НАСЛЕДНИК ВАН ГОГА \ Ухо, русский мат и современное искусство - интервью
Hello, friends! This is the second season of my non-tourism travel show in which I travel the world, meet the locals, and try to understand how they live and what we can learn from them. This time we are in Amsterdam! This is my first time here, by the way. Nevertheless, no, we are not going to any touristy places, as always.
There won't be any "Red Light Streets" and stuff here, because I'll show you something much more interesting. And if after this issue you want to see Amsterdam with your own eyes and visit all the places I will show you today, you can find the best airfare, as always, on "Aviasails". Our hero today revealed himself to me in an insanely interesting way. But let's go over everything in order. Nine o'clock in the morning, I could only come here on some super important business.
And in Amsterdam, of course, there is the Van Gogh Museum. We absolutely have to see his paintings. Why? You will understand everything today. One of the first associations for me, when I hear about the Netherlands, is the name, Van Gogh. And I wasn't at all surprised when I found out that there was a museum named after him. So I spent a wonderful two hours with myself and my audio guide to prepare for today's interview.
I enjoyed my time and looking at the local art collection and the visitors. And I'm off to meet our hero today. I'm always late. I repent! It's not a big deal. Hi! My name is Tanya.
Meet Lieuwe Van Gogh. The only heir of the famous family and great-great-grandson of Vincent van Gogh. You look just like an artist. Like who? As an artist.
- Ah, like an artist! - Yes, 100%. I put on a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and that's what I got. On the other hand, I'm too cleanly dressed to experiment! Nothing. You're going to love my apartment. It's going to be great! Lieuwe invited me to visit him. And I, of course, gladly accepted the invitation, because it was madly interesting to see how Van Gogh's heir lives in Amsterdam. Spoiler: this is going to be something, so buckle up! This is my first time in Amsterdam.
What do I need to know about the city? What you should know… I have no experience working with tourists I'm sure you must know! I don't recommend going to the Anne Frank Museum, it's very boring. And don't go to the Van Gogh Museum, they won't let me in for free, so to hell with them. Don't go there. What would you like to do today? Go on a one-of-a-kind tour of Amsterdam? On the contrary! I would like to see something not touristy. Because most people know the Red Light Street and that you can smoke pot here.
Yeah, that's the boring part. Yes, yes. Why do you think there is so much freedom here? Well, you know, I'd say it gets boring fast. And when we get too much of that in the city, we go somewhere in the countryside. In fact, it's great to do what you want to do.
But I wouldn't want to live here all my life. - Really? - No, I wouldn't. I might like to live in the States or South America, somewhere there. Have you been there before? - Yes, of course. - Really? What do you like best about the States? Insanely interesting educated people. So, I went into a bar in the States one time, and there were jokes in ancient Latin.
Yep. And that's when I thought, "Wow! This is America!" This staircase is like an obstacle course, so be careful… Okay, okay. The apartment turned out to be insanely similar to what you think of when you first hear "artist's apartment." But for me, of course, this was not a surprise, since Liuwe has been drawing practically since childhood. Do you feel pressure from outside? Maybe you should be a better artist than your ancestor. Or you need to have children of your own.
As far as I remember, you're the only one… Yes, yes. What better way to put it… The last descendant, the last in the family… Heir, huh? Yes, yes, a blood heir. Do you still have a feeling of pressure from the outside that you need to have children, to prolong your lineage? Yes, yes, my girlfriend and I am thinking about it, we're trying to have a baby, but so far she's had several miscarriages. Yes, we want a baby, but not because… Yes, yes, of course. Not that we want to continue the lineage and the family name.
No, we just want a baby. It would be great to have a mini-men to repeat and copy everything, take as an example. It would be very good… Anyway, we're trying. - We're still in the process. - Yes, I understand. I hope it all works out. Ooh, okay. Is it written for me?
No, no, no, no, I don't paint pictures with political overtones and I don't do all that. But this time I thought, "Why not?" So… I understand. Do you think art and politics can get along together or not? Well, how can I put it… If someone is good at it, why not? Politics isn't really my thing, but when I was working on this picture, I decided, "Ah, the hell with it." This one, for example, will have Putin on it.
