Part 2: Learn by experimenting and exploring: Interview with Tim Tsui, legendary urban vinyl designer & artist
Were you creative as a child?
Well, I remember making a gun, it was simple, I used paper and made it really look like it was a gun. Then I tried to make it so it could shoot, using rubber band to become the bullet. I was already crazy even as a child.
What were you like at school?
I was a nice boy but a little bit wacky I think, I was always getting high marks during the art lessons, and also in other subject, I was quite good at sports and languages as well.
Did you experience any particular problems at the start of your creative career?
I have also had many barriers to overcome, I just try to solve them one by one. But, even now I still have many things i need to learn and explore. Many people only see the successful cases, but they haven’t seen many examples that have failed. So my advice is to try hard when you want to get something, getting annoyed is not going to help but hard work will move you forward.
Da Warrior by Tim Tsui
Do you ever abandon a piece of work or do you continue until you get it right?
I make sure all the things are perfected before its finally produced, so every pieces of my work is my best it can be, I do lots of fine tuning and sketches when I create stuff.
How do you handle negative attention?
If the comment can make me improve, I will learn from it and try to explore their point of view. Since different people had different minds, I cannot force everyone to agree with my thoughts, but I like to delve into it and try and understand their feedback.
What toy companies sell your work?
Lots of art toy shops around the world stock my products, like Kidrobot, Toyqube, Mixi-bang. Also some of the trendy fashion stores also carry my work like Colette in France and Loveless at Japan.
I know you were involved in a high profile project with Coca Cola can you tell me more about it?
The Coca Cola’s project was a great one for me, as it was the year China hosted the great Olympics games, and during the games, the traditional things is to exchange pins, Coca Cola just invited two Chinese artists to design their own style pins for this exchange scheme, and I’m was one of the artists they selected. So I had my character Da Minci on my pins, I had a total of 12 different styles and they sold as a set at the Olympics Village during the games. It’s a prestigious opportunity to make something for the Olympic Games and to represent China so I really enjoyed this project.
What other companies have you worked with?
Not many big companies because sometimes the work is too commercial and you can lose your freedom and have little control of the art and design, but I’ve still had the opportunity to work with Coca Cola, MTV, ADIDAS, Hasbro, Ryal Elastics, Do Co Mo and Tower Records.
As well as working in Urban Vinyl you have designed some large pieces out of wood for leading sports brand Li-Ning tell me more about this commission?
Yes I’ve collaborated with Li-Ning, for an Earth Day Celebration entitled, “We Love Our Earth.” Earth day is celebrated every year on 22nd April. For this installation, I recreated my iconic character Da Minci out of wood. Da Minci is 6 feet tall quite overwhelming, he’s my character Bling’s brother and bodyguard, plus he’s a part-time wrestle. I also created other figures wearing Li-Ning’s We Love Our Earth t-shirts. The event is hosted by Milk Magazine and the installation is on display at Li-Ning Flagship store in Beijing.
What would you say are the biggest benefits of this type of life?
I think it opens my eyes to new things. I’ve traveled to many different countries for my exhibitions and shows and I’ve learned so much from other countries culture, their art and people, this is the biggest benefit that I get, it’s important for my creatures that I see these things.
What are the 3 things that bring you the most happiness in your life in general?
I get the support of many fans and friends
I can create whatever I want.
I can do interviews with subvert magazine
Tim Tsui photo by Henry Wong
Interview by Angel Greenham
