Joshua Ben Longo kreiert einfach unglaubliche Geschöpfe, die eine Mischung aus sehr, sehr niedlich und ein bisschen verschroben sind. Vielleicht liegts daran, dass wir es nicht gewohnt sind, die Eingeweide und Innereien unserer Kuscheltiere zu sehen und ihnen in alle möglichen Kuscheltier-Körperöffnungen gucken zu können.

Hier meine Fragen an Joshua:
1. Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Joshua Ben Longo, artist, designer, teacher, motivational speaker. I officially started Longoland a few years, but have been making this kind of art since 2001. The work is a result of my formal training as a Industrial Designer at Pratt Institute, an obsession with monsters and comic book heroes, and my fascination with riding the line between comfort and discomfort. I give life to inanimate objects. I strive to get strong reactions through gesture and character. It is a process of two and three dimensionally sketching and a slow and intuitive exploration of material and form. I also teach 3D Design at Pratt Institute and work as a consultant to Bed Bath and Beyond.

2. What happens to your monsters and objects once you finish them?
I generally sell the small pieces and show the bigger pieces in as many places as I can. Galleries, schools, skateshops……. anyone that will have me.

3. Do kids like your monsters?
Kid and adults alike seem to love the monsters…..Though this was never my intention

4. Where do you find inspiration?
Small fat things, bubbly oozing things, abstract three dimensional sketching, Phillip Glass, Otis Redding, currently I am obsessed with comics from the sixties and seventies.

5. How does a typical work day look?
My schedule is generally all over the place……. I split my week into teaching, designing product for big companies, doing work for longoland, and then trying to find time to maintain healthy relationships with people that I love.

6. What is your favorite part of your job and what do find difficult?
Somedays I get to wake up explore, make  a mess, and create without the worry of pleasing anyone but myself. That is my favorite part of being an artist. Unfortunately, most of the time I wake up and do everything else I need to support my addiction of creation.

8. What project would you like to realize if money didn´t matter?
An opera.

pics: Joshua Longo, Q&A: Anna aus Berlin