Interview with marubu | MakersPlace Blog

MakersPlace is honored to host a drop for one of our favorite NFT-native artists, marubu. To celebrate this event, we snagged the first interview with this mystery wrapped in an enigma to learn about his creative process, why he went full-time digital, and how the Berlin club scene influences his work. 

Scroll down past the interview for (compressed) previews of his upcoming drop artworks.

To kick things off, I’d love to know a bit about your decision to remain anonymous in the space — what do you think are the benefits and drawbacks of staying anonymous as a career decision?

In the beginning, I wasn’t looking for anonymity as a necessity. marubu is just a shortened version of my first, middle, and last names. The reason was that I wanted something that’s easier to handle for an international audience. I don’t have a big problem with people knowing who I am, but I think the work can speak more strongly when you don’t have too much background on the person. 

Some of my friends are so extroverted; they’re like rockstars. But sometimes, I think their charisma might be bigger than the work. I think it’s nice when people know nothing about me but still like the work, but I don’t care if someone knows my name or face. 

Can you tell me about the upcoming collection?

For this drop, I didn’t want to do something totally new. I’ve worked on some new direction, but it’s more like an advanced version of what I’ve done before with the portraits. It’s a little more complex, a little more extravagant. 

The story or vibe is inspired by my time here in Berlin when I was going to a lot of clubs. I want to get across this energy, especially in my early years in Berlin, when the club scene was experimental and half-legal. Everything felt so huge and interesting. I don’t know if people can tell, but the work tries to get across this feeling of really, really good club nights with people who are very far from normal. There’s an otherworldly vibe. Sometimes it can be tough and hard, but it’s also beautiful and colorful.  

I’ve done this with the other collections, like Fancy Fatalies. I like when it’s a little bit fucked up; there’s dark energy. Not too happy-go-lucky, but still fun and with pleasing colors. Not childish, but not taking itself too seriously either. It should all be fun to look at. 

What’s your process look like? What mediums do you work in to bring your art together?

I come originally from working only digital. Then I got bored a few years ago and moved to drawing and painting. I returned to digital because I realized that what I like most is stumbling into accidents and coincidences. It can happen with drawing and painting, but it’s much faster and more surprising to do something unplanned digitally. I like that way of working, especially now that I can draw on the iPad. 

Then from there I take the drawing from the iPad…