F5: Nimrod Weis Talks Skateboarding, Japan, Safety Signs + More

When Nimrod Weis was 11 years old he would go to the Tandy store in Australia and buy electrical components that he could tinker with and assemble into his own objects. His grandfather, a sculptor who lived and worked in the Negev region of Israel, made a lasting impression on him. “He was instrumental to my artistic development, because out in the desert he gave me the sense that people can do extraordinary things,” Weis says.

His father purchased a home computer, and the excitement was palpable because they were the first family on the block to own one. While everyone else couldn’t wait to play the latest games on the PC, Weis wanted to create them instead, and that’s when he realized he was a maker.

A man in a black shirt stands in front of a large, striped, abstract sculpture with two circular patterns resembling eyes.

Nimrod Weis \\\ Photo: David Zanardi

In 1997, Weis founded technology and art studio ENESS, based in Australia. His multidisciplinary team, known as happiness architects, produces temporary and permanent interactive art that combines elements like music, software development, and textiles.

He invites viewers to experience what he calls unexpected curiosities, taking digital installations out of galleries and museums and into the public sphere. At the intersection of the virtual and physical, his work challenges how people view cities and their spaces, always sparking the imagination.

Weis doesn’t limit himself to a particular style or form. He continually explores outside of his comfort zone. “As a departure from large-scale art, sometimes I will create a piece of furniture or design some socks,” he notes. “I have been playing around with giant Chinese calligraphy brushes and inks. For me, it really helps to change mediums.”

Today, Nimrod Weis joins us for Friday Five!

A traditional Japanese rock garden with large and small stones arranged on gravel, next to a wooden building, surrounded by green shrubs and trees, inspired by artist Nimrod Weis.

Photo: Nimrod Weis

1. Seki Zen Gardens in Kyoto

I’ve just returned from Japan; I find the Seki (Zen) gardens of Kyoto extremely inspirational. It’s an astonishing place, the architecture is old but strangely modern, like 400 years ahead of its time, the stone gardens put the viewer into a trance or meditation. It’s natural but nature didn’t make it as such. I find it fascinating that man can make compositions that stimulate the brain in a certain way and that this composition has come from studying nature.

Photo: Nimrod Weis

2. Safety Signs

Most of my graphics are influenced by signs. A key icon for us is based on a sign I saw on a plane. Another example is that we have an ENESS t-shirt with a truck motif on it and it’s the same truck sign you see on the side of the road. I love old signs because a lot of them were drawn before computers, they’re informative but someone’s near perfect picture for everyone to enjoy. When I’m stuck, I flick through my photos looking for images of signs that I’ve taken for inspiration.

A red cartoonish mascot figure stands next to gashapon vending machines outside a store filled with toys and collectibles, echoing the playful designs often seen in Nimrod Weis's art.

Photo: Nimrod Weis

3. I love gimmicks, trinkets and weird toys

For example, something that has the capacity to turn, or move. My favorite gimmick is a tacky solar panel turntable that spins – it’s a little spinning platform for an ornament or a toy. I love thinking about what else can this be. Repurposing things, transforming it into something else. For example, reworking a clock mechanism, or Chinese practice scrolls that enable ink to fade – or even party balloons for that matter! blowing a balloon through a cylinder makes a tree. A simple party balloon can convey something different from what it is. I love to look at these things and change their function into beautiful object of desire. I’m not looking for diamonds I’m looking for trinkets because I’m inspired to see every day, common things differently.

Collage of colorful abstract ceramic sculptures; top left and bottom left by En Iwamura, top right and bottom right by Tomoya Sakai, displayed in gallery settings alongside works inspired by Nimrod Weis.

Photo: Courtesy of En Iwamura

4. New styles for ancient medium – ceramics

Two artists I recently visited in my travels to Japan, En Iwamura and Tomoya Sakai both work in clay, I feel they are taking the medium in new directions, their works are influenced by their pop culture world with the old craftsmanship of Japan. Highly imaginative and extremely beautifully crafted, there forms really resonate with me, they leave the observer with enough room for their own imagination to go for a stroll.

In this black and white photo, a person climbs a chain-link fence outdoors, with trees and buildings behind them—capturing a moment reminiscent of Nimrod Weis's evocative visual style.

Photo: Nimrod Weis

5. Skateboarding

Yes, every kid had a skateboard in the 90s but for me it was different, I owe a lot to skateboarding, style, grit, attitude and a high threshold for pain. Think about it, there is no other sport more stylish, it shouldn’t even be called a sport – it’s more like a dance. Sports with a number on your back? That’s not cool, maybe Roller-skating in the 70’s was cool, but skateboarding broke all the rules and has influenced fashion, art and media, shoes would not look the same, pants would not be as baggy, and even other sports have all progressed and changed thanks to skateboarding. Try it.