1. Who are you

My name is Elout de Kok, born in the Netherlands 1968, currently living in Amsterdam.

For me, growing up those first 10 years, without computers; I guess I got a bit lucky with my youth, have a brother and sister that are like 1.5 and 2.5 years older, and dear to me, as kids we were always playing with other kids on the streets, exploring the expanding world around us.

And I got really nice parents, that decided, some things and rules will be different for our kids.

My parents were kind of hippies, love nature, but not doing these crazy drugs or group sex-parties. lol.

Always working hard; my father was a gym-teacher during the day, and physiotherapist in the evening , my mother working around the house, writing poems and stories, caring about the world; try to do things good, honest, be respectful to other people and cultures. My mother had a fragile health, so we learned stand on our own feet real quick, helping around the house from the age of 3. My parents really love books, walls full of books, they didn't really care about showing off a new car or sofa.

They loved old Persian rugs, old and ancient little artifacts, from like ancient Egypt and China;

things from all around the world. Cool things like this 'real' Australian boomerang, my brother and I learned to throw, and we could climb like crazy. From the age of 3 I started swimming a lot, and doing Judo. Got my first skateboard late 70s, when the first skateboard-wave hit the Netherlands, and after years doing Judo and competitions, I got into Taekwondo as a teenager.

Also, when I was real young, my parents set up this fair-trade shop; so the money went directly to the farmers, selling coffee, sugar-cane, and like wooden statues and art of the Makonde tribe from East Africa.

I remember like things from the 70s, like these ladies in these 'India' dresses. And seeing a pong-machine hooked up to a TV for the first time, I remember thinking; can you use a TV like that as well?! My parents had this old black and white television, with like 6 channels, till the late 70s.

About that fair-trade shop.. the missionaries set up the trade. The makonde tribe, got some money, for the wonderful art they made. Bought weapons, mozambique freedom struggle, then some raf-like 'radical' lefties and undercover-plants, tried to take over this fair-trade-shop mid 70s, and my parents got out asap, thinking we got a family here. You notice the phone is tapped, only years later; like I would think, what the hell; was that all about?!

Explore the woods, swamps and wandering the fields. Also looking for fossils, stone age-tools, and statues, sometimes fossils were used as well, in the past, as special stones or tools; neaderthaler stuff from like 70.000-100k years old. The area my parents lived in; is really good for finding stones.

Be friendly to the farmer, and ask for permission - access to the land first; else they can send in a hunting patrol.

but. dude. where are you really from?

Thousands of years ago, there was this tribe of people that lived in a great place, the sea was full of fish, fields full of flowers, lush forest, and a good supply of flintstones, to make super sharp tools.

People used boats already 10.000 years ago and started to explore the earth, meeting and trading with far away tribes. They learned to read and navigate by the stars.But it was the end of the ice-age, and the water started to rise, and the land and their homes; getting closed in, and flooded around 6500 BCE. Sunken beneath the waves of the North Sea, maybe there are some dolmen still there, buried deep under the sand and water.

I guess this tribe became like gypsies of the sea, and started to connect world-wide, with other tribes doing the same thing. The Egyptians told the Greeks about this clan. And the Greeks added some drama and soap to the story; calling it Atlantis. a pharao's in ancient egypt, once had red hair, wondering how did that happen. Some stories have been passed over and changed, In 1995 I was in Berlin, and talked to a gypsy woman from transylvania, living in the same building. She told me some stories about people with red hair and the atlantis connection, before you really could look up that kind of stuff on the internet.

Or I'm maybe from this tribe, from siberia 20000 years ago, that started to adopt and live with like dogs as well, traveled to afrika; north and south amerika, taking the doggies with them. Finding and imagine about those new and old roots dna origins, and stories that somehow survived

Strange how mankind evolved, traced back to just this small tribe like 200.000 years ago.