My YouTube channel is in danger right now! Oh, shit! Shit, shit. I think we can close this picture. We should probably hide it before the KGB gets here. Right here. Speaking of politics, freedom, laws, and art in Amsterdam.
So, for example, in Russia, we have a lot of examples of people going to jail because of art. First, what do you think about it, and have you had similar examples in the Netherlands? Maybe an example of someone going to jail because of their creativity? There was a guy who drew political cartoons. Ah, the political cartoonist? Yeah, something like that.
That's a little different, isn't it? Maybe, I don't insist. So political persecution is not an uncommon occurrence here? No, not at all. Basically, everyone does what they want. No one really cares. I'm using a mat here, is that okay? Is it okay to say "Fuck"? Ah, no question, of course.
All right. That's it, then great! We're going to have a blast! Just kidding. There is a museum of fine art in Amsterdam, and there are paintings by our Russian artist Yulia Tsvetkova. And she painted a lot of simple human nudes. So simple and effortless! And it's not like she's in jail right now. But because of her creativity, she has problems with the law.
And I'd like to show you her paintings now and have you look at them, evaluate them, and tell you why she's having problems. This one. All because of this. And because of this, she ended up in the GULAG? They've all gone completely crazy over there. Really? Because of these paintings? So what does it say about them? They say that a real woman shouldn't have everything perfect, like: skin, hair, and so on.
Wow! And that's the reason she's in trouble now? And it's considered dangerous! This is fucked up. And how come she's in jail now? Because they have decided that these pictures are pornography. If this is considered pornography, I'm afraid to imagine how they would react to real pornography. How would it be viewed then… So you don't have something like that, like a painting of some kind? Which could be seen as something forbidden. I think if you do something Nazi, it would be considered borderline. We came straight here from the museum and I have a question: doesn't it embarrass that you are constantly being compared to Vincent Van Gogh? - It happens, yes, sometimes. - Sometimes?
Sometimes, right. There are times when I think about what family I was born into, and what my roots are… It happens, it happens. How do you feel about that? What feelings do you have? Maybe you're embarrassed? I don't really understand this obsession with his paintings.
When I look at them, I don't imagine 90 million euros hanging on the wall. I said, "Well, they seem to be normal paintings." But, most importantly, they won't let me into the museum for free. Years ago, my friends and I were walking from a party and passed a museum. And I said, "Hey, guys, I'll let you through for free now, let's go." They said, "No, you can't do it for free."
My eyes are rolling and I point my passport at them: "Here, look, you have to let us in." In the end, they refused anyway, so. When did you first realize that your roots were something great? And maybe people started asking you questions about your family. When was that first time? Maybe when you were a kid you realized how lucky you were? My grandfather always brought me to the museum. And we listened to the same stories about the same paintings.
And this went on for several years. In fact, my background doesn't play a big role for me. Maybe if I take advantage of the moment correctly, my background will help me somehow, at least I hope so. Let's see what happens.
Every time I go through passport control at the airport, I hear the same damn joke: "He-he, you still have two ears." And this has been going on for 30 years exactly. I've heard that joke at least (at least!) nine times. Next time I want to bring a clapper of confetti with me and blow it up right in front of them.
I understand that I'll probably get caught later, but it will definitely be worth it! Yes, I can imagine what it's like for you. I was born on April 1, and every year everyone jokes that my mother made a joke by giving birth to me, since April 1 is joke day. April Fool's Day comes around, and everyone starts talking about what a jokester my mom is.
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You can meet the scandalous pair and order both fragrances at "Golden Apple" at the link below, in the description. How does your typical day go? Maybe you're doing something special? In general, what do you usually do? Well, I usually work until 2 a.m. at the restaurant, and then I come home. At the restaurant? What do you do there? I cook on the grill, it's pretty much my responsibility. He's a cook. Bringing the "medium" and "well done" roasts to the perfect look and taste.
