K-TOTEM designed by WeirdThingsInKortrijk and Mich Van Belle
The Instagram phenomenon WeirdThingsInKortrijk and illustrator Mich Van Belle not only wrapped up the K-TOTEM, but also created an entire story on it titled “Mr. Thick Neck?”
This unique approach deserves an explanation from Jasper Laureyssens, the mastermind behind WeirdThingsInKortrijk.
Hi Jasper, can you tell us a little more about this interesting design?
This design absolutely had to contain two components, which were, on the one hand, to highlight the absurdities of my Instagram page WeirdThingsInKortrijk and, on the other hand, to highlight the style of artist Mich van Belle.
The final work became a short story.
This story outlines the kidnapping of “Mister Thick Nekke,” a fictional character referring to the nickname of the Kortrijkzanen.
Throughout the panels, it is the superhero 'WTIK-man' who sets out to find 'Mister Thick Nekke' and his evil kidnapper. During the search, the superhero encounters numerous absurdities, which can also be seen on my Instagram page. In the end, the superhero succeeds in his mission and also stumbles upon the kidnapper, who turns out to be Boris. The infamous tarantula, who attempted an escape from Heule in 2024.
Where do you draw inspiration from in your designs?
I get a lot of inspiration from everyday life and sometimes too often look for humor in it. I therefore find it important that my elaborated ideas contain some form of humor. This can be subtle, but it can also be finger-licking thick. The word 'joke-urge' is always lurking in my mind.
In addition, I find it important not to lose the child in me, this by letting my imagination run wild. Further knitting on ideas and thoughts can be enormously fascinating and especially if they are feasible to put into practice. I am also a big fan of surrealism. Floating between reality and playing with it appeals to me enormously. Not surprisingly, I can greatly appreciate René Magritte, Max Ernst or Salvador Dali.
Finally, I strongly believe in collaboration. By collaborating with other artists, creators, and so on, you can exchange knowledge and ideas into something even stronger.
What are some trends in the broad creative world that inspire you?
The evolution and possibilities of AI fascinate me immensely.I find the idea of “the robots are taking over everything” absurd and silly. I rather see it as a resource, which can support your creative ideas and make them more efficient. I make use of it myself.
For example, I wrote about seven stories about famous places in Kortrijk. These were part of the Wonder festival 2024. I threw these texts into an AI program, which turned it into a full-fledged podcast. Meanwhile, three stories can now be listened to on Spotify, under the name “The Alternative History, Kortrijk.
What visual artists or overall creatives do you look up to?
Karen François, Ward Rombaut, Café Gainsbar, Achter De Schermen, Verbeke Foundation, Ben Sledsens, Kristof Santy, Charles Degeyter, Tom De Geeter, Viktor Leestmans, Martijn Defauw, Anthony Vincent, Average Rob, Xander De Rycke, Andries Beckers...
What do you think is the most beautiful spot in Kortrijk?
At home in my couch is among my top 33 anyway. Within that top also belong De Dingen, Verlaagde Leieboorde (during springtime if possible), Boekhuis Theoria, Budascoop, the top of St. Maarten's Church and the Lourdes cave.
Where do you see WeirdThingsInKortrijk within here and five years?
When I started the page I pretty soon had the idea of publishing a book. This is and still remains an ultimate goal, but from experience I have found that this is not easy and that mainly because of economic reasons with publishers, among others. So this idea is in the fridge for a while, but may soon thaw again in the microwave.
Furthermore, I hope to focus on collaborations between artists, creators, schools, etc. from the region or beyond. With the goal of giving these people a platform to show their work to a wider audience. Through the K-totem and “Walk of Wonder” during the 2024 Wonder festival, this has worked out quite well. Humor and the everyday are also keywords for these collaborations.
The concept of my walk still has a lot of potential and I believe it can catch on in other cities as well.
I am also toying with the idea of organizing small-scale events. Events that bring local people together, make them laugh and enjoy themselves.
Having ideas is one thing, implementing them is something else. It takes a lot of time. I hope that in the future I will have the time, space and resources to work things out.
On the other hand, in the more distant future, I see myself moving abroad to open a B&B with my wife.