I really loved and wanted to make video-games, I would take my time, making sprites, spend time fine-tuning them, until they looked good. Nobody could/would code for me, I first was making games in basic, but if you really wanted to make video-games, you had to learn machine-code, that would run things 10+ times faster. I created my first z80A - assembler demo around 1985; showing my visuals; pixel-drawings and sprites, together with music in 48kb. At the time, we would also trade cassette tapes, with assemblers editors and software-tools, you had software to make music, and compress it to like 4kb machine-code. And people would share machine-code routines like that could compress images; mid-eighties. Spraycans around 1983 in the netherlands, were just the basic red, yellow,green, blue, green, black, white, grey,silver,gold. Then 'miami vice' minty colors hit the shops, and the streets. I experienced these wonderful neon like colors, and video-games

I'm really interested in different art, cultures and tribes, ancient stories and history world-wide, all together they tell the wisdom, art and the story of humankind.

2. In your FxHash description it says "Art & Coding since 1982" that is quite a long time! Tell us more about your start with art and coding.

Around 1982 I started like a fresh young teenager; high-school, I was already drawing a bit, painting and making photographs. And I got this TI-calculator needed for math, that was not working. So I went to the office-supply store, to drop off the calculator for repair. When walking out, I noticed 2 kids hanging around the home-computer section.

One guy showed me like

10 print "elout"
20 goto 10

running it; filling up the screen with my name. Next he popped in a pac-man cartridge into a vic-20, you could play games for free! Like I already was eyeing these arcade-cabinets, that popped up everywhere, but I did not have the money for that.

So the next 1.5 year, I spend a lot of my free time, hanging around places where they had or sold home-computers, the library, trading video games and software on tapes, with other people, making new friends with nerds, whiz kids and gamers, young and old. And making my first simple video-games. Computer magazines would also publish code. My parents finally got me a second-hand ZX-Spectrum 48K, and I have never been bored in life after that.

newsclipping-photo:article about computerclubs. copyright @newspaper (me standing)

At the time, I also was in this youth organization; that would study nature. Bird-watching, plants, dragonflies, fossils and more. And in 1983, my brother and me, cycled from the Netherlands to Belgium, took the ferry to Dover, UK. And spend the next 3 weeks in this summer camp, mostly looking for fossils. The organization was run by youngsters between like 12-25.

We also arranged this small van, so we could go to London. Explored the city a bit on my own, remember like these alternative shops, with stencils how to set up a pirate-radio station, and I saw some break-dancers for the first time, big ghetto blaster, doing like the moon-walk.

I was drumming, and that got me also into breakdancing and graffiti, hip hop; that beat. Also, the first time for me going to pubs and clubs, I remember these punks with impressive mohawks, and the sound system playing blue monday by new order. My older sister already had a nice record collection, and I used her tape-recorder to make my own mix-tapes, recording songs from the radio, or records from the library. Love all genre's of music.

I really loved and wanted to make video-games, I would take my time, making sprites, spend time fine-tuning them, until they looked good. Nobody could/would code for me,

I first was making games in basic, but if you really wanted to make video-games, you had to learn machine-code, that would run things 10+ times faster. I created my first z80A - assembler demo around 1985; showing my visuals; pixel-drawings and sprites, together with music in 48kb. At the time, we would also trade cassette tapes, with assemblers editors and software-tools, you had software to make music, and compress it to like 4kb machine-code. And people would share machine-code routines like that could compress images; mid-eighties.

Spraycans around 1983 in the netherlands, were just the basic red, yellow,green, blue, green, black, white, grey,silver,gold. Then 'miami vice' minty colors hit the shops, and the streets.

And I experienced these wonderful neon like colors,in some video-games

Also was into graffiti. from 1983, started to hitchhike by myself, first around the Netherlands, checking arcades, graffiti, computer fairs. Around the age of 16 or 17 I started to hitch around europe by myself, first like to paris, like to check the stalingrad-hood for graffiti.

