George Zhi Zao on Reza Hasni’s reinterpretation of popular culture through sacred geometry, religion and pop art

Reza Hasni is an illustrator and motion graphics artist from Singapore who creates colorful psychedelic pop art. Bringing together influences ranging from religion and sacred geometry to pop art and emojis, Hasni’s work introduces mystical ideas in a playful, modern-day manner. In true pop art form, the artist shared with us his thoughts on various topics through a curated collection of quotes from TV shows and celebrities.

On Artistry
“I never cared so much about making perfect sense. I wanted to make perfect nonsense. I wanted to tell jokes, but I didn’t give a fuck about the punchline.”
– Harmony Korine

“Real artists have day jobs.” – Sara Benincasa

“You have to think anyway, so why not think big?” – Donald J. Trump

voyage

On Inspiration

“Some people choose to see the ugliness in this world, the disarray. I choose to see the beauty. To believe there is an order to our days. A purpose.” – Dolores Abernathy from Westworld

Channeling

On Culture

“I refuse to accept other people’s ideas of happiness for me. As if there’s a ‘one size fits all’ standard for happiness.” – Kanye West

Egg of Life

On Religion

“Is that what God does? He helps? Tell me, why didn’t God help my innocent friend who died for no reason while the guilty ran free? Okay. Fine. Forget the one offs. How about the countless wars declared in his name? Okay. Fine. Let’s skip the random, meaningless murder for a second, shall we? How about the racist, sexist, phobia soup we’ve all been drowning in because of him? And I’m not just talking about Jesus. I’m talking about all organized religion. Exclusive groups created to manage control. A dealer getting people hooked on the drug of hope. His followers, nothing but addicts who want their hit of bullshit to keep their dopamine of ignorance. Addicts. Afraid to believe the truth. That there’s no order. There’s no power. That all religions are just metastasizing mind worms, meant to divide us so it’s easier to rule us by the charlatans that wanna run us. All we are to them are paying fanboys of their poorly-written sci-fi franchise. If I don’t listen to my imaginary friend, why the fuck should I listen to yours? People think their worship’s some key to happiness. That’s just how he owns you. Even I’m not crazy enough to believe that distortion of reality. So fuck God. He’s not a good enough scapegoat for me.” – Elliot Alderson from Mr. Robot

Guardian Illusions

On the Future

“Who knows? It’s like asking where’s Waldo.” – Jerry Seinfeld

“The Force will be with you. Always.” – Obi Wan Kenobi

This was first published on Neocha.com