artPOP

Tequila Open Eyes Laid Back Dance of Tears, Chief Nobody

BY KYLA ESTOYA

Your friend invites you to attend an art show.

You, a writer, who likes to be classified separately from artists, agree because like literature, art resonates a sense of storytelling that you love—it just does it differently. You’ve been to a lot of art exhibits in the past but you still haven’t learned the art of dressing up. A few hours before the exhibit, your anxiety grows especially after finding out the event is going to be a big one. So this thought prolongs the decision-making. After mixing and matching a few outfits, you finally decide what to wear. You take one good look at yourself in the mirror, and then you leave. You show up to the venue with your phone mindlessly (and awkwardly) clutched near your chest because beneath your calm face, you’re frantically looking for your friend. He didn’t reply to your last message which is why for the third time, you tell yourself to relax.

It’s a good thing that most of your friends are artists; they somehow convinced you that being surrounded by art brings comfort. There were numerous instances when you’d fall in love with an art piece and you would playfully describe it. This became a fun game you’d play with yourself. You start walking around the gallery, making sure to get a glimpse of each art piece, and you let your own thoughts amuse you. A few moments later, you find your friend’s artworks but no sign of him being there. You look around and you can’t find a familiar face. You check your phone again and still, no reply. Just when you decide to make your friend’s artworks your last stop, you see colors popping from the corner of your eye. You turn to your left and you feel one of the rarest feelings you’ve had with art—entertained. And no offense to your friend’s works—you think—but this piece literally speaks to you because it explicitly says CHILL OUT MAN. Curious, you draw closer to the work.

There, you dive into the world of Tyler Spangler.

There is merit to being extremely straightforward in your art, I believe.

Tyler Spangler—who describes himself as an obsessively curious, colorful, and passionate person—earned a degree in psychology, only to realize that all his life he was (and still is) madly in love with art. His work has evolved from being primarily collages to exploring typography, image, and pattern. I didn’t meet him through any art exhibit but I like to think that that’s how I found him. I discovered one of his works on the web a year ago and since then, my obsession has grown. The concept of his creations reminded me of those of the famous and the late John Baldisseri’s.

“I’ve had middle school and high school teachers organize projects based on my work,” he says. He also mentions that during those times, teachers would have their students make pop art pieces or artworks resembling his own, “which I think is awesome.” He spent a lot of time exploring certain elements in creating collages to the point that he became addicted in producing artworks. He even made a 440-page book featuring his own artworks that were products of his own life experience, more particularly through the product of his music taste and living near the beach. Most of his early works revolved around abstract art mainly because he loved the ambiguity of it. “It leaves more open to interpretation and also exhibits a unique view of the artist,” he adds. “There is merit to being extremely straightforward in your art, I believe”.

Eventually, he earned money through freelancing and tried getting as much clients as he could. His creative process involves a lot of improvising; and while he likes planning and making sure to be organized, he admits that sitting down and experimenting with all sorts of designs does the trick. “I used to want to keep adding to a design, but in recent years I have begun to enjoy taking away. While I still love dense patterns and bold colors, I like to balance it out with less elements in a design.” A few years later, Tyler took a big step in his career by getting bigger clients like NIKE, SAMSUNG, HERMES, and COACH—among others. He enjoyed the fact that most of his bigger clients had given him a lot of creative freedom, one of which even offering to pay him 50% more than he quoted—which gave him more confidence in his work and helped him know his worth as an artist. But apart from Tyler’s commissioned works, his vast collection of personal artworks is the reason why, to me, he’s conspicuous. For years, he developed a habit of documenting his thoughts and feelings and making them beneficial to his craft. “I realized that it might be useful and possibly entertaining for other people,” he says. He would take notes about his own experiences and contemplations; sending messages for people, like most of us, who find themselves doubting most of the time. He takes these notes and transforms them into multicolored, fun, and chaotic visuals. “It’s pretty cool that my schooling came in full circles to my original career plan. I feel very grateful to be able to integrate the two disciplines together.” During his high school days, there weren't much people talking about anxiety and other mental health issues. “I never really understood much about it even while I was studying psychology in 2008. It wasn't until I had my first series of panic attacks in 2014 that I began to understand what anxiety felt like.”

Other than supporting himself financially with his art, Tyler also wants to create awareness by brightening the world physically and intellectually through his works. His craft doesn’t just encourage people to pursue an artistic adventure, it addresses an important message. The greatest artists aren’t necessarily great because they said something no one has ever said before. Nor do they have any access to some sort of “divine knowledge”. Artists like Tyler are hailed great because they are capable of expressing themselves freely at any given moment despite what other people might think. And with that, he’s not only sharing what’s inside his mind—he’s also speaking on behalf of the thoughts and emotions shared by many of us.

When we look at his works, a small part of our anxiety fades away. It’s evident that in the generation we live in, ruled by the internet and social media, things that interest and intrigue us are easily shared. Even though our attention span is short, messages that hit us with a certain truth leave us with something to ponder with, or simply remind us that we’re not alone when it comes to thinking these certain kinds of thoughts.

You hear your friend calling you from the other side of the room. You look back at Tyler and thank him for showing you around his world. You bid him goodbye and walk towards where your friends are. And you don’t need to announce it, but you know that Tyler’s works were the highlight of your day.