I.A. - Your abstract and experimental work is truly something to marvel at. The shader work seems almost procedural; How do you create these sorts of unique textures?

T.B. - Yes, the shaders are mostly procedural. This has different reasons. One practical reason is simply that I want to be as free as possible when it comes to output resolutions. I want to be able to see more details as I get closer. Like in nature where you see more structures on a surface the closer you look. Sometimes the visual appearance even changes at different distances. Think for example of some metal surface where you can see the very small scratches when you are close to it. Nothing is perfect. When you see it from a distance it seems to be smooth but if you come closer and closer you can discover the structures of the creating process or tracks of use.

Another reason is simply the fun I have when working on such kinds of shaders. After analysing the properties of a surface I think about the different elements I need to define (for example regular and irregular patterns, the reaction to light, reflection properties and so on). I like building up a shader tree, to connect the different nodes, create control options and so on. To be honest I'm not very good at math, so sometimes it takes many errors, but I really find it challenging to work with procedural patterns, mixing them together and creating complex structures. It's like mixing your colours on a palette in an enhanced way.
You can often generate a lot of different looks with a shader, all based on the same structures by simply modifying some values. A shader is never totally finished; My shader tree is improved with each image I work on.

I.A. - I also think about photographs when I see your artwork. Do you think it is close to this other art?

T.B. - I'm not sure. It’s not a challenge I focus on, but I like it to give the images something photo-like or realism. I'm a great fan of structures and surface effects, so it's clear that my work is more oriented at realistic phenomena than for example at toon effects. And by the way, I think the camera inside these programs is what it is: a camera :) I don’t understand! I personally try to accentuate the properties of the elements. Is it hard or soft? Is it something that blocks light or translucent? Is it still or does it move and so on… I use photo or real world effects like depth of field to give the viewer the feeling that the shape may exist, may be real. But on the other side I don't want to put present like a photograph of an existing sculpture, room has to be left for the viewer’s imagination.

I.A. - Like Meats Meier, you're one of the digital artists who use digital art to explore art in a non-illustrative way. How did it start?

T.B. - After some years of doing 3D for commercial projects I gained more insight. First I realized that when working with 3D programs there is a custom aesthetic in the random fragments of unfinished models, the nice flowing wireframes and particularly in the possibilities offered by shading. Second, I acquired freedom from a technical point of view after working on so much different stuff. And finally I had the idea to allow myself more freedom with these programs to see if I could work more intuitively with them. It took some time for me but at a certain point I push all other ideas aside and simply felt I had to work on this idea. The microscope series was the first small step into this direction - searching for complex structures and focusing on this special aesthetic. The abstract.0104 series then started as an experiment to develop a more intuitive and creative work in 3D. My main target was to get rid of the usual way of creating shapes, to stop modeling from an elaborate idea or sketch and to change it to a more intuitive way like abstract painting by getting inspired from what I see during the process. Put more simply, I was seeking a more emotional approach.I only had a rough idea about the final image and so I started with some free lines in 3D space and step by step the image developed. It's difficult to describe, but it was a great experience for me to experience such creative freedom.

When working on art projects, I see image creation as a dialogue between the nascent image and myself. Sometimes the image influences my work by itself, leads me towards its own direction. Sometimes it's just me, pushing the image into the form I want. The final image can be seen as a snapshot of the dialogue between me and the image..