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The Interview with Daniel Dociu-Poster Artist of SOP Competition
2011-05-04

 Daniel Dociu, a famous artist in CG industry, pays great attention and support to Share One Planet competition. Invited by the Organizing Committee, he painted the poster artwork of Portrait Category for SOP.



A crumbling discarded building, a chimney emitting smoke and dust, the haze of the sky, some birds circling in the smoke and dust, an elephant walking away back to us lonesomely. It could have been a happy land for the herd of elephants. But now it is deserted. Numerous plants and buildings take over those tropical rain forests and grassland. Therefore, the lonely elephants are forced to move to other places. Perhaps the only elephant falling behind insists on looking for its home in the past.
Daniel Dociu has shaped a sorrowful scene like the end of the world. Successfully building the atmosphere in his expertise, he puts the main character of the Asian elephant in a corner of the picture, making the burly body seem tiny and weak in the ruins.
The lost elephant is just the portraiture of human beings facing their own badly-destroyed earth and natural environment. With a huge body but tame temper, the elephant keep close relationship with human for a long time. In history, Asian elephants extensively distributed in the area of Yunnan Province in our country, East Asia and Southeast Asia. But because of the reckless hunt and kill and the destruction of the living environment, there are few wild Asian elephants at present. Only by protecting them and the earth we live on, can the human beings keep from getting lost while developing. 

 
Poster artwork of  Portrait Category of Share One Planet competition, by Daniel Dociu

Next is the interview with Daniel Dociu, from SOP Organizing Committee:

1. Why you chose to draw Asian Elephant among the 100 focused species?
Elephants are creatures we associate with strength and resilience. Yet even the largest, physically most powerful animals are equally vulnerable when subjected to hostile changes in their habitat.
 
2. Why you in your composition the elephant locates at the corner and the centre area is left vacant?
The compositional placement of the elephant in the corner of the piece facing outwards is deliberate. It is intended to induce an uneasy feeling of emptiness and alienation,  powerful enough to become the protagonist of the piece. The hostile environment is the active agent, forcing the elephant to accept a subordinated, reactive role. The desolate landscape as a driving force is pushing life out.
 
3. The title "Lost" may make audience think the elephant lost its way, or human lost in their greedy mind. So what's the message you are trying to convey?
The title "Lost" refers to a range of feelings. The animal seems lost in a very literal, physical way. But just as lost is our connection to nature and the planet itself. Lost is how we feel in our lack of direction facing the future or in our ability to reverse the damage we've done.
 
4. What would you say about the difference between creating art for fantasy theme and realistic theme?
Fantasy allows for generous creative freedom. It tends to be marginalized because it is often perceived as a vehicle used to cowardly escape reality, when in fact it presents  endless opportunities for meaningful comments on it.
 
5. Do you like animals? What's your insight of wildlife and environmental protection?
I do like animals, to the point that I'm opposed to pet ownership. I don't believe we urban dwellers are good enough to make the life of animals better than it would have been in their natural habitat. It's the habitat we need to improve rather than extracting animals out of it in an attempt to give them a better home. I believe strongly that China is at the very top of the list of the countries whose actions can shape the future environmentally, for better or for worse.

About Daniel Dociu

   

Daniel Dociu
Daniel Dociu was born and raised in Cluj, the capital of Transylvania (Romania). He studied art and architecture from a young age and got his Masters Degree in industrial design from the Academy of Fine Arts in that city. He worked as a product designer for several years, then went into teaching for the same school. Dociu moved to the US in 1990 after having spent two years in Athens, Greece. Since 1991 he lives in the Seattle, WA. After two years as a toy designer he got introduced to the interactive entertainment industry. His seventeen years of experience as an Art Director in the games encompass staff positions for companies like Squaresoft and Electronic Arts as well as a consulting contracts for Microsoft and numerous other developers and publishers. For the past seven years he has been with Arenanet, a fully owned subsidiary of NCSoft, as the Studio Art Director and Project Art Director for Guild Wars/ Guild Wars 2. Dociu also functions in a Chief Art Director capacity for NCsoft West.