Wilm Thoben is a multimedia artist who works to bridge the intersection between art and technology. He unveils and works with the two worlds' aspects in a way generally hidden to engineers or artists. Wilm was born in Berlin but moved to Los Angeles, where he faced challenges adapting to LA. He talks of this as a clash of cultures. Wilm studied and taught mainly in Berlin (TU/UDK) and LA (UCLA). He works in the commercial space and in the arts, where he worked with numerous international artists. These range from music or dance to film and interactive arts.

Some of Wilm’s notable career achievements include Webby Award honoree in 2020 with the Redaction project. He also takes pride in the Fast Company Innovation By Design Award 2017. For Wilm, they were no small achievements. His accomplishments prove his significant contributions to the industry through creativity and innovation. They also show his commitment and efforts in perfecting what he does and his hard work.

Wilm talks of his significant challenges as an artist. One of them is to control himself by not focusing too much on the engineering and building part but on the project outcome. He explains that since his work is interdisciplinary, it is hard not to get lost in the medium. However, he notes this can be good depending on the type of work.

Working with others can sometimes be challenging. For Wilm, learning to find his space within a collaboration was challenging. He says that sometimes, you have to take a step back and listen, but at times, you have to take charge and develop your ideas. Another challenge came when he moved to LA and had to adjust to the culture. Wilm says this taught him a great lesson about allowing your personality to be reshaped and trusting yourself amid the culture clash.

Being an artist, you have to be open-minded and not a narcissist. Wilm's advice is that you should not overthink how you think people should think. Instead, thinking about how people experience the world and what you want them to discover would be best.

Responsible and sustainable technology is what Wilm wants to focus on. He wants to create an impression of how people perceive technology's use and its effect on the world. That includes its socio-economic effects, climate change, cryptocurrency, and NFTs. He notes that cloud computing alone accounts for 2.4% of the global total CO2 footprint. He wants to exploit the growth niche in arts and technology.

Wilm is a true definition of a clash of cultures as he pursues his life in art and technology. Despite his challenges, he always managed to pull through. He currently has a full slate of outstanding projects. To him, art and technology should not be two conflicting causes but rather work together to produce a strong impact. To learn more about his work, visit https://www.wilmthoben.com.