A dose of heavy nostalgia washed over me the moment I encountered the work of Polygon. Stopped in my tracks, I wondered how this work was made, why it resonated with me so deeply, and what we could expect from this artist in the future. After a quick chat in DMs, we lept into this interview, which I'm thrilled to share with you now.

First off, can you introduce yourself to our readers? Your name, where you are from, and what kind of work you make?

I'm Polygon, a filmmaker and visual artist based in Paris, France. It all started in 2015 when I was looking for visuals to match with the songs I was composing at the time, which were very "glitchesque." I was messing around with Stutter Edit back then and wanted visuals to capture this intensity.

As a kid from the 90s, I was attracted by this VHS type of aesthetic and discovered analog glitch art through the works of Tachyons+ & BMPC and I wanted to try it on my own.

I create my visuals using CRT TVs and circuit-bent video gear. This allow me to create distortions on any source material going through the TV screen. My visuals is an invitation to a glitch universe that represents my daily life; a distorted world where reality and imagination mingle.

I see how this sense of nostalgia really comes through in your work. You said you are a kid of the 90's, what are the biggest influences from those years that weave their way into your work?

The 90s were saturated with kids shows with vibrant and bold colours. I think this is something that's been stuck in my mind for years. There's something we can't really appreciate with modern screens, but the vivid aspect of colours and visuals on a CRT screen is really something else, you just can't emulate this.

I mean, there's a reason why a large amount of video game collectors are scouting for high end CRT screens instead of upscalers. The distortions of washed out VHS are also something important as I'm really messing with my visuals when creating them. I guess I'm chasing this residual image of myself spending countless hours in front a screen when I was a kid.

You are chasing it well, I'm rooted in the same era and I'm in love with these worlds you are creating.

I'm glad you can sense this too, it means I'm on the right track.

Your work also fits so well into this wave that is building around NFT. What has been you experience so far, and what potential do you see for this space in the future? How will this technology change the way artists engage with their craft?

Thank you so much! I'm still very new to this new world unfolding before us, but the early feedback I have is incredible. I met a LOT of new talented artists and collectors, this is a very active scene in which we interact way more with, in comparison to the traditional use we have of social media as an artist. I feel like the artists finally get the recognition they deserve with this new space and the creative freedom of experimenting what they want and maybe break free from commissioned works and -sometimes harassing- clients.

There's still a lot to do, as the NFT space might not be a sustainable solution, but I saw so many innovation and ideas blooming from this scene in months than in the last 6 years of my career. This is very promising, as we're offered a platform to create what we want instead of creating something pleasing for the algorithm.

Yeah, I share those sentiments with you, especially about the algorithms. I feel that these programmed codes give artists all the wrong incentives- chasing attention, pushing us to the middle ground, forcing daily participation in the system. The interesting art is actually on the fringes, not in the center, so I do hope this new world frees us from the churn and burn of social media.

Recently, there was a thread shared by a large amount of people describing the way the Instagram algorithm was working and how Instagram is pushing you to participate in order to keep your visibility up and it's pure madness. The fact that you can't reach 100% of the people following you is a marketing stunt that is slowly killing every artist's fire. With NFT, I think we'll be able to reverse this phenomenon and take the power back from the algorithms.

Yes, that's actaully why I built ALLSHIPS, I was tired of building on land I don't own. Artists can't compete with advertisers on these platforms, we are the product, not the customer, and we are not the target of the benevolence of these billionaires :)

It's exciting to watch technology evolve, I;m eager to see what the community does here, especially after we get past COVID. How has this past year affected your life and your creativity? Have you found and silver linings amongst the chaos?

At first, I took this situation as a breath of fresh air, in the sense that the industry I was working in mostly had to shut down. This allowed me to take a break and focus on my personal life rather than crunching on work like I did for the past months.

It also allowed me to focus on my art and experiment with new techniques, something I can't do when working on client projects. What saddened me is that one of the biggest projects I was working on, (for Tame Impala's new show as a content artist), was a month before everything stopped and they had to pause the tour in March. Nobody knows for how long the situation will remain this way, and the shows I was working on as a scenographer were put on hold as it was impossible for me to shoot new videos, so I had to find new ways of earning a living. I had to find creative ways to sell my work.

I always wanted to bring my work into the tangible world so I started selling limited edition holographic prints. I wanted to create something people would stick with through time, something they'll cherish. I'd love to do something similar with the NFTs, along the lines of Beeple with digital frames displaying NFTs collection for instance.

What’s your advice for artists just beginning to explore their creative path? Any pieces of advice you have gained that you wish you knew earlier?

The only thing I would have loved to hear a few years back would be to never take anything for granted. Sometimes, it's really hard for artists (or workers in general) to separate their private lives and their "business" lives. For us digital artists, the fact that we have to be present online to succeed adds another layer on top of our social life, in which we can be absorbed so much that we create an impenetrable bubble cutting us off from our surroundings and the people we care about most. I learned it the hard way and I'm sure a lot of us experienced similar situations, that is something that I'm trying to keep in mind everyday.

Beautifully said my friend. Thank you so much for your insights, thoughts, vulnerability and wisdom, as well as for sharing your stunning work with our community. I wish you all the success in this new world and hope we get to connect in person someday!

To the reader, follow POLYGON on Instagram, Twitter, and connect with him via his website.