We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Das Fuerst. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Das below.
Das, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?
I was in the process of writing a short film and understanding the need for production equipment and crew, I thought the best approach was to launch a crowd funding campaign. After completing the script, testing some visual effects shots, and making a short animation of the intended shot list, I took to indigogo for the campaign. My goal was 10k for a 6 min short film. Of course I had the support of friends and family, but that all amounted to just over 1k. I remember working out in the gym one morning and someone reached out to me via the short film Instagram page. After some general conversation and “why make this film”, he agreed to sponsor my film. His name was Christopher K. Haley. He gave me everything I needed to make the film happen and I am deeply grateful for his generous contribution. I had to take a seat at the gym and hide myself shedding a tear. After the film was released I contacted Chris to ensure he got to see what he helped create. His wife was the one that corresponded and she informed me that Chris had finally succumb to his cancer and passed away. My heart wept. Giving me money for the short film campaign was his way of giving others a chance to pursue their goals and dreams before he passed. Below is the link to the short film.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’ve always been a creative at heart. I was never really studious in school because my imagination was always in the clouds. I got into graffiti art in the 1995 as a skater and love the competitive nature of it. At the time as a kid I didnt think there was a real career path in the art so I tried going back to college, had a daughter in 2006 and joined the Air Force for 6 years in 2009. I started a small business during a deployment in Afghanistan in 2011 that helped raise awareness and money for Veterans through the game of televised poker. In 2014 I got into photography and after effects during a deployment to Qatar. I decided then that after my military tenure ended in 2015 that I would pursue my passion in visual effects in New York City. I studied at Parsons and School of Visual Arts for 5 years and made many wonderful friendships and opportunities to do great things there. I highly recommend if you are looking for a creative adventure!! In NYC, I reconnected with my artistic side and started to spraypaint again, as well as experiment with many other new mediums. I moved back to GA during the 2020 pandemic after a long 6 month road trip across the country. With so much down time, I leaned hard into murals and canvas art while picking up a job doing VFX for Illuminarium off the beltline in Atlanta and then FuseFX in Buckhead. Because of the film strikes, the VFX industry (as well as many other non-union entities) suffer deeply from furloughs, layoffs, and some studios shutting down completely. I have currently been out of work for 2 months now going into the holidays. Many of my colleagues who have families are relying on meager unemployment. A few will gain from the strikes, but many will suffer so the few can gain. All that is to say that I really turned to my art once again to generate some kind of revenue. I had a print release just a couple weeks ago and I am hopeful to pick up some mural jobs in the coming weeks. Please check out my website for a print if you would like to support me and my creative endeavors!
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I generally lean into the unknown with no specific endgame. Usually it starts like, “I need a website, I need clients for murals, I want to sell a print this year, I want to be in a gallery this year” and I just do it. I’ll figure it out along the way. I know enough people who have done it and we have the internet so…like Ghandi says “The future depends on what we do in the present.”
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Learning. Always learning.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dasbkart.com
- Instagram: das.bk
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dasfuerst/