The French artist tsoongd’s creative journey typifies a growing body of self-taught digital artists that spark interest in spite of an unconventional path and absence of formal art education. He is rapidly developing a visual art practice that combines a bevy of coding and animation tools. As someone who is not a trained artist or coder, his current level of finesse and control over his tools is laudable and speaks volumes about the potential for hobbyists to become practitioners within the world of digital art. The artist prefers to operate under some secrecy and does not divulge his last name, or his likeness. He does however inform us that his first name is Clement and that he is from France. The pseudonym “tsoongd” is drawn from the name of a character in the Frederik Pohl book Black Star Rising (1985), which explores a dystopian, post-apocalyptic future where China and India conquer the world in the wake of devastating nuclear exchanges, only to be then visited by a warlike alien species.

Tsoongd discusses his background, telling STIR, “I work and always have worked in the culinary industry as a cook. Although I did have a personal interest in art during my adolescence, I did not actively pursue this interest until approximately five years ago. This was largely due to the time and mental demands of my work in the kitchen, which left little room for artistic pursuits.”

In 2017, the artist was unemployed. Eventually, in his boredom, he discovered the 3D computer graphics software Blender. He had never used any 3D software before this and found himself quite enthralled. Despite what he regards as the steep learning curve and the confusing user interface, Blender captured and held his attention, revealing a world of seemingly unfettered creative possibilities. Tsoongd tells STIR, “After that, I discovered [the software] Fusion [360], Cavalry, Godot, Magicavoxel, and Processing. Eventually, I found Touchdesigner, which has become my primary software.” He enjoys combining aspects of each of these softwares, and more often than not, lets his curiosity guide his artistic forays, rather than a desire to realise a particular end result. Discussing this, tsoongd says, “I am not really sure what or who I draw inspiration from; things just come to me. Most of the time, it all begins with a small technical challenge rather than any real artistic vision. I enjoy science fiction, space, movement, and sound, and I try to combine my influences to create something visually pleasing or mysterious.”

Tsoongd, who is now trying to bring in an interactive art component to his practice, tells STIR, “I start by imagining something like how it would be interesting to have an array of little cubes that move upwards, make light and emit a sound when you click on them. Then I start working on it until I am satisfied with the result. I usually iterate two or three times on the same idea before moving on to something else.”

Tsoongd views himself above all as a hobbyist committed to technical explorations with an emerging artistic touch. In his words, “I see my work like a sculpture by the side of the road, with people passing by and saying 'wow!' rather than something that would belong in an exhibition. I am doing it for my own pleasure, and if other people appreciate it too, that's even better.”

The emerging visual artist has as yet not been part of an exhibition, and has never sought to do so but is enthusiastic at the idea of having his work seen and engaged with by an audience. At the current juncture, he wishes to quit the kitchen industry, but having only pursued that line of work for the past 15 years, he finds it very difficult to change. He tells STIR, “My brain is wired to do things very quickly and efficiently, under stress and pressure, and less intensive work bores me fast. But I would like to lose this bad habit. Ultimately, being able to create what I love suits me very well.” One may wish him luck on his budding creative journey, with the hopes of seeing engaging generative art from him in the near future.