate at midday to that reflection I saw in a puddle in the street to the iris of someone I like. There’s so much data, that it’s a bit overwhelming. I need to get these kinds of artworks done they’re like medicine for me nowadays. Apart from constantly living this way I consume so much data on the internet also that I have to share what I do. It’s kind of a recycling system I have to get done in order to feel better about myself, I think.
What drove your preferred art medium into digital art? How did you get started in NetArt/
Internet Art medium?
I always had a strong relationship with computers. My father works with software so I’ve had the
chance to interact with pc ́s all my childhood. In the beginning, it was mostly ludical, I mean, It’s
still ludical I guess. I used to play a lot, I consider myself a gamer. The first steps were when I
started to look into game editors, inside half-life, age of empires, and created my own maps and
experiences. I always liked customization inside games or whatever character creation there
was at the moment. I then shared these custom maps and played them with friends. The social
part is always important. I grew a lot socially in the virtual realm. The more conceptual “artistic”
part came when I got myself to play with the Kinect in my pc, in 2014. I scanned myself and that
visual representation touched me in a way that really got me thinking. So I started looking for
myself inside the pixels, the screen, and the mirror. Once that process started it was like a chain
reaction that got me into what I do today. I found a way to express myself and communicate with
others that is truly precious to me.
Your work accentuates the state of detachment and peculiar attachments of body parts.
What originally inspired you to create work with these occurring patterns?
The virtual humanoids (and body parts) were my “first tool” to get to what I was trying to communicate. It was easy for me to feel attached to these empty virtual bodies, filling them up with my own emotions. In most cases, I relate these parts to actual pains in the body or some kind of energy I feel/felt there in reality. Also poses and moments my brain clicked. Each piece makes me remember something, some more than others obviously. I’m not much of an art “consumer”. I mean, I don’t really search for references, I tend to think they find me. On the other hand, I haven’t been so instructed in that world, I’m really more into a gamer-type universe. But hey, obviously I use Instagram, FB, and other platforms a lot and I see tons and tons of digital art. I like how Adam Martinakis use the “Daz bodies”, I find his art so pure. Something important is that I recycle and reuse lots of these body parts models, this gives me some kind of internal narrative that makes total sense, for me at least.