Timo's a 24-year old art student who decided to turn his body into a work of art. He spent five months training in his workshop and in the end he flunked out. But nobody's gonna take his muscles away from him. I'd like to see them try though.VICE: So tell me about your graduation project.
Timo: I didn't know what I wanted to do with the remaining part of art school, I was completely jammed up. Someone told me that I should do something with body-building, because that's something that I like to do back home. So I decided to turn my body into an art project. I bought a fitness machine and got to work.How did you go to work? Did you have a plan?
I just tried to work as smart and as hard as I could, and I ate everything I could get my hands on. Well, everything except sugar and alcohol that is. I kept track of all my progress and I used to hang pictures of myself on the wall so that my classmates could see I was hard at work. Luckily, they've always had my back, which was pretty motivating for me. But it seemed that a lot of people were talking about my project, it certainly got their attention.Those classmates, are they good people?
They're all really fun. We've got a lot of very different personality's at our school, but they've all got in common that they're weird, white and they were bullied when they were young. Thankfully they're always trying to compensate by throwing the best parties.What did the people around you think of your project?
The teachers liked the idea, but they weren't completely sold. But I did notice that people started to react to me in a different way. Men started to listen to me better, as I got bigger. Women did look at me in a different way, but I think they don't care that much about muscles. My girlfriend thought I was more attractive when I weighed forty pounds less. But she's into guys with more feminine looks.So how did your project go?
All right. When I started, I weighed about 150 pounds, after five months it was 180 pounds. That's a pretty big difference for someone who's just under six feet. I drank a gallon of milk a day and I was eating all the time. I could keep up with the workout but I did want a drink after a while. I'm known as a healthy person, but I also love party's alcohol and drugs. So when the project was over, I spend two months boozing, partying and doing drugs.But you failed the class in the end, right?
Yes, unfortunately. I just did something that I liked, and I expected it to get some meaning along the way. That didn't happen. My original idea was to make a project about physical culture, masculinity and male identity but in the end I ran out of time without knowing what I wanted to say with my project. But I think it's fair that I failed, what I was doing was just a sports project and not art.Well, it kind of isn't. But hey, at least you're ripped now.TIM SPRENGERS
Timo: I didn't know what I wanted to do with the remaining part of art school, I was completely jammed up. Someone told me that I should do something with body-building, because that's something that I like to do back home. So I decided to turn my body into an art project. I bought a fitness machine and got to work.
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I just tried to work as smart and as hard as I could, and I ate everything I could get my hands on. Well, everything except sugar and alcohol that is. I kept track of all my progress and I used to hang pictures of myself on the wall so that my classmates could see I was hard at work. Luckily, they've always had my back, which was pretty motivating for me. But it seemed that a lot of people were talking about my project, it certainly got their attention.Those classmates, are they good people?
They're all really fun. We've got a lot of very different personality's at our school, but they've all got in common that they're weird, white and they were bullied when they were young. Thankfully they're always trying to compensate by throwing the best parties.What did the people around you think of your project?
The teachers liked the idea, but they weren't completely sold. But I did notice that people started to react to me in a different way. Men started to listen to me better, as I got bigger. Women did look at me in a different way, but I think they don't care that much about muscles. My girlfriend thought I was more attractive when I weighed forty pounds less. But she's into guys with more feminine looks.So how did your project go?
All right. When I started, I weighed about 150 pounds, after five months it was 180 pounds. That's a pretty big difference for someone who's just under six feet. I drank a gallon of milk a day and I was eating all the time. I could keep up with the workout but I did want a drink after a while. I'm known as a healthy person, but I also love party's alcohol and drugs. So when the project was over, I spend two months boozing, partying and doing drugs.But you failed the class in the end, right?
Yes, unfortunately. I just did something that I liked, and I expected it to get some meaning along the way. That didn't happen. My original idea was to make a project about physical culture, masculinity and male identity but in the end I ran out of time without knowing what I wanted to say with my project. But I think it's fair that I failed, what I was doing was just a sports project and not art.Well, it kind of isn't. But hey, at least you're ripped now.TIM SPRENGERS