And one year, like europe. One summer, I would hitchhike from the middle of Italy, along the small coastal roads; all the way to Barcelona. I learned quickly, don't sleep or crash in parks or stations. Like find a small building with a flat roof, climb on top, no one can see you; or hassle you. Or like find a safe spot to sleep, meeting new people your age, that vibed ok.

Around the age of 17, finishing high school and thinking, well, maybe go to Art-school? That was really my first introduction to modern art as well. Also, a good start; that first year. I remember my first assignment, we got 4 A0 sheets of paper, 2 white and 2 black. And we had to make like 'peace' and 'movement'.

And I started with graffiti again, since started living on my own; since I was busted before, but now lived in another town. Also was already making some nice beer-money with friends my age, doing paid jobs for shops and decorations.

I guess after seeing paintings (for real) by Rothko I really started to dig it, like I was watching like this painting from Rothko with 2 rectangles, and like after a minute, other shapes started to appear, that were slightly painted over, camouflage painting skills. heh.

Then around 1988 I heard that another Art-school would start up a 'new media' division. With computers! Just my thing! So I wanted to move over, and I remember telling my painting-teacher that I wanted to go to this other art-school with a computer graphics department.

And him looking at me, like totally disgusted 'computers?!', like I sunk to the lowest life-form on earth.

So in 1988, I started a new Art school, focused around new-media and computer graphics, got myself an Amiga 2000, without a hard disk, just 2 floppy drives. And started to code my first generative art, assignments would be like, make a seamless texture or drawing, or like an abstract landscapes. Meeting also Artist at the time, that were 'hot'

or OG in computer graphics. Like a good memory is meeting John Whitney (he did the intro-visuals for Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock in 1958, and inspired people doing like fx for 2001 and starwars) Copper Giloth (the Amiga copper chip was named after her) introduced by a good teacher of mine, Raymond Lauzzana, and so much more.

I dropped graffiti around 1990 for a long while, since things got a little hectic and crazy on the streets and with the law, felt like a soldier with ptsd. But still have insane, great and good memories about that period. Made some friends for life, with a lot of fun and laughter as well, when we recall.

Had good times, and sometimes rock bottom, down in the gutter -alone in the desert- surfing the streets again. Depressions and alcoholism. Gladly stopped drinking, the last 2 years.

Continued doing Art, coding animation, VJ'n, organization of underground parties, video-clips etc. But I was poor, scarred and down at the time, manage clean up, no more weed/drinks. save up for my first pc, that took about 1 year to get together.

Getting money while i was unemployed / low income artist-program; and partly trying to make it as a freelance artist, gave me some mental scars and burns as well. once I was like 1 day late with a letter to the 'social' office; and they would fuck you up and over, with heavy fines; that I could not even pay, almost on the streets again.

So I started to work as a front-end coder and web-designer from 1996 till 2003 working for different companies in the Industry.

While VJ'n and making art besides that, backstage life and having and making great parties

In the late 90's I started to hang on irc, also with demo-scene coders, and making your own 3D soft-engine was something really cool to do. VJ'n and making animations. In 2000, I did a work for a net-art/demo web4096(kb) competition, organized by Zden Hlinka. And via Zden, a great visual coder, with roots in the demo scene and parties, I got connected to the hell.com crew in 2001, also joining the offline-collective, together with other (net) artist & visual coders from around the world. In 2001 20+ (digital) artist from all around the world, got together for a big music-festival in Spain Fib01, projecting like new media - net - digital art, interactive visuals, gen art, and vj'n. Having like 1 chill out tent with loads of visuals and music, and like the dance-floor area, up to 40k people with 12+ mega-beamers.

That was really kind of great, suddenly you meetup with people that share like the same passion. In 2003, I became independent artist and freelancer again. VJ'n around the world, exhibitions with digital-gen net and software art.

