ABOUT THE ARTIST
"Freedom should be the default state. Since my 20s, I’ve tried to live my life as if the state didn’t exist."
Sven’s an obvious choice as our first featured Memer – THE Bitcoin GIF Maestro. He’s been living as a freedom loving Digital Nomad with his young family recently & lives more than most a life that strives for Self-Sovereignty
Born in East Berlin, Sven’s family emigrated from Communist East Germany in 1985 to start again in Australia with limited possessions. Since 2018 he’s been hacking Twitter with Bitcoin-inspired motion graphics. He’s become a key player in Bitcoin’s decentralised Marketing Department : Meme Division contributing to Swan Bitcoin, Dan Held & others.
THE INTERVIEW 1/3
"My dad always instilled in us a distrust of authorities. He gave up everything in the hope of giving his children, his family a better future."
Sven was born in East Berlin, his family left Communist East Germany in 1985 for a better future in Australia. His father lost a lot materially during this process but it’s a move that gave the family so much too. This drive for freedom, instilled from his father, has always been a core part of his character.
A wanna-be hacker kid, Sven grew up on William Gibson & Neal Stephenson novels. He’s always loved using software, just learning the tools themselves even if he didn’t really know what he should be making.
As a teenager in the 90s he owned an Amiga, dabbled in ASCII Art, Pro-Tracker mods, DPaint & Warez BBSs before witnessing the birth and growth of the Internet. The introverted teenager from the 90s morphed into a 2000s fire-dancing psychonaut & ‘raver kid’ who produced Psytrance & original Techno, getting some tracks released on vinyl. In his 30s he needed to learn Adobe Apps to run his business & support his partner in running hers.
"I never did and still don’t consider myself an artist. That’s why this hacker thing really resonates with me. I love using the tools."
He met a French Fire Dancer at an Aussie Psytrance “Bush Duff” and travelled with her, performing Fire Dance on the European Festival Circuit.
Back in Australia they started an Organic Food business together, linked to local Farmer’s Markets. They built it up over years, he learned a lot more about Adobe and they sold it – jumping several orders of magnitude in terms of financial independence.
"The things you own, end up owning you."
THE INTERVIEW 2/3
They used this opportunity to fund their further education & roam extensively around Australia in a Campervan with their young child. They sold a lot of possessions and he lived the free life he’s long aspired to. Sven continued learning the Adobe Suite to help develop his wife’s Child Developmental Physiology business through Social Media & video production. In 2020 they settled into a friend’s rural, green tea & avocado tree idyll during lockdown and are next looking to establish their own little Aussie rural Citadel.
"This drive for freedom should be a God given right. Most of the things I’ve done in my life have been to maximise this freedom."
He discovered Bitcoin in 2015 when listening to Andreas Antonopolous on Stefan Molyneux’s Liberty FM and it’s consumed him ever since.
"The Orange Pill is the cure for the Black Pill."
Sven was into Meme Warfare before he discovered Bitcoin, attending a Libertarian Conference in 2016 he had the idea to make ‘taxation is theft’ bumper stickers. He came up with a bunch of designs – philosophical bumper stickers aka ‘Weapons of Mass Instruction or Truth Tags”
Now a father and husband. Bitcoin has been the muse that inspired him to learn animation. He’s a freedom-seeking individualist with skin and soul in the game. Sven’s focus is on creating animated loops that convey the deeper concepts of Bitcoin.
"Get on Hive.one and follow the most notable people."
THE INTERVIEW 3/3
After discovering Bitcoin Twitter in 2018 he’s been as captivated as many of us are by the depth and scope of the concepts, themes & memes there. He astutely recognised the power of GIFs to ‘hack’ Twitter’s character limit, communicate these big ideas and break through the competition for people’s eyeballs. The man’s become prolific.
"If an image speaks a thousand words, an animation speaks way more than that!.
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The main software he now uses for GIF creation is Adobe After Effects and he’s consumed days of YouTube Adobe Tutorials. There’s zero excuse if there’s something you want to learn today. YouTube After Effects tutorials are key. The learning curve’s super steep, but Bitcoin is a potent muse.
"As Jordan Peterson said, clean your room – tend your garden."
His hopes and dreams for the future are focused on family, fatherhood and developing his craft & skills & taking his work to the next level – plus Bitcoin & freedom of course. He sees himself as a producer but we see him as an artist. Sven’s very open to people contacting him, like Dan Held has, to produce animations for Bitcoin projects. Get in touch at @SvenStarFury
"We’ve no intention to move back to the city."