Then I come home, my girlfriend wakes up at 6 a.m. She makes most of the money in our relationship. - And so I come home… - It's so European. And I come home, take off my shoes, walk from there like a ninja, very carefully, and quietly smoke a cigarette. No music, huh? In the headphones, in the airpods. What restaurant do you work at? "Cannibal Royal".
What is this place? What are the specifics? - What kind of cuisine is there? - It's a steakhouse, we cook meat there mostly. It turned out that that day Lieuwe had some work to finish and take it to the gallery. There will soon be an exhibition of contemporary art, and his work will be on display among other things. Your style is absolutely amazing because I've never seen anything like it.
- Thank you, thank you very much. - I'm serious. How did you find yourself, and your painting technique? In the beginning, I just used regular brushes, but all the time something went wrong, I messed it up. And then I realized that I needed to make a change, and that's how I came to this.
It took me two years to come to this technique. And that's exactly my style now. For now, I'm using it, we'll see what happens next. What is shown in the picture? It's based on a movie, the movie was called "Spring Breakers", and the girls in it wore big ski masks with a little "My Little Pony" logo on them, and I really liked that.
And I wanted to do a whole series of paintings on the subject. And where can ordinary people see your paintings? On my website. www.therealvangogh.com And in real life, in person? Something is now on display in the gallery. That's about it. Some of my paintings were stolen and are now being sold on the black market.
Maybe some of them you can buy there. One day I'm going to find that rat who stole my work. How did this happen? How were they stolen? I don't have the faintest idea. When did this happen? A couple of months ago.
It was mostly colleagues and friends, so I have no suspects. I have no idea who that is. In June 2022 his personal exhibition was held. All the paintings on display there were sold out in three days! And I think it was also due to his unique writing technique. Oh, what's that? Can I see it? Which one? Oh, that one… I never finished it. Everything falls down all the time.
Oh, I know him! Yes, it was a portrait… Oh, it's also broken… Ugh. It's so much like me at home… I didn't plan it for the sake of a joke, and what came out was me in my natural habitat. I wanted to ask you, have you done paintings with Vincent? No, no, my friend just did a sketch and I colored it. But I never worked on it again.
So, we put it back where it was. Yes, of course, it could be sold as a vintage Van Gogh painting, but I don't know, I don't know… I don't feel like it. Why? I want to make my own, to make MY name sound, you know? I understand! But I… But you found yourself, you found your technique. - Yes, yes. - After all, it can be so hard!
- Tell me please, what is it? - Well, you know… What kind of crazy story is that? In fact, I still don't know what came into my head. Was it an ordinary day? Yes, it was the most ordinary day in Boston. A German conceptual artist approached me and wanted my DNA. Anyway, it came down to the fact that they essentially cloned my ear.
How is that possible? They cut out the cartilage. It's not straight bone-bone. But it's a denser thing, it's also in the nose, in the ears.
The worst part was when they cut out the cartilage. Yeah, they put some kind of dome on my ear. It literally drove me crazy. And we were always meeting new people, shaking hands with them, and I was like, "Hi, I'm Van Gogh, yeah, the dude with the ear." It was day after day.
So she wanted to recreate Vincent Van Gogh's ear, right? Yes. But it's your ear. It's not him, is it? No, no, they were making a mold of my ear.
That is, they take clay or something similar and make an impression, then they put the impression into a mold and pour it. There are pieces of my DNA in there, and it grows and forms the shape of an ear. Did you like the idea? I really liked that idea, yes! At one point there was an exhibition in Germany, and Noam Chomsky came there.
Well, he's kind of a very famous philosopher. But the point is that the ear itself, it catches sound waves. So, scientifically speaking, you can say something, and the ear "hears" you. In theory. Anyway, one of the major philosophers of the 21st century said something in this ear, and then it was my turn. So I get up and say the first thing that comes to mind, "Uh…" Not the best moment of my life.
Do you understand why he did it? Why did he cut off his ear? Have you thought about that? It is one of the most enigmatic stories in the art world. Yes. It literally became his trademark, right? Undoubtedly. I think there are a lot of different stories about that.
