Lumen Interview: Geert De Coninck from VJBooking
Lumen: Hi Geert, please introduce yourself for our readers.
Geert: My name is Geert De Coninck. I work as a freelance cross media designer in Belgium. I recently became a proud dad of a boy named Ray.
Lumen: That’s the most positive introduction ever been on Lumen! Our congratulations! 🙂 Please, continue…
Geert: Also I’m a VJ enthusiast and currently working on a video installation #PerformingCanvas. I’m the creator of www.VJBooking.com, a network dedicated to Visual Jockeys.
Lumen: Do you see a connection between design and VJing?
Geert: Video technology became a lot easier, faster and more accessible over the years and because of this you see a lot of visual styles develop faster. Many people, educated in Graphics and Design, coders and developers discover VJing as a new medium to be creative.
Lumen: Did you experience an evolution when it comes to design in VJing?
Geert: As I mentioned before, the technology became much better and faster. VJing already had a rich heritage as an art-form in the past. The last couple of years the image quality improved immensely. Exciting times ahead for sure.
Lumen: Do you prefer a pencil & sketchbook or a tablet with graphic software? Rate your preferences for us. 🙂
Geert: I love to sketch my ideas before going digital. It gives me a clear view on the result that needs to be achieved and makes the creative process faster when going digital. So they go hand in hand for me…
Lumen: Where did the idea of vjbooking.com come from?
Geert: Some bands approached me on Myspace and I did some VJ gigs at underground rave parties back then. The idea developed there, listening to the demands and frustration of this band finding a VJ for their show. So there was clearly a demand but no place with nice visual portfolios. I created the first VJBooking website in one week with a lot of coffee, reheated spaghetti and no sleep. Those were the days!
Lumen: Sounds awesome! Even about spaghetti! But is there a business idea? What’s the goal of the website?
Geert: The first VJBooking website was targeting Belgium but it got international over night sort of speak. So it quickly got much bigger. Our goal is to become a place where new talent or styles get noticed and agencies or bands can find and book their favorite artists.
Lumen: Please, tell us how a booking works on VJBooking service.
Geert: The Artists can create a FREE portfolio. We share their work with the world. Clients can make a booking by providing some basic information about their event like budget, location, date, expectations and we start our search.
Sometimes we produce visuals on demand or just handover the client “lead” to the artist or appropriate agency that fits the client needs. We really want to help the client, while kick-starting new VJ talent on VJBooking.
Lumen: Can an artist become popular without posting on VJ networks?
Geert: Of course, you can’t argue talent but posting your work online on a VJ network will get you noticed faster and the artists will have more time to focus on creative process.
Lumen: Describe the nowadays VJ community, its’ professional and cultural level. What countries are the leaders in the number of VJs?
Geert: I don’t really think a number is relevant. There is a lot more information available on a professional level. For example: VJ stock footage, forums, facebook groups and magazines. Some countries have a lot of talent or produce fun stuff based on cultural diversity.
I remember some Mexican visuals with a Día de Muertos (Day of the dead) theme. That video work was oozing color and contrast. Loved it!
Lumen: Is there a location with more visuals artists than other in the world?
Geert: Not really, every country has its own demand. Some countries are more ‘open’ to the idea of a visual artist than other.
We send-out 2 projection mapping artists to a music festival and they were announced in every single piece of advertisement as “must see” artists. Definitely THE way to go!
Lumen: Describe your VJbookig rivals. Is there any serious competition between different booking agencies?
Geert: We see the website as an online portfolio platform for other booking agencies. We made some nice contacts over the years and I hope to work with them more in the years to come. No rivals, only connections to produce better quality which is key for our goal as a VJ promoting website.
Lumen: How does the price of artist performance evolve and what is the impact of booking agencies in that case?
Geert: We always provide advice on pricing, but we also aim to make the gig as pleasant as possible for all people involved. Don’t get me wrong… We all have bills to pay but producing quality in a friendly atmosphere is priceless.
Lumen: Let’s have a look into the future! How do you think the VJ scene will evolve within the next years? Will it go mainstream and are there going to be the really big artist?
Geert: I’m not sure if VJing will become as popular, as DJing but we really like that idea. It’s definitely a goal for VJBooking.com to be the place to discover talent and provide Visual Jockey related information. We encourage projects where VJs get appreciated and develop a solid relationship with a band or organization.
Lumen: How will the art and design spheres develop? Can you see the future for a visual arts market, Geert? 🙂
Geert: People lose touch with art when too much technology is involved and don’t consider it as art at some point.
If you look back on art and history you’ll notice that photography is finally getting accepted in the art scene but it had to fight for its place as an art form.
In the past, it had a bad image of “just pushing a button”. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?! Today everybody plays with their mobile camera and people start to understand the creative process involved in creating a great digital image.
I’m hoping that making videos is getting mainstream and quality is going 4K and up, we’ll finally get some quality work out there. The technology is here for the taking. Creatives will jump on it and www.VJBooking.com will be part of it for sure.