Around 2007 I slowed down on VJ'n (one of my performing laptops broke down) and making net- or digital art, for the galleries-shows. Had some great shows, but also some that did not pay the train-ticket. Some wow-years and addiction. My life was going the wrong direction, drinking too much. Gladly I stopped drinking for a while around 2007, the alcohol gave me depressions, qne scars opening up again.

From 2007-2015 I made my main income from Secondlife, selling like 3D models. Other people could build stuff with these models, like lego-blocks.. To use in their own builds and creations. Things like flowers, trees or like a comfy sofa with cushions. Making tools and software to make low poly 3D models; that people could use to build 3D stuff, that again got used in games, 3D builds and VR-worlds.

I played with blender, but got stuck, and decided to create my own 3d model program 'sculptypaint' to play with, and since i did it in processing, released it also opensource. and it got downloaded a few 100k. models I made with it, I sold as well. It was a standalone java-applet like an executable, not sure if I can manage to run it again. Maybe with an older version of processing from 2008.

From 2015 I started to work part-time doing social-care work. Helping older, sick and needy people with their household, making up beds, cleaning etc. Most of these people, I help for years now; sometimes it feels like family as well, people from all kind of backgrounds and cultures. I really enjoy going to work gladly, instead of sitting behind the computer 16+ hours a day.

Got more time and energy now to create, collect, learn new things, socialize online and have fun, throw a party for yourself, meeting new people, artist and collectors.

Jose is selling some of my works since 2014 (limited edition and 1/1 dibond prints)

3. What do you love about creative code?

Put your hearth, soul and feelings into something, trying to tell a story without using words, creating your own alphabet, the love for art, light and colors. Now artist also started to paint with numbers; there are more things to discover. Like if - in the universe, other civilizations are around;

I bet they know like a cube and sphere as well;. Like these universal shapes, icons, and visual-language. Well there are even more (3D) shapes and icons to discoverI just guess; some like with magic like numbers.

Sometimes with coding; you are random digging around in this pile of stones, and then suddenly you find these crystals or gems, some magic vibes. Discovering something totally new when coding, is like this cool thing I like a lot, and happens now and then.

4. How did you hear about FxHash?

I think on a 'generative_art' reddit or facebook group, around December 2021. I was already looking at nft's just a little bit, but didn't like the price-tags and like energy-cost of the crypto, also mining crypto was already gone to far; expensive video-cards needed etc. in the early days you could mine crypto on like old home computers.

But I already blew up a few expensive video-cards, experiments doing animations at like 1200+ fps etc +lulz that would play animations differently depending refreshing rate of the beamers and monitors used the same time. So I really never got into crypto-mining that much, since I didn't want to blow up-burn my working computers or video-cards.

But the importance of easy micropayments, I always hoped for, to evolve and to get mainstream.

In 2007, people would donate like 0.001 cent (or higher) to support me, paying in linden-dollars in secondlife; for the (open source) software I was creating. If you wanted to donate $1 to someone on paypal, they would ask insane transaction cost. Like it should be easy, to give someone 50 cents, on the internet, tip someone or give to a good cause, without too much hassle and expensive transaction cost.

That would be great for humankind.

- crew of visual-coders, (graffiti) artists and underground kings

5. How do you choose what you mint on FxHash?

Before my first drop. Well I did this kind of raw abstract video-game / interactive- animation called 'score' in Unity around 2017, and wanted to make a new game and version, so before the nft's I was already making and preparing different interactive animations and sketches in vanilla javascript.

I started to connect with some NY oldskool graffiti writers, that inspired me as a teenager, and was thinking and experimenting; how could you do a cross-over from like street art to generative art and visual-coding.

I remember at the age of 13 I saw a graffiti work of 'Lee', and thought. wow.. If I can do that one day, so started working on it. Also some people told me.. they saw some murals by me, as a kid. And that inspired them to start drawing and painting as well, and getting good at it. like that's also a kind of honor and good feeling.

