Tech magician Tom London talks about wanting to be an inventer and connecting with people through his art
Tom London is a tech magician who has performed in front of the president(s) of the United States and numerous celebrities on television in front of millions of people. He is one of the youngest magicians to be inducted into the magic circle. Tom London leaves his audience excited and awe-inspired every single time.
Tom gets his inspiration from 'Dexter' from Dexter's lab. "On the outside, you saw this quiet, shy kid but on the inside, he's a mad genius who just wants to build cool stuff. I was always like that as a kid, I wanted to be an inventer. Then I watched 'Back to the Future' and fell in love with the idea of Doc Brown, he had no clue what he was doing he just kept building things that made no money for the love of it," he shared.
"Any great artist must acknowledge that their art is subjective to modern culture, a culture that is usually defined by the artists that preceded us. To create art that people will understand, that they can comprehend you must create a narrative which builds them into your world, allowing you to connect with them through your art," he continued.
Tom went on to share that it is important to see how people perceive art. "Thus, use other artists to inspire the delivery of your art. Mathematicians inspire me, scientists, programmers, and I see the art behind logic and reasoning, while finite and quantifiable, infinitely varied."
As an artist, Tom explained that there are random bursts and moments when you are at your creative best. He shared that he cannot just force his creativity but "they are sparked from a random, undefined place of thought. I write all my ideas into a program that tracks and manages them so that I can tackle them at a later date. When you have hundreds of them, it's important to prioritize and plan so that they can all be tested or realized."
The one thing that Tom said that he holds above everything else is "vision".
When asked what it was like to be a celebrity and what he discovered about himself, he had an interesting outlook on the subject. "That not being a celebrity is powerful stuff. The blue ticks are the hardest to deal with, if like me, you want to be viewed like a blank canvas in which you paint through conversation with your acquaintances. It's tough when people can look you up online and build their pre-conceived archetype based on the digital expression of yourself. BUT.
It's a lot easier to befriend other notable creatives, there's this weird, unspoken club of 'we're all doing s**t that we love' and everyone's always game to collaborate, everyone is just cool with each other. Being somewhat known opens so many doors, you can get the meeting you want and let your work speak for itself. I don't want to be judged by views, or likes, but instead by how abstract my concepts are and their ability to connect with people on a deep, personal level where they lose the desire to like or tweet about it. Taking the perfect picture ruins the perfect moment after all."
He also spoke about how there are many artists who are all about the money and fame instead of the creativity and art. "Just because lots of artists are filthy rich does not mean they're expressing their true self, a lot of people sell out, they create for the money or the fame. Don't get me wrong; if my art sold for £100,000s I would be ecstatic; I could use that money to make even more insane ideas come to life," he shared.
When it comes to making friends and meeting new people, Tom said that he likes to give everybody a chance and that he has spent many years of his life studying people so he would know if they were befriending him for their own purposes. "Personally, I like my friendships to be entirely friendly and usually of creative nature," he added.
Tom London has come a long way and shared how ten years ago he was working at a Starbucks, four years ago he was making video games and then two years ago he seemed to have completely changed track and had the opportunity to perform for the royal family with card tricks.
He spoke about one piece of advice from his dad which deeply impacted him and started to change his perception of himself. "It wasn't even advice, just a lesson. You're a f***ing d**k sometimes Tom. Haha... you really have to look in the mirror when your father tells you that. Depression, anxiety all of that shit, that's a tough pill to swallow. But it made me realize something. What lengths would I go to, to express myself?
"If you can say things that will provoke the one you love because that's the truest form of your expression or mission, then you're the fearless warrior ready for any battle. I love my father for that, he knew it would destroy me, but he also knew only a warrior would get back up.
"So he said this. You went in, you had a battle and you it was hard, you got beaten up a bit. There are holes in your shield, and your sword is bent. You're almost there, but you're not there yet, it's time to straighten that sword, pick up your shield and charge back into battle."
As an artist, Tom London has faced both positive and negative comments about his work and has figured out a way to filter each. "There are two types of negative comments. Subjective opinion and trolling. I keep the 'negative' comments that offer an opinion, of course, my work is there to be critiqued. However, if the comments are merely malicious or personally targeted at me as a person and not my work, I tend to delete them," he shared.
"I want people to find their meaning in my work and not to be forced into a corner about what it does or doesn't mean, based on what people do or don't think about me," he continued.