the Video Star
- Bill Judkins, Dec. 2003
Vello Virkhaus is an artist who is emerging in the multimedia, video and animation graphics field as an inspired leader. His work has been featured both commercially and in fine arts museums for the past ten years. Riding the crest of a technology wave that has allowed faster cycle times in the development of video and animation graphics, Virkhaus, with his studio/laboratory VJ V2, is enjoying the success of working with A-list music industry personalities while balancing his affinity for the creation of fine art.
At 30, Virkhaus has hit a stride that many people only hope to achieve in a lifetime of work. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in 1995. In 2000, he moved his life and career to Los Angeles. His talents have allowed him to produce and direct all the visual aspects of the Jay-Z/Mike Tyson concert and Bon Jovi's 2003 world tour. Over his career, he has also worked with major musicians: Korn, Jennifer Lopez, Stone Temple Pilots, Beck, and Ministry. He has directed, projected and VJ'd at concerts and festivals around the US such as the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2002's Sundance Film Festival, as well as at massive music events such as Coachella (2002/2003), the 2002 and 2003 Ultra Beach Festival in Miami (43,000 attended) and Audiotistic in Los Angeles (36,000 attended). His list of corporate clients include Apple, Nickelodeon, New Line, MTV, Sprite, The Firm, Ogilvy & Mather, Coca-Cola, Blockbuster, Atari, Ben Sherman, Sharp, Media 100 and many more.
Collectively, Virkhaus’ skill-set of video director, animations graphics creator, as well as innovator makes him highly sought after by both commercial and non-commercial sources. “…The work is going to get more and more advanced. What we create and pioneered to do is just going to get more organized,” commented Virkhaus, “The whole medium of interactive video will continue to emerge even more and become more mainstream.” The explosion of desktop systems that have the firepower to create animation and video have both propelled and crippled the industry by giving the average person the ability to create stimulating ‘shows’. Using software such as Maya, Combustion and FinalCut Pro, Virkhaus is a leader in the medium.
What happened in the late 1980’s for graphic designers and in the early 1990’s for musicians is now maturing for video and animation graphics artists. This paradigm shift in both the music and graphics industry has put higher demands on creatives such as Virkhaus just as it did for graphic designers and electronic musicians. He notes that the music video industry is a business that’s barely worth doing full time, at least for himself. He has been offered several ‘Director of Music Videos’ positions where the offers were well below what his aspirations would allow. He is able to critique how the budgets are allocated and contract as an independent because of the paradigm shift. Much less will be spent on film and more on animation production in the music industry as the years progress and the medium matures. Although the word ‘multimedia’ has become stale and overused, it is still the best description of the type of art that Virkhaus creates. “…until a term such as Fluxus emerges to describe the discipline, multimedia is the best term.”
Prioritizing projects can be difficult – pointing out that he only turned away a few people this past year. Depending on the amount of shooting and/or animation that’s required, Virkhaus creates and directs teams for each project. He’s recently assembled a team of 5-7 people to work with Jane’s Addiction on their track Stop and continues work in longtime collaboration with the band Deep Sky. Crobar nightclub in New York sought him recently to install what Virkhaus described as the largest permanent video installation he’s ever done. The A-list music people who would ask Virkhaus to work with their projects are getting a package deal. He is both VJ and animator in one. He is riding a technology crest that allows for him to innovate not only as an artist but in software development and workflow processes as well. He is getting ready to patent a software program in 2004 that allows for smoother on-site routing. This technology has been installed on two sites this past year - one of which is winning a video design award.
Virkhaus’ current work with Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Ferrel has him exploring concepts on critical mass. He will portray urban life, or, large populations living and working together in the architecture that surrounds them. Virkhaus shoots have been completed in or are planned in cities such as Tokyo, New York and Rio de Janeiro. When asked, “…how big is too big for your work”, he claimed that nowhere would ever be big enough. Virkhaus’ work is engrossing and can often create a higher level of consciousness or alternate reality for the viewer as it is assaulting, large and visually spectacular.
For more information and to view a sampling of the Virkhaus reels visit www.vellov.com.
