Costin Chioreanu, Roadburn’s official visual artist alongside Voivod’s Michel “Away” Langevin and a yet to be named Dutch talent, is currently working on a series of band posters for the 2012 festival. Both Costin and Roadburn are pleased to present his first three posters: Oranssi Pazuzu, Tombs and Virus.
Costin Chioreanu comments: “When I’m working on a band-related project, I listen to the band’s music and get into the atmosphere. In the case of Tombs, I was inspired to illustrate the decline of the American Dream. I named the piece ‘Dying Mother of Exiles.’ The decomposing main character resembles Saint Mary more closely than the Statue of Liberty, but I always like to incorporate more ideas into my art that support a main theme.
“I think the result successfully illustrates the tension, the decadence and the inner despair, without having [an overt political agenda], which I consider the most horrible thing to be included in art of any kind. [The poster art] portrays what I feel about America based on two important things: my personal experience and the signals that several bands there are sending at a spiritual level. I really think there is a frequency where the common consciousness is working…
“I really like the weird feeling that Oranssi Pazuzu’s music gives me. My brain normally measures and expresses things using imagery, so maybe that’s why when I listen to their music it sends me on an interesting trip that lets me explore surreal places and landscapes in the universe. It’s like a good adventure movie with a powerful science fiction touch. When I was a kid I was obsessed with sci-fi (and still am). I decided to use ‘Andromeda’ for the artwork: the name of the song also refers to the stories I devoured when I was younger. To me, the result is like a postcard from where my mind travels listening to this music.
“For Virus, the result might be a jolt to some eyes, but I was just being honest: whenever I listen to Virus I imagine an old Russian movie. I get flashbacks from Tarkovsky movies or Russian sci-fi stuff. This band has a unique approach; their dissonant, surreal riffs convey the kind of anxiety unique to Russian films. ‘Endangered Technology’ is a mixture of ideas: it is both connected to latest Virus album graphic concept and pushes the core further into a new dimension of surrealism and sci-fi. The name of the artwork can also be taken as a reference to Voivod, a fantastic band with whom Virus has something very important in common, namely dissonance-based originality and creativity. The title itself is a metaphor for the extreme state of dehumanization that contemporary consumer society has reached.”
Costin Chioreanu’s poster series will be for sale at Roadburn 2012.