Robert Beatty on retro Photoshop, creative friction and designing album covers that feel almost primeval

Robert Beatty, the designer behind Tame Impala's 'Currents' and Oneohtrix Point Never's 'R Plus Seven', discusses his career in an interview with It's Nice That. Beatty, also a video collagist, zine-maker, and noise-rocker, prefers archaic versions of Photoshop and analogue technology to invite creative friction. His newest projects include meditative music videos for Boards Of Canada. He emphasizes the importance of patience in digesting art, criticizes the disposability of modern technology, and describes his approach as making work that functions on an 'almost primeval level'. Beatty recreates a still from Georges Schwizgebel's 1982 animation for the 'R Plus Seven' cover, highlighting differences in how sampling is perceived in visual culture versus music. He also discusses his background in circuit-bending and his preference for scavenged or secondhand tools over new technology.