Some people say he went crazy from drinking absinthe, some say he sent his ear to a prostitute he was madly in love with. But I'm not sure about all that. One time I got in a bar fight and a guy almost cut my ear off, - the knife went by, snagging my ear a little bit… - No way! Really? …I had a small cut, and if I hadn't stepped aside, he would have cut my ear in half. And it's a good thing it all worked out, or else I'd have lost my ear.
Then people would think, "Ah, he's the artist." Yes, yes, look, it's him, the earless one. No, you won't.
How about this, how do you say it in English? Ah, yes, the curse that haunts every generation. Curse. Yes, yes, it's like a curse and a blessing combined into one. Exactly. That day I had a huge amount of emotion from Lieuwe's apartment, his work, and how interesting and open a person he turned out to be. And it will unfold even more interestingly further.
When he asked me to help him finish one of his paintings, my hands started shaking and all I could think about was not to mess up, not to spoil everything! Spoiler alert: it didn't work out. Let's call him for now Voldemort, the one whose name can't be called. Okay. What colors do you prefer? How do you choose them? Bright, lots of bright colors and, of course, lots of pink.
Why do you love pink so much? I don't know, I just like it. No gender stereotypes! Great, let's get started and try it out. Okay, let's try it. Oh, God, I'm so scared, I'm scared. And you can help if you want. We just take the paint.
There's a little more water than necessary. Oh, that's okay. So, few lines here… So, is it pink? It's red.
It's red… On the lips or somewhere else? Yes, that's it, along the lines, and where there are white gaps. Yes, and just spread it around chaotically. That's it, look. I can't do anything without rules, and you give me so much leeway.
There are no rules! So much freedom. So much the freedom of action, great. - Oh, no, no, no, it's very red. - It's okay. Just like blood! It looks just like blood, I don't believe it! Can you give me another color, please? - An another color? - This one is too bright for me. Yeah, sure, here's the pink one.
How cool. The funny thing is that you can fool around like that and make money of it. It doesn't work.
So, let me get my special fork for this. I really hope it will be the most common fork we use for everything. It's my go-to guy in cases like this. Look, it's easy. I'll show you.
And lo and behold, it's clean! - Yay, thank you! - Here you go. My girlfriend is constantly mad at me because of the huge amount of things for creativity, it all slowly fills the entire apartment, and she is also terribly angry about the stains from the paint. Maybe in a hundred years, there will be a museum here. By the way, I wondered what professors and scholars would say about my work many years from now. Can I just do this? Yeah, go ahead, do whatever you want, and have a fun. There are no rules and no such nonsense, just fooling around.
Do whatever you want. How do you do the outline of a painting without rules? Well, at first you start doing everything with light colors, you go from light to dark gradually, that's how they mostly work. I'm never quite sure what I'm doing, I use my imagination. Okay, well, I need your magic fork. Yeah, my magic fork! Can I smoke? Oh, yes, of course.
Long live cigarettes! Oh, no, not that… - What the hell have you done! - There's something here… What have you done! Oh, there's no… All we had to do was not screw up, and here - look at her. Oh, that's okay, we'll fix that. It's a mole, it's a mole! You know, I usually listen to a lot of music at work. What kind of music do you prefer? Dutch? Mostly aggressive music, or exactly the opposite - calm. I also listen to a lot of gangsta rap.
You know, like that. And soul, maybe. Someone told me that if you're riding the subway to work in Russia and accidentally smile at someone you don't know, people take it as an insult. Is this true? Or is it just a fantasy? I don't think that's true. But when people meet each other in the subway, they don't smile at each other, that's for sure.
But I understand them, it sucks to ride the subway to work day in and day out. Yeah. It's not a good time for me either.
Why do you want to continue building a career in the States? People there are crazy about Van Gogh. After a little more painting, we went to the gallery, and on the way, Lieuwe asked me the typical question you always expect from a foreigner. By the way, I wonder what swear words are in the Russian language? "Οθηδεφ". - What does this mean? - Anything.
Oh, I see. Someone might look at your picture and say "οθηδεφ"! That would mean, "Wow, that's beautiful!" Or when things are really bad, like when we have no money now because YouTube has been blocked in Russia, we can also say "οθηδεφ". Or, when we can't withdraw money from an ATM because our cards don't work here, we also say "οθηδεφ". - It means that things are really bad. - Yeah, I think I got it.
