Alexander Cornelis, Dylan Van Roost, Lewi Moors & Sam Evers

residenten Bosacademie

Alexander Cornelis (1992, Belgium) is a music producer and Kiosk Radio dj living in Schaarbeek, Brussels. He has released several projects on Tangram Records under the moniker “Moodprint” and has been collaborating with Le Motel, Meyy, Pippin, Brihang Gaiko, Uphigh, Ashley Morgan, … At this point Alexander is working towards finishing 3 ep’s after the presentation of this multidisciplinary installation in collaboration with Dylan and Sam, blending several recordings with session musicians & vocalists, samples, analog synthesizers and drum machines.

Dylan Van Roost (1999, Belgium) Is a multimedia artist living in Brussels. He always had the tendency to digitally archive memories and found imagery from the internet. His digital archives of collected, edited, and own imagery support his work and are always approached as thematically cohesive material to summon. His archive is a starting point to create a certain ambiance of that time. Despite being a somewhat personal archive consisting mainly of people close to him, his work brings forward a sense of melancholy which remains accessible to outsiders through the combination of music, which plays as a dominant element to these emotions. Color, camera movements and use of found footage that he collects from different sources also play an added value to evoke his feeling to those memories.

Sam Evers (2001, Belgium) is a multimedia artist living and working in Brussels. Her work mainly consists of 3D sculpted abstract compositions that derive from aesthetic decision making. The bubbly and shiny arrangements remind of game-like atmospheres or landscapes.

Lewi Moors (1999, Belgium) is a 3D-artist based in Brussels. His artistic practice starts from the observation that people worldwide are driven by an inextinguishable longing for the transcendent: the superhuman, the infinite or absolute, that which is hidden and lost behind the sensory reality of earthly existence. By realizing the loss and impermanence of our world, including ourselves, we seek answers to the fundamental questions we face in our human existence. In more recent Western society, where notions of religion and the divine have become obsolete, we have begun to seek the fulfillment of our need for the transcendent elsewhere: in the ever-evolving forms of virtualization and technology, especially the Internet. His art therefore gives meaning for this longing by translating the idea of the transcendent into the virtual world.


Tell us about your favorite medium

Alexander: To make music I’m open to all ways to translate sound. I love to use samples, tapes, digital plugins, real instruments and like to blend everything in collaboration with other musicians and singers. The most important thing to me is to trust your intuition and personal mark instead of choosing one medium.
Dylan: Photogrammetry. This method allows me to scan and digitally archive interesting elements I encounter while hiking. It's a way to take something from the real world into the digital world.
Sam: I usually start working from my computer. I use the programs blender and photoshop the most. Afterwards I look if I can convert it to something tangible like a 3D print or a UV print.
Lewi: My favorite medium is every 3D-software. The main reason is that 3D-media has the ability to create and re-create worlds in a way I believe is closer to reality than other art forms. Besides the final image as well as the making process have a huge immersive element which I love.

When is your favorite time of day to create?

Alexander: That would definitely be mornings to me. I love to get up with a clear head and make music as intuitively as possible. If my head is already filled with other things I kind of lose my way to create freely.
Lewi: I think the morning is nice when the brain is still fresh. Most of my ideas I get before getting out of my bed.

Where to find inspiration?

Sam: I mostly get my inspiration from my surroundings. It can range from a painting to a certain wrinkle in the leaves of the plants in my flat. I also get a lot of inspiration and motivation from my friends. I have a very diverse group of friends, each with different interests and personalities. For instance, one of my best friends who studies bioengineering is not really into art. It’s very interesting when she says something about my work because she sees it in a very scientific way that never was my intention. But it sends me on a different path. I am also very much into interior design and ornaments. This is also where I get my inspiration from.
Dylan: My external hard drive and my iCloud library. These are always a starting point for me to start a project because they make me feel like I'm entering some kind of time machine. This is where I can look back and find inspiration just by looking at captured moments of my friends doing their thing and other imagery i recorded.
Lewi: I find my inspiration in landscapes. I like to wander around and contemplate about life and my own existence. The landscape offers a certain melancholic loneliness that I find interesting. In addition, the virtual world, especially Instagram is also an interesting way to get in touch with images and the necessary inspiration. I scroll on Instagram for long periods of time every day for inspiration.

Who are your biggest artistic influences?

Alexander: That is always a tricky question, but besides certain people close to me having a big impact on my life and work, to namedrop a few artists I truly inspire: Tomas Saraceno, Piero Umiliani, Nai Palm, Dean Blunt, Holly Herndon, Vincent Moon, Daniel Lopatin, Mira Calix, Mica Levi,…
Sam: I have a very cheesy answer, it's my boyfriend Jef Roels. He has a big impact on me and I’m so fascinated by the many talents that he has. My other influences at the moment are @kushlet, @jotundes, @audreylrg @kaiyoshizawa and @gittemaria
Lewi: The greatest influences come from the Romantic movement of the 18th and 19th centuries. What I share with them is the interest in the landscape and what emotions they can evoke such as melancholy. I also find mysticism and spirituality in nature interesting about this movement. I also share with them the 'aversion' to reason and the immersion in emotion as an artistic starting point.

Tell me about your techniques for overcoming creative blocks.

Dylan: I always take screenshots of the music during walks when I suddenly experience a unique feeling due to the combination of the location, time and music all coming together in that one moment. Then I add the location to the screenshot so I can "relive" that feeling later and possibly experience it again for inspiration.

What motivates you to create?

Alexander: For me creating goes further than making music. It’s about collaborating and making things possible as well. I used work more on a small island, but now I love to connect with other artists, organisations and disciplines to see what I can learn from them and what we can achieve together. Creating also means to not overthink and embrace the picture you made on a certain moment within a certain timeframe, letting go. Creating keeps a certain part of me open that is less present in other jobs and projects I do.

Do your other interests influence your art?

Dylan: Yes, most of my work is rooted in my interests. Wandering, listening to music and archiving (digitally) moments, music and found imagery.

Describe your ideal working environment?

Sam: My ideal work environment is a bit weird haha. I certainly don't like working in quiet places with an ordinary desk and chair. I work well when my environment is busy so when I look up from my computer screen there’s a lot of movement around me. Which is actually funny because I get distracted very quickly. It pushes me to create my own little workplace, not only physically but also mentally. When I'm in there I have no sense of time or space. I also like to full blast music on my airpods when I'm working :)

What's the purpose or goal of your work?

Dylan: To bring memories or a story (back) to life.
Lewi: To offer some consolation in an era where we are confronted with fears and disappointments of the everyday life. I do this by focusing my art on aesthetic beauty and immersion. I think the pursuit of beauty is therefore one of my biggest motivational sources for the creation process. The beauty of things can transport us as spectators to another world and let us escape the harsh reality.

Alexander, Sam, Lewi en Dylan resideren van 12 t/m 25 September in Het Bos én nemen deel aan (V)ruchtbare Grond van 29 september t/m 2 oktober 2022.