Qu Meng has over 8 years of working experience in the new media art field (including 6 national pavilions in Shanghai EXPO 2010), and has worked as a director of digital interactive design in Beijing and Shanghai, China.
As a nonprofit Academic Secretary at the Xucun Art Commune, he is committed to the revitalization of rural communities through contemporary art.
In his spare time he enjoys gardening, cooking, pottery, and the Japanese martial art “aikido“.
Some achievements that he is proud of:
- 2012: TEDx, “Factory 798-City 2.0” event, UCCA (Ullens Center for Contemporary Art), 798 Art District, Beijing, China
- 2012: “The 3rd Art and Science International Exhibition”, as Artist, China Science and Technology Museum, Beijing, China
- 2013: “BarCamp 2013” Speech, Topic: “Augmented Future: Mobile New Media and Technology blur the line between the Physical world and Digital world.” Microsoft Research Asia, Beijing, China.
Alright, let´s go meet Qu!
Interview Notes:
Timestamps:
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[03:16] – What Qu does for a living
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[06:15] Creating an AR application for a magazine – Qu´s latest project
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[09:11] – What a typical day at work looks like
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[12:28] – Studying art abroad with a scholarship
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[13:16] – The importance of art in culture & cultural differences between Europe and Asia
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[19:49] – Cool artists from Asia
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[21:10] – Challenges in high school & finishing the Bachelor´s degree.
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[26:45] – Graduating from high school with a 5% success-rate & studying at the university
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[31:18] – It is easier to find a job when you have a lot of experience
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[35:40] – What to study to become an art director
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[37:16] – Studying for the PHD and doing some voluntary work
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[50:06] – Three recommended books
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[54:50] – Cool resources to check out
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[56:02] – What the future for artists looks like
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[58:02] – The advice Qu would give to his 18-year-old-self
Books and authors mentioned in the interview
- Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, and the Economic World by Kevin Kelly
- The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda
- The Wisdom of Life by Arthur Schopenhauer
Links and other useful online resources
- Want to learn more about how to become a digital artist and what kind of person you should be? Check out this awesome article by Duane Loose titled “So, You Want to Be A Digital Artist?” on InformIt.
- If you want to learn how to create digital art, Envato Tuts+ has a great database with free tutorial videos for beginners, that you can check out here!
Videos
What is Digtal Art?
Thank you for checking out this episode with Qu Meng! We hope that you got something out of it!
If you have any questions you can send us a message or leave a comment below!
Do you want to become a digital artist? If so, why is that? We would love to know!
See you later! 🙂
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