We say in such cases: "I'M PIENNA." Of course "ρσκΰ" you know that word better than I do. - "Αλςό." - Αλςό? "Αλςό" we use that word, for example, if we stumble, or something like that.
Right. "Kurwa", that's a Polish word, isn't it? No, it's obsolete, but it's also in Russian. For example, it was used in Chekhov's old stories.
This is my team. Nice to meet you. Is this another one of your performance techniques? When parts of the picture are cut out.
Yes, yes, it's a kind of applique. I had some old paintings that I messed up, so I figured, the hell with it, I'll cut them up. I didn't know what to do at all, so I just did things and this is what came out. Oops, it peeled off. Shit. All right, whatever. You can sit on this chair to relax, to unwind, to enjoy art.
Just kidding, it is art! Art! Do you understand? Ah, well, that's art, too. Can you help us? What should I do? Right here? That's where it gets better. Yes, right here.
It took a few hours to prepare for the exhibition. The whole time I was watching with great interest how Lieuwe chose the place for this or that painting because it obviously meant a lot to him. But what was particularly surprising was that each work was simply nailed down, without any frames, and without fear of damaging it. And it seemed to me, too, to be some part of the perception of art here. She looks a lot like one of the lead singers of the band "Pussy Riot".
Yes, yes. Do you know this band? Yes, I've heard of them. I've never heard their songs, but they're always in my ears.
Yes, that's the way it always is. This picture is called "Bambi on Steroids". Yes, yes, little deer Bambi… So, wait, is that Bambi? Yes, it's "Bambi on steroids".
"You killed my mother, now I'm going for revenge." Yes, remember, our childhood cartoons were very sad: "The Lion King," "Bambi". Such a thing, of course.
Yes, "The Lion King"… A friend told me that there is some Russian version of the cartoon "The Jungle Book" where Mowgli eats Baloo to survive on his own, a very cringe-worthy cartoon, I tell the truth, he even showed me footage from the cartoon. - Hi. - Good afternoon! Hello! This is the most important word for Russia right now. What does that mean? Freedom.
Freedom. It's the only word I know… You learned one of the most important words. Are you ready to throw a glass into the picture? This is a Dutch tradition. No, it can't be. Really? Yes, it is a blessing.
You should bless her! Yes, yes, we always do that with the last painting in the exhibit. - Is it safe for you? - It's perfectly safe, I'll be fine. Mazel tov (hebrew phrase for congratulations)! Yaay! Way to go, the painting and exhibition are now blessed! Do we have to clean it all up now? The picture is now surrounded by your power. The picture is now illuminated by a Russian shaman. I'm just in love with your manicure! You are so brutal, with very masculine features and such a nice manicure. Yes, yes, you see, we are the army of the Netherlands.
Yes, yes, that's who we are. Manicured Freedom Fighters. The picture you just blessed with the glass is a self-portrait. A self-portrait, you mean, is that you? Yes, well, how to say, trying to write a self-portrait. How many self-portraits do you have? It's one single one, and now it's blessed with a glass, so it must be successful. You said it yourself, I have to break it.
Yes, yes, it's a tradition. My father was killed a few years ago by some crazy Islamist radical. How long ago did this happen, how many years ago? 17 years ago. And… - Yes, my father was also killed when I was… - Yes? Welcome to the club! Fifth. I don't think that's a good idea. Yeah, he was gone when I was 3 or 4 years old.
And the sad thing is that I don't remember him at all, which makes me very sad. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to know mine. I sometimes go through psychological hypnosis sessions to remember him, but I can't remember anything at all.
Why was your father killed? - Why? - Yeah, what got him killed? He was just on his way to work. And the funny thing is that he wasn't supposed to go that day, his co-worker was sick and asked my dad to fill in for him and he was on his way to work. And his drunken comrade started picking on him, and my dad was not a conflicted person at all, and he didn't want to get into a fight and he ended up dying of a stab wound. It's awful. This is all completely wrong.
