what is your name?
Ganzeer
how would you describe what you do?
I create visual commentary, most often through drawing and painting. I’ll also do the occasional video or installation, as well as some design work. In recent years I’ve done a fair bit of writing. Sooner or later, I’m bound to merge all that into a singular cross disciplinary project.
what are you currently working on?
A 450-page sci-fi graphic novel titled THE SOLAR GRID.
what has had the greatest influence on your work?
I think everything one’s senses are exposed to undoubtedly has some kind of influence, but the greatest influence on me and my work has –without a doubt– been the Egyptian revolution of 2011.
what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
That it is directly always about the Egyptian revolution in some way or another.
what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
Luckily I don’t limit myself to one medium. Like you said, each medium has its set of strengths and weaknesses and I kind of get off on matching the right medium with the right idea and seeing what I can do with them.
how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
In so many ways. For one, it has granted me access to far more information than I could ever dream of. It has also allowed me to make connections and friendships with a wide variety of artists and authors around the world, as well as make my work accessible to audiences outside my immediate circle. All of this has enriched me personally, as well as my work inevitably.
what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
Often times we, as artists, will be persuaded to take on projects not because we genuinely want to do them, but because they might in one way or another be good for one’s “career” despite our really not wanting to do them. I would advise artists to stay away from such projects no matter what is on offer, because the more such projects we do, the more we become known by those projects and the more our muscles are trained to do such projects, and so the harder it gets for us to do anything else. And we will regret it for the remainder of our pathetic wage-slave lives.
where can we find you online?
Ganzeer.com and in your inbox every week if you sign up to my newsletter at RestrictedFrequency.com
what are you reading at the moment?
THE CITY ALWAYS WINS by Omar Robert Hamilton
what are you listening to at the moment?
anything else we should know?
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. No joke.