005 / Zhestkov.com from Maxim Zhestkov on Vimeo.
Precocious Maxim Zhestkov, 22-year-old director, video artist, motion and graphics designer, creates the spaces of his dreams and fantasies. One of Maxim’s practices is to browse through hundreds of pages on Wikipedia in search of inspiration from all different fields – nature, design, fashion, architecture, abstract painting, high technology, space.
That’s how he builds his designs. “Any composition needs to begin with one or two main elements. The smaller the elements, the greater number of them there should be. You need to start with one or two main ideas and gradually build up the smaller elements until the space becomes rich with life.”
In another interesting practice, Maxim discusses working after being awake for 48 hours. As might be expected, his work habits are somewhat nontraditional. He believes that time management can interrupt the aesthetic of surprise. “If everything goes according to the schedule, I don’t think that something will turn out at the end. I like when the schedule shifts. When you’re working for 48 hours with no sleep, you feel everything around you quite differently. I really love those kinds of experiments. Everything becomes so crystal clear and the idea bends into new patterns. Those are moments of enlightenment.”
RECURSION / Zhestkov.com from Maxim Zhestkov on Vimeo.
Maxim describes the evolution of his creativity: “It all started with 2d illustrations, that smoothly turned into 3d illustrations and spaces. Then I developed a passion for architecture and graphic design. Then I realized that the most important thing is video art. It’s difficult to predict the direction of this path. I enjoy the process of creating, the search for ideas, finding solutions to problems. Most likely, there will be feature films at the end of this road.”
Interview taken from 99% website, by Lee Pnikas (http://the99percent.com/articles/5757/maxim-zhestkov-as-in-a-dream)