Absurd Interview (August 2019)
INTERVIEW THREE: Nick Hunt, owner and creator of Absurd.
(August 14th, 2019)
Originally, in 2017, Nick and I had done an interview for my freshman year English career project. For extra credit, the objective was to speak to somebody from your profession about what they do, the strengths and weaknesses of the job, and any additional questions. My profession I had chosen was fashion designer/graphic designer. The following three images are slides from that project.
What is absurd and what inspired the idea of creating the name and brand? Absurd for right now is my personal idea of what I think cool clothes are. Everything I make is what I want to personally wear. The name came from when I started doing art and graffiti, and I chose a word from the type of style I was doing. It was weird, so the name was fitting, plus the name is super simple and short. Just absurd.
Are there any graffiti artists or artists in general that draw your attention? Any personal favorites? Mostly just [Jean-Michel] Basquiat. I loved his work in middle and high school. I wish I had my old stuff. I'd throw out all my notebooks and papers out once summer hit.
Is there any specific Basquiat piece that you love? There's this white hardcover with all of his pieces/notebook drawings that are amazing. Mans died too young. Don't do heroin.
For me, I first discovered your brand through your appreciation towards video games such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Halo 3. What impact have video games had for you in the past and present? What game have you been playing recently? What game are you looking forward to in the future? Video games are my first love. I've been playing video games since I was a young kid. I used to play Twisted Metal early on. My parents didn't mind me playing rated M games, so I was able to play the first Halo when it came out. I think video games are just a perfect stress free outlet no matter what. I'm loving everything I'm seeing in the future. The new Halo: Infinite looks promising (hopefully,) and so does the new Call of Duty. The new Cyberpunk too, wow. Just video games in general. Overall graphics will be fucking insane 10 years down the road, also virtual reality. Wow. Who knows when that'll be the thing everyone's going to be using casually. I've only tried it once for like five minutes. Super realistic it's scary. Right now I mostly just play Minecraft. That's probably the best game of all time (besides Halo 3).
Not too long ago, you were featured on Issue One of the Casual Fridays magazine. What did that mean to you to be apart of the cover as well as share your story with many other designers? My head tattoo was the cover for the first ever issue of the CF magazine. I was honestly surprised because at first, I was going to be the back cover of the magazine, since it's the back of my head. Ricky later hit me up and said he's putting me on the cover and I was shocked. I got so much love for [Casual Fridays.] They covered me making my own video game, which still surprises me that I was able to achieve that. I'm very thankful for them.
What are some brands that have caught your attention or that you've gained interest in lately? I think I enjoy the people who run brands personally, but I enjoy brands that have their own aesthetic, as well. Brands like felt (For Every Living Thing), H33M, FTP, Half Evil's $3 shirts are cool, and I like how Holiday only releases on holidays. That shit's tight. But I also love brands that do it themselves like Vienna.
Continuing forward, what would you like to change or improve upon with your brand? I would like to get more involved in gaming. I also want to do more cut-and-sew stuff/allover prints. Maybe some collabs.
What do you have in store for your next release, and what does the future look like for absurd? I plan on coming out with a new collection called, "Absurd Positivity," which is all about self love, self care, etc. and should be really fun. Really looking forward to 2020.
You can keep up with absurd's next adventure on their social media and website below.