What's your story? My story, that's nine through-and-through bullet wounds and a stabbing with a big knife, yeah. With a note. Yes, with a note on his chest, and… He was making a film for a girl at the time, and she asked for his help… How, when? I'm a little confused… So where was he? He was in Amsterdam. My father was a film director.
Yes, yes, I know, yes. He did a little sketch for the girl politician Ayaan Hirsi Aly. And that didn't sit well with the guys in the, roughly speaking, Jihad community. It was a pamphlet against abusing women. In Islam, for example, it is allowed to hit a woman.
And she wanted to make a film, to oppose it. But the idea of the movie itself was unsuccessful, and his father helped her come up with a better idea, a good movie. But people were so angry about it. Can we film you? Yes, of course.
And a lot of people were very angry about it, and they wanted to kill his father because of this movie. In fact, they still wanted to kill Ayhan Hirsi Aly, but she had bodyguards and his father refused protection, he didn't want guards around him, he said it was also art, free expression of thought and opinion. But in the end, he was killed. In the middle of the street, in the early morning, at 9 o'clock, he was riding his bicycle… That's how it happened, it was all about 17 years ago.
Those were fun times… Holland was shocked by all this. People wondered, "How come? Why? Right in the middle of the street!" And you and I were talking about the power of art, about its greatness, about prison, when they put people in prison for art, and then this… my God. Because of art… Because of the movie. Yes, because of the movie… But again, this has nothing to do with what the Dutch do: it doesn't mean that the Dutch do these things. No one thought this could happen.
This was a real extremist, with very extremist intentions. It was a big surprise for everyone. You were as young as I was when your father died, and that couldn't have gone away. This situation cannot help but have an impact. How do you think it affected you? It made me very angry. There was a lot of hatred and anger in me.
But I went to therapy, I went to kickboxing. And, you know, at some point it becomes impossible to keep getting mad if you're hitting the pear three hours a day. But I was angry. For a very long time. You know, the fucking bastards! It was very difficult for me to be in that state all the time. But it's really hard to be in that kind of tension all the time, and it's impossible to live with that kind of anger inside.
Yeah, you know, boxing helped me a lot. And art! And art! Of course art, yes, creativity. Art is solace for the soul.
Your anger is reflected in your paintings. It's a very good way to express yourself, to express your feelings. It's actually great that you can be in a state of anger and rage, because I, for example, can't. And maybe that's my problem. I want to be quiet, calm, kind like my father, and I don't want to quarrel with anyone, but it's not easy. I found another very cool picture.
Here. Can you please explain what this is? This statue is called "The Scream". Yes, "The Scream". It was supposed to be my dad's face, but I'm not a big fan of that work.
Why? The idea itself is very cool. As far as I'm concerned, it reflects our desire to express our thoughts and feelings, but we can't always do that. Yes, yes. Yes, that was the main idea. My father didn't like that picture very much.
Jeroen Hanneman made this sculpture and he basically licked the idea completely from me. Oh, shit! He absolutely stole the idea, completely. It happens. On November 2, the day my father was killed, many people come to this monument and bring flowers. It's some kind of conspiracism there, I decided to distance myself from it all.
Suspend. But you were putting on an event when your father died. What were you doing? Yes, me and two of my friends did a graffiti-style painting on the wall. Yes? Yeah, just graffiti on the wall, you know, like, "psh-psh," with spray cans. And she was something like… - Can you show me what she looked like at all? - I'll show you.
What she looked like? Can you tell me at all how it happened? You found out what happened to your dad, and the next day you went to write graffiti with your friends? Yeah, I wasn't studying that day, I had a release because of what happened. I was allowed not to go to school for a week. My mother said, "Grab some spray cans, paint whatever you want, have a blast." What a great girl she is! Yes, it is. So what was the idea? So you took your friends, right? Well yeah, we were just chilling, and I got the idea to write "Theo Forever".
And then I just started drawing, not thinking about what I was going to end up with, we were just creating. - Can you show me? - Yes, I'll show you, yes. Explain, please, I don't understand.
