Only years later I found out that Rick Smith and Karl Hyde were also two founders of the art and design collective Tomato.
Envision a mix of driving electronic music, Techno with synth-pop influences, and the collective’s experimental films, soundscapes, abstract paintings, prints, and absorbing photography. An incredible and inexhaustible source of inspiration.
Abstract drawings in oil pigments on aluminum panels – part of a series called „Everything is Dirt & All the Dirt is Beautiful“, immersive video installations, and unconventional collaborative paintings as mass events.
To enable all that creative output, Underworld / Tomato had to reinvent themselves more than once. A trait that’s invaluable for those who aim to create new things, who fail along the way, and who are eager to learn from made mistakes.
We’ve probably learned more from previous experiments and failures than any other source of wisdom. Rather than feeling discomfort, we should embrace them as valuable teachers, get curious about the data they present, and stay open to where they lead us next.
Tomato feature in Japanese IDEA Magazine No.337, Nov. 2009
