The eXTra finGer: Interview with Olaf Ladousse

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.

a)Hello everybody, I’m an industrial designer that never had the opportunity to practice professionally what I’ve studied during my formation years in Les Ateliers ENSCI in Paris. I recycled myself as an illustrator but what moves me are musical notes. At the moment I pretend to be Turkish from Cyprus till Greek and Turkish succeed to live in harmony.

q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

a)I never planned to be an artist but my way of living got me slowly to assume the fact that I may be considered as one. It must be great living from your art, I wish I achieve that.

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a)I’m engraving linocuts for my illustrations, circuit-bending for my music and lately I’m blinded by neon lights. I had the opportunity to build 2 of them for different exhibitions and get currently stuck infront of any pharmacy cross with a stupid smile on my face. Sadly in my neighbourhood they are changing those neon crosses for LED technology.

q) How would you describe your style?

a)Craftsmanship

q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?

a)As I work through different mediums at the same time, music, graphic, bricolage… ideas are running through my head during the day, during the night, then when I run short of time I stop thinking and start to work. I always suspect of my first idea and wait to the second one when the object I’m building gets broken or my drawing gets stained I know I’d finished it just the previous moment.

q) What are you working on at present?

a)I’m preparing the merchandising of the first Japanese tour of my band LCDD (www.myspace.com/lcdd): t-shirts, record covers, etc. and writing letters to great authors to invite them to the next issue of my fanzine ¡QUÉ SUERTE!

q) What about recent sources of inspirations?

a)I don’t really focus the sources of my inspiration, it’s daily life that influences me. It could be the concert I saw the day before, the news in the paper or the graffiti at the corner.

q) What are some of your obsessions?

a)Religions, all of them. It’s an abuse of power. I’m God’s personal enemy.

q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?

a)I don’t make many exhibitions at galleries, I collaborate to artistic events on different forms; playing live with my bands (Las Solex & LCDD), gluing posters in the streets (www.elcartel.es) lately in Senigallia; a collective exhibition at Scion space in LA. I’m much more interested in travelling showing my art than getting to a specific gallery.

q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

a)Last year I started my website where you can contact me and see all the different aspects of my work, but what I like most is to receive phisical mail, you can write to me or better send me drawings at my P.O. Box address:
¡QUÉ SUERTE! – Apdo. Correos 18280 – 28080 Madrid, Spain

q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?

a)Don’t follow the rules neither the hip.