Dirk Koy is a Basel-based experimental filmmaker and motion graphics artist.
Dirk Koy creates distorted reality into hypnotizing video animations that upend viewers’ expectation of perspective.
He pushes the boundaries by deconstructing and twisting scenarios of everyday life and recomposes perpetually into dazzling filmic collage.
Hi Dirk! Would you mind telling us a bit about yourself?
Hi Francesca many thanks for the interview. I am running a studio for motion design and experimental film and I am teaching time-based media at the Visual Communication Institute at the Academy of Art and Design in Basel. In my studio, I am realizing art projects in the field of animation and experimental film and I am working on commissioned projects where I collaborate for example with Balenciaga, Nick Knight´s SHOWstudio or the electronic music pioneers Yello.
How would you best describe what you do as you seem to cross boundaries with various disciplines?
I am interested in working with all kind of different technologies (Drones / 3D Animation / 2D Animation / Photogrammetry / AR / VR ) to create moving digital images/paintings. I am looking for the painterly component in digital animation. I often use digital faults as a visual language but I also like to combine analogue and digital elements. Both elements together have huge potential. The analogue elements are often the soul of a work. They help to break the esthetics of the programs and give something individual to the work.
A recurring theme in my work is the confrontation with the two poles of naturalness and artificiality. In everyday life, I often feel torn between the digital and the analogue world. I examine this interface in a visual way.
When did you know you wanted to be an artist? Have you always known that you wanted to become an artist? How would you describe yourself?
I filmed a lot in my youth. A special moment was when I connected the camcorder to the TV to create analogue feedback. This opened a whole world for me. I spent days in front of the TV to figure out how I can create different feedbacks by manipulating the parameters. It was a kind of experiment between control and coincidence, which is still today an important part of my work. I also used to draw a lot. These two passions the filming and the drawing prompted me to study Visual Communication at the Academy of Art and Design in Basel. This was also the moment where I decided to go further in this direction.
In your works, there is a combination of actual architectural space and the virtual space that opens up new possibilities. You also use VR in your work as well. What do you think that means for your work?
It would be fascinating to hear your thoughts on that.
I was super curious when VR came up. I was totally fascinated, and I still am, by the idea that with this technology it is possible to explore your creations immersively. All the things you create you can explore in space. It is a great challenge and there is also a lot of question.
As a filmmaker, you suddenly have to think more about what does it mean to create an atmospheric space?
What is happening behind you? How can you guide the viewer through the 360° space? There is still a lot to explore.
How do you normally approach your projects? What attracts you the most?
I start almost every project with an experimental phase. Most of the time I am following a detailed experimental arrangement.
But coincidence also plays an important role in the process to get inspired. So it is working between coincidence and control.
I also define free days where it is possible to create things without a direct goal from the beginning. I go outside and let myself be surprised by what I find. I collect pictures or film sequences of everyday situations. Sometimes an idea comes to me directly, sometimes later when I am viewing the material in the studio. I like this way of exploration very much.
Check Dirk Koy work here.