Nozem Simulates Reality

by Brecht Lanfossi

To describe my work or make an artist statement, it's best to start by quoting two men:

“In the future, humans will be able to simulate entire universes quite easily. And given the vastness of time ahead, the number of these simulations is likely to be huge. So if you ask the question: ‘Do we live in the one reality or in one of the many simulations?’, the answer, statistically speaking, is that we're more likely to be living in a simulation.” – Silas Beane

“Our brain simulates reality. So our everyday experiences are a form of dreaming, which is to say, they are mental models, simulations, not the things they appear to be.” – Stephen Laberge

One could argue that what Beane says is nothing new. Artists are already simulating universes for their viewers in a seemingly effortless way. Because of the immense range of works and styles in art, the number of simulations is already large. An artist offers viewers the opportunity to live in this variety of simulations for a while. And Laberge states that things are not what they seem to be, which can be traced back to every artist’s work. In their own context, artists let viewers experience this noble fact.

While creating my artwork, I always keep the ideas from these quotes in my mind, hoping to share them with any potential viewer.

Brecht Lanfossi (alter ego: nozem) is a Belgian surrealist collagist/digital painter inspired by dream-like and psychotic consciousness free of reason and convention. He is a Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK Ghent) drop out who never gave up the idea of making some “art” one day.

A way to interpret Lanfossi's work is to consider each work as a scene in a sort of vague state of mental functioning where symbolism dominates the whole experience itself. On the other hand, he believes that it would be complete nonsense trying to answer the conundrum concerning his aesthetic creations. He also doesn't like to use the word “art” for his works because of the grotesque sounding connotation it carries with it. For the artist himself doing what he does is just one of the many existing desperate ways of escaping the global enslaved mind we are all currently living in. He thinks doing that sounds a lot better than the superficial, rat race-driven, chaos that has become our norm. Instagram: @nozem.art Artstation: https:/www.artstation.com/nozem-art Beeld-profile (for Dutch purposes): https:/beeld.be/kunstenaars/brecht-lanfossi

Find this article and more in our issue one print release!