Merijn Hos Is A Pretty Sturdy Guy

INTERVIEW BY JAN VAN TIENEN

Vice: What did you draw as a little Dutch boy? A bunch of bongs and doobies?

Merijn Hos:

Lots of boats, actually. I wanted to be a captain, but then I went to art school.

Do you regret it?

A little bit. I might still do that, though. Sail around and stuff.

You’ve said that your work is about society, escapism, organized confusion, friendship, and loyalty. What’s that mean?

Look at the Special Olympics drawing. The idea for that came to me one night when I was watching the opening ceremony of the games and thought, “What a load of self-important bullshit.”

It’s about time the Special Olympics got called out on their weak shit.

And I’m a pretty sturdy guy, you know what I mean? So I wondered what it would be like if I walked in there with my big body. And my friends would cheer for me, but then they would cheer for nothing.

Wow, man. Tell me about this other drawing, is it a bicycle-vase-balloon-machine that spreads love?

Sort of. It’s called

Join the Bandwagon

. It’s a bandwagon. The cones catch sound waves and those waves cause the balloons and plants to grow. And good music puts the machine into motion. It’s a hippie bandwagon.

Are you shy?

Not really, but I live in Utrecht instead of Amsterdam because I have ADHD and am very easily distracted. I’m also not a fantasy freak, by the way. I hate movies like

Lord of the Rings

. I also don’t use drugs. Well, an occasional joint or something.

Sometimes droplets come from the bottoms of the little creatures you draw. What are those droplets and why do they come from there?

Those are small leafs, not droplets. It’s one of the recurring objects in my work.

I thought they were bleeding out of their asses.

No… They’re leafs.