Why the American flag? My father was a big fan of the American art, and when I turned 16, he offered me a choice: you could either stay with your mother or come to America with me. And I was like, "I would love to go! Absolutely, absolutely, I'm coming with you! Yes." Yes? Yes, and I went with him. I might like to live in the States. People there are crazy about Van Gogh. Okay, well, that's understandable.
- And here's an American flag and it says "Theo". - Theo. His name, Theo, is Theodore. Theodore, yeah. - Who's that? - It's kind of like a clown. Why the clown? Just some face, I don't know why exactly, I didn't go that far, I was just drawing.
And why are there so many question marks? I wondered then what the hell happened, and how it all happened, and why, you know? Because there were so many things: nine bullet wounds, a slit throat. It's like a horror movie with some maniac on the loose. And those are the thoughts and questions that I had at the time, just, you know, they overwhelmed me. Oh, so you, a child, at that time you were still a child, a teenager… Yes.
Were you told all the details then? Yes. - Yes, of course, they told me everything. - I see. I see. It's amazing that the day after your father died, you could make such a beautiful work of art.
Maybe that was the main thing at that moment, to express my emotions and experiences. Was that your first such impulse? I always drew. But it was something as large-scale as this picture that was the first time. Is the painting still there? No, no, she's gone. I was painting on the wall in my room, and I think the owner of the apartment had already renovated and repainted the walls. Creation and destruction, as it were.
- Too bad. - Assholes… Yeah, yeah, assholes. Screw them. I am, of course, very sorry for this question, but do you realize how famous you will be when you die? I understand perfectly, yes. I think my technique will be appreciated in the future.
Are you thinking about it? About what? About death? About death, about how famous your paintings will be when you're gone, that's so cool. I want to be famous for at least two years, and then I can die a happy death, seriously. Look at him, he's so modest! Well, do you even think sometimes about what it's like to be world-famous? Actually, no, not really. I'm not here for the money, not for the fame. To hell with glory! Well it would be great to have a cafe named after you. But I don't think about fame and stuff like that.
It doesn't make much difference to me. He just wants to be creative. Yes, just to create, to be happy. And it would be great to get paid for it. Yes, having at least a little bit of money in my life wouldn't be out of place! And for his creativity to grow and develop.
Buy new pants, for example. Yeah, that's the little thing, anyway. That would be really great. Let's just say that for the past three years, that is, three years in a row, I have absolutely forgotten about Valentine's Day, and in doing so, I'm broke. On this holiday it is customary to give roses, and I have no money, so for the last three years, I've been stealing a rose somewhere and giving it to my girlfriend. And you want to be able to buy a whole bouquet of roses.
It would be great if you could do that… Can you give any advice to people who want to start a career related to the arts? Allow art to absorb itself. I read a quote, and it said, "Do what you love, and let it destroy you." You don't have to concentrate on destruction. But if you really want to do it, let it consume you, you know? Not in the sense of going crazy, but you have to devote a lot of time to it.
If you want to develop your skills, all the more so. A lot of people don't make it and it's annoying. You try very fucking hard, but no one notices you or leads you to the top.
So, speaking of advice, fuck, I don't know - go for it, work hard, like you did the last time. That is, in fact, all there is to it. What else can I say? I'm very happy that I was lucky enough to meet you - your story is unique, your apartment, your work, and your paintings.
I'm still in shock. And I'll be thinking about our meeting for probably another week. Thank you. I'm glad I gave you such emotions.
I thought I was going to ask you about Theo and Vincent, but when we met, I realized that it was you I wanted to talk to you about! Thank you very much. Thank you! Let's hurry up and hug it out! - Thank you. - Thank you. Well, friends, that's the end of our day with Lieuwe today. I will be very interested to read what emotions you got after watching it. Write about it below, in the comments. Please like this video.
I want as many people as possible to know that I have this format with interesting people coming out and that I'm back on YouTube. So your likes, support, and marks on social networks - it all helps a lot. I hope that I managed to impress and inspire you.
And I'll see you in a week. Subscribe to the channel. I love you very much and hug you, see you soon!
2023-03-05 08:54
