INTERVIEW WITH ANYONE

How did you develop your networks?

I don‘t know. In the first draft I was very, very open and drew at the dining table. It felt good. My family liked the result and I thought, I‘ll do that more often now.

What were you thinking?

There was no thought process beforehand, and never during production. Only over the years did I start to think about why I do this day after day. But I'm less interested in thinking than in feeling.

What feeling?

I used to draw for three or four hours every night before I went to bed, and when I went to bed afterwards I always had an incredible high. That's why I always kept going.

You had exhaustion depression before starting the project, how did that affect your work?

Probably working on the expanded thing every day played a big part in my rapid recovery.

Do you also want to uplift other people with your work?

I don't have the competence for that. But I am very happy when as many beings as possible find their lives friendly and worth living.

You offer workshops where people can do similar work.

Yes, I think the experience is reproducible. But I only offer space, time, paper and pens.

Your work seems like a celebration of the collective as a monotonous mass.

Until the modern era, the individual was not important. Most people's expectations were similar. Now more and more people want to be unique. We want to travel, eat and look individually. I think the more fleeting our culture becomes, the more we want to be special. I like that, but it's dangerous.

Why?

Our culture makes us lonely and unhappy. You can say, ok, that's just the way it is, we're well entertained for that. But in loneliness and sadness lies a risk: people without a connection to a common world are more susceptible to totalitarian ideas.

Is there anything beyond this relationship dimension that you consider important?

Every work is a network that tells a never-ending story. Networks make everything great possible: cathedrals, human rights, coral reefs, anthills, etc. For humans, smiling is the sign of the will to cooperate. That makes it our strongest signal. Those who smile connect. I am interested in that. It also lifts the spirits. It's good for everyone who smiles and everyone who sees it.

Do you strive for happiness?

Yes.