I also like to make work, that could play/fit at a home-party or in a club, chill out on the visuals, like a video-game, with a little interaction, but not too much `work`. I started making interactive coded visuals in 1994. Just like the DJ that can scratch a record, I wanted to scratch with, and tune the visuals/animation. check some current visuals at: eloutdekok.com direct link: elout.home.xs4all.nl/eloutdekok/

One of these raw-sketches-animation I was working on, I dropped first on fxhash, but had no clue really, about the blockchain and how things worked, these days. lol

I always hated when people tell me what to do; as an Artist, you should behave and look in a certain way; like be another Joseph Beuys clone, you can't do this and that; stick with just 1 style, etc. well fuck that. I met one artist-composer, that had to 'behave' within the institute, trying to keep his teaching-job, influenced by all the 'rules', and he lost all that love for the art, to create;

that spontaneous magic thing that was his life and love, when he was young.

I still have to make a 'professional' looking artist website one day, lol. It's not really a job for me, it's like my life, love and freedom, and sometimes you don't have the extra time yet, for the paperwork. Also, people can mint my work still pretty cheap. I like the idea, people got it cheap, then later it blows up. Although, I'm pushing it; to be more 'professional' these days, and focus and think about, how it can get bigger and evolve.

6. What would you call your style?

Abstract digi-funk with some roots and drips, raw; sometimes you can make a blue-print and foundation; before filling it in with details.

I really love all colors; and that good ol' fine-tuning, that puts a kind of soul and spirit into it.

Exploring a new visual language, make up rules and control the chaos. For those abstract works; they look like just some 3D shapes. But I'm thinking and imagine like, mm. that one could be nice level-design for an abstract game, a magazine-cover, or an animated environment.

Dream away a bit, space out on the graphics. And I like to keep things open a bit, room to breathe, room for imagination. If you build a new building, you start with the foundation. Then, when the foundation is standing, do the filling in, fine-tuning and some sparkles on top. Often you already start with these sprinkles and fine-tuning way too early.

I like to do 'normal' drawings and paintings as well, using paint-brushes or like markers. I also make drawings of like faces-masks, sometimes when I draw one; it reminds me of a person, that I recently encountered. Often I draw in 1 take, no retouching, or pencil-sketch first. A bit like calligraphy, I guess.

7. Tell us more about your sketches and studies.

Well, I like to explore new techniques, like suddenly have this idea, hey if I do this or that? Some technical challenges, relearn and rewrite something from scratch again, learn and explore things again in a new way. Sometimes getting in a kind of zone, or trance while working on something. Then stepping back again.

Also, the mood and time is important, sometimes you need to recharge yourself, like a battery, just playing video-games, watching movies, reading books, no stress or pressure, time for 'no-life' & do things you love doing. After you ran a mental marathon, you have to relax and recover again.

Then sometimes I can get on a creation-spree again, hyper-focused, making a lot of new work. Finding new paths and roads, express yourself! I still use random a lot, trying to find new things, and interesting things that suddenly can happen. And sometimes add rules next, replacing the random.

8. Are there any works you are most proud off?

Sometimes, things come out, just good, in the first take. Like you make 10 things, then 1 or 2 really hits a vibe with me, and makes me kind of proud, wearing those rose-colored glasses of course, when you just released it. And that good feeling; creating a 'burner' (graffiti term for epic and good work) now and then, keeps me going.

9. What was your most technically challenging artwork so far?

Well around 1985-1986 I spend like 2 summer holidays, learning z80A machine-code, so I could make video-games, the proper way; understanding like the CPU, how it works under the hood. Getting things to work. It's basicly a light-switch; on or off. Then people combined like 2 light-switches. and it all went from there.

I made this game around a slot-machine back then; an 1-armed bandit; first I used the cpu-clock to get like random numbers. But if I kept the keys pressed, it would start to loop after a while. Then I got my first real coding challenge..

How do you write Random? I remember using the random generator of the computer next, to put a 'real' random number into the memory. I created works with custom random; if people moved the mouse, it would use the x and y coordinates of the mouse to influence the random numbers next, like human-based random.

