Booooooom: An Art Explosion
One would likely work for years to attain a collection of cultural gifts and experiences in pre-Internet times. Lucky for us, we now have the Internet and Booooooom, an (mt) partner and client. Jeff Hamada (Creator of Booooooom) has curated these audio visual treats online, providing us simple access through a few clicks of a web browser. We thought it was time to hear a little more and Jeff was kind enough to answer some questions for us. If you have not met them yet, meet Booooooom.
Did you start Booooooom with the current spectrum of media in mind or were you focused in a more singular direction?
I never thought Booooooom would ever become what it is now and because I didn’t have a specific plan for the site from the start, the content was a lot less focused. Over the past three years I’ve sort of made up rules for myself about what fits on the site and what doesn’t. These days you won’t see too much street art, or fashion photography, or motion graphics.
Booooooom features extensive content and media. How do you curate the music, art, design, film and photography successfully?
I don’t really make distinctions between high and low art, design professionals and students, contemporary artists and craftspeople. I just try to gather together work that I find inspiring. I do make an effort to collect things I don’t see on other blogs but I don’t spend too much time worrying about that. Handmade work really resonates with me more than slick, digital work does.
Jeff Hamada, Creator of Booooooom
Do you think pop culture is a positive influence on contemporary art?
No, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad influence either. It’s just unavoidable to a certain extent. We’re living in a time of information overload, and I think that’s why filtering and curating is so important.
Ferris Bueller; Illustration by Esra Roise; Photo by Jess Gough
What is your professional trade?
Well Booooooom is actually my full-time job. Before that I was freelancing as a graphic designer, and before that I was a concept artist at Electronic Arts, and before that I got a Bachelors degree in Film at Emily Carr University.
Art and Photography seem to be the most loved “sections” of the site. Who are some of your favorite contemporary artists/photographers and why?
I’m going to group them together: Tom Friedman, Erwin Wurm, Miranda July, David Horvitz, Julien Berthier, Garry Trinh, Kayo Ume, Olaf Breuning, I could go on forever. First and foremost I am always drawn to humorous work. I think there is an openness and an honesty in funny work that makes me feel more confident talking about it. I can feel like I actually “get” it.
Photo by Kayo Ume; “Il n’y a pas de hasard” by Julien Berthier; Photo by Olaf Breuning
Your site lives on the (dv) platform here at (mt). Any comments on the (dv) as your hosting environment?
It has been an amazing experience working with Media Temple. The level of customer service is so far above and beyond anything else it is incredible. Not too long ago I tweeted something about Media Temple to no one in particular and within minutes someone from Media Temple responded to it. Shortly after that I was communicating directly with an individual who wanted to make sure Media Temple was doing everything it possibly could to support my business, and help it grow. I wasn’t given the run around or put on hold and then forgotten, I really felt valued. It is sad how few companies operate like this. I don’t take it for granted.
What does the future look like for Booooooom?
Lots of big things on the horizon! Headed to Hawaii next month to work with a bunch of artists on a really fun project, and also working on a big collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada. We will also be announcing a couple other exciting projects but out of respect for the other companies involved I can’t say what they are at this point.
Print by Michelle Blade; “An Island” A film by Efterklang & Vincent Moon; Photo by Lotte Scott
Our readership is growing at a ridiculous pace (I believe our Facebook page has over 40,000 followers) so I really want to spend most of my time interacting with our community and engaging them with projects that they can get involved in.
My goal every year is to convince people and companies to let me do a whole bunch of things I’ve never done before (and probably have no business even attempting). I actually get quite anxious thinking about it, but I think it’s important to get in over my head and put myself in a position where failure is quite possible. If I’m always succeeding it means I’m not trying hard enough.
A special thanks to Jeff for taking the time out of his busy schedule to speak with us. You can find him online at Booooooom.com, his Facebook page, or twitter.
