Back Page Interview

Daniel Kotsimbos (OTG 2015)

Last year, Daniel’s artwork Peak Frequency earned him the title of joint winner of the inaugural Fivex Art Prize: Billboard Art Reimagined. You may have seen Peak Frequency when it was displayed on an enormous billboard in the city, opposite Flinders Street Station, on the corner of Elizabeth and Flinders Streets.

Congratulations on your recent achievement, joint winner of the Fivex Art Prize. How was it to have your work displayed on such a large scale?

Thank you. It was very special to see this project ‘break away’ from the dimensions of my computer screen and into such a large public setting, especially since I had found myself mostly working on such a small and isolated scale during the Melbourne lockdown.

Tell us about your Trinity journey, how would you describe your student experience? Are there any stand-out memories for you?

School for me was a safe place to make mistakes, in that sense it was very important.

I found a lot of comfort in the art studios up in the Centre for the Arts; there was a certain freedom and acceptance in ‘experiencing’ rather than ‘knowing’. This was very significant because after leaving school, when I was faced with blank studio walls, an empty sketchpad, and no key curriculum other than to just ‘create’, it was all very daunting, but at the same time liberating. At school, I learnt that there is no ‘right’ way to go about things; what’s important is the doing.

Daniel Kotsimbos’ artwork Peak Frequency

We understand you have recently been working on a project with your twin brother, Michael, also an OTG. Can you tell us a little about this work and what it has been like working with Michael?

Yes, it’s been great so far. We’ve been collaborating over the past few months and developed Anthroposphere, which is an algorithmic artwork that converts ambient air quality data into sound. With support from the Yarra City Council, we have fed the Anthroposphere algorithm air quality data sourced throughout 2020 from the Yarra City region. Each air pollutant has been assigned a unique sonic frequency and ‘shape’ that reacts to the data, resulting in a sound piece that is composed entirely from our local air. Hopefully, it will give people more of an insight into how our activity impacts the quality of air that we all breathe. From March 2021, it will be available online as a digital album.

What does the future hold for the artist Daniel Kotsimbos?

Hopefully many more projects and better air quality.

Finally, what advice might you give to any young, budding artists?

Artistic thinking has much to offer the world outside of the arts. In whatever context, I think it’s important to have a critical awareness of the world around you, as a lot of the time the answers are in the act of questioning itself.

Front cover photograph: Roberts House took out the highly prized House Performing Arts Cup with their performance of Zoolander. Anton Ruiz-Pedley shone in the starring role!

Back cover photograph:

Book recommendations from friends are always the best ones!

Many thanks to the staff, students, parents and other members of the Trinity community who provided photographs used in this publication. Editor: Siobhan Latham e: lathams@trinity.vic.edu.au

OTG News: Sharon Kendall e: kendalls@trinity.vic.edu.au

Admissions: Kathy Byrne e: admissions@trinity.vic.edu.au

TRINITY GRAMMAR SCHOOL, KEW

40 Charles Street, Kew VIC 3101 +61 3 9854 3600 | trinity.vic.edu.au

This magazine has been printed on FSC (Forestry Strewardship Council) Certified paper utilising vegetable based inks. It has been produced using a Clean Green Print process which means all the processes involved with the manufacturer of this item are guaranteed to have minimum impact on the environment.