10. What adds value to your art?

Time, and doing things in my own kinda style-way. A tree doesn't grow in a day, its roots can break rocks. I really do things, for the love of Art as well. I guess, take your time fine-tuning the work. Also, depending on the mood of the day, it can influence the work. Often with generative art, things can change into chaos, by just adjusting 1 or 2 numbers. Often the fine-tuning gives the work the vibe, spirit and soul.

About the Art-world, you got people selling the tickets, and some have to do the show. The kings of this world, they need those artist, magicians and wizards, to do that magic.I also enjoy art, music, food, culture. And if they don't open the door for you, or nothing is happening around you. Just say, fuck it. Do it yourself. Start your own gallery, or create a show with people and artist you like and love. Do a drive-by with a tank full of Art, shoot some paint bombs with colorful lasers, drips and fireworks attached. Saying: also have some fun and enjoy doing it.

The thing I just like; is to inspire other artist, and people.

I remember in the past; the early days, working/coding like 1 month on this project, sending it in for a festival, and hoping-dreaming for that plane-ticket etc. But then don't even getting a letter or e-mail with a 'Thank You'. A thing, that would be a nice and a human thing to do.

You work hard, and the result, dreams, and how they flow out, can turn in all directions, if it's out of your hands. and you gotta relax, let it go and flow on it's own.. continue, move next.

Don't get crushed by the world, the sharks and rats are also out there. Be nice, respectful and alert. Change the world and future yourself, the best you can, also if it's just a little step today, and enjoy it. Get inspired by other people, arts and culture.

The best shows I had, festivals, exhibitions gigs. Were mostly organized and curated by other artist, or super dedicated and enthusiast people, art-lovers and curators.

Try to find people that accept and respect you as you are, that give you a smile, hope and energy, and good vibes.

When making works, you sometimes could think; would I impress Picasso, Vincent, Jean-Michel or Leonardo with this? Give it your best shot, move forward and evolve.

The collectors also don't hate you, they just love something great and new; unique with a good vibe and-or concept. It's nice to do sketches and throw-ups, but also take some time, to do a full-color burner now and then.

Everyone got their own taste, in things, music, dance, sports, food and art gladly, and respect that. travelling, cultures and different places, like when going to england, I got to hit that road, in a different way as well, and surf between it all.

Make new friends with people, fellow artist, collectors and art-lovers around the world, that vibe with you. Inspire other people, and get inspired.

11. What do you have planned for the future?

Create as long as i can. Although i'm introvert; i still like social life and those things, enjoy the moment, focus on people that give you a good vibe and positive energy back, be the future.

Kick some Ass -______- trancend, evolve zen-like, like a butterfly transforming again, and again with a new set of wings to fly and explore, leaving that old skin and the scars behind.

Make peace and friends with yourself, and be easy on your friends.

12. Is there anyone you'd like to shoutout

To the dreamers, no-lifers, gamers, coders, art-lovers and collectors, artists, creators, music-lovers, people kicking it in their own unique way, the self-absorbed. Look at the sky, the stars and the roads you could travel, besides staring at your belly button. To all the people that give you some good energy back, giving you a good vibe. People with roots in history, knowledge, tribal and family wisdom and art.

Anything else?

Thanks for the interview!

Links / some oldskool sites:

elout.home.xs4all.nl

'the pixel-lab' at xs4all - had an 1993 account, then another around 1996 -

experiments / net and gen art till like 2010

pixel-lab.org

elout.home.xs4all.nl/pixellab_org/

Some experiments in vanilla js 2010-2015

eloutdekok.com

elout.home.xs4all.nl/eloutdekok/

some recent animations, sketches and drawings

www.fxhash.xyz/u/Elout%20de%20Kok

www.fxhash.xyz/u/JohnWowkavic

xxx amsterdam chill'n out 0__. ^^ -_________________-