#231. Space, the Final Frontier for Art? A Bjoern Thomas Interview.

Do you know Bjoern Thomas? He is a contemporary artist with very original ideas, one of which could make him a legend. And you can help!

– Pascal

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[Pascal] Bjoern, can you describe yourself and your type of work?
[Bjoern] I am a contemporary artist living in Germany but have worked in more than 20 countries all over the world to photograph strange sub-cultures. Representing people in staged and symbolic environments is a way to combines fact with fiction. Art like mine is a personal view but should help also others to widen their horizon by making them dive into a new world and to self reflect …

[Pascal] What previous projects have you been involved with?
[Bjoern] In recent projects, I focused my lens for instance on an underground group of modern society, real gangsters. 13 gangsters released from a detention center got involved to create this iconic “bloody supper” artwork, all ex-convicts that totalled over 100 years of imprisonment. “Bloody Supper” is a parody of Da Vinci’s “Last Supper” and a symbol for religious extremists or a general values ​​decaying of our society.

 

I also photographed the world’s heaviest sumo on a plate of ice as a symbol of nuclear fission, inspired by the Fukushima tragedy.

 

My pictures are symbols of power, trigger a political discussion and provide insights into traditions or behaviours of secret sub-cultures.

These projects have been displayed at Scope Miami, Scope Basel, the Shanghai Art Fair, Art Fair Cologne and the Saatchi Gallery in London.

I’m a heavy traveler, ‘in 50 days around the world’ was a project I did a few years ago, photographing different cultures along the way on 4 continents.

[Pascal] I think you are passionate about astro photography. Can you explain your passion?

[Bjoern] Yes, this is a more personal pursuit. I have a passion for space. After an engineering degree from a university in Germany I obtained an MBA degree from Purdue, which is famous in the space and aerospace industry. ‘No borders, no limits’ is a mission statement which represents me well.

[Pascal] Can you share your latest project on space art?

[Bjoern] The ART SPACE FOR SPACE ART campaign is the worldwide first art event in space – a historic project for mankind.

I plan to become the first artist in space and to photograph my SPACE ART project, from a space shuttle which will be ready to go in 2016.

This year I plan to realize already an ART SPACE project, which will be a huge space escape project – analog to Noah’s Ark.

The installation will be completed in the Mojave desert this summer and the suborbital flight will take place in 2016. I started my astronaut training, passing the G-force test last winter.

Thanks to huge private investment  by visionaries such as Richard Branson and Elon Musk, space travel for the public has become a reality. It is now time for the “Space 2.0” mission of contemporary art.

You can find more information on the First Artist in Space page of my website.

[Pascal] How can readers contribute?

[Bjoern] It always boils down to money and a fundraiser project is on the way. But I also want to involve 200 artists from all over the world for the fist project phase. You will find more information in the video below.

If you’d like to become a part of this project, get in touch Bjoern NOW ! thomas.bjoern@web.de

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