Meet Ruben Karapetyan / #TAG : Creator / Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with #TAG /  Ruben Karapetyan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ruben, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
I think that at the basis of success in my case is the joy of life, the daily enjoyment of the creative process, and the process of development that I went through and continue to go through. If we invest our energies in what we love despite the complexities along the way, we are probably doing the right thing. The second thing is discipline. Creating a daily routine is an integral part of where I am today. Working against times, facing goals, daily self-work, and working on a mindset like meditation, exercise, podcasts, and books are an integral part of a process that helped me be where I am today. Ego Our ego can stop our progress towards the goal if we decline to accept criticism from the environment. Along the way, I remain open to new ideas, if need not be ashamed to ask for advice, and most importantly, stay humble and keep moving towards the goal and work hard. And of course, one last thing and above all, remembering and taking everything on limited warranty and realizing that what failed today can succeed tomorrow and in a BIG TIME. I LOVE THIS GAME

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
If I had to define what is special about my artworks, then I would say that I think I manage to combine areas that on paper do not seem logical to combine, such as classical art, social media, characters from movies and cartoons, and politics when I usually focus on the politic situation in Israel. I would call it maybe an upgraded, cleaner pop art with sharp and clear messages when the user experience has a big part in the whole process of creating my artworks. Pop art, which makes the viewer think, art that makes people think because that’s what I try to create in each of my works. If you get to know me deeply, the combinations suddenly become more logical. I came from mix family of Armenian Christianity mother and a Jewish father when transitions between countries, mixing religions, cultures, and languages ​​forced me to see the world as a model of a new world in which I take from all the experiences I had from different cultures and create a new reality. To the place I belong to today, I came through a lot of hard work, a belief in my vision, and a lot of passion and curiosity that I bring with me. When I feel too good for myself, when the comfort zone takes over me, it’s time for me to get out of it and seek and recreate myself. I think a creator should be a holistic figure, one who sees between two and three dimensions and can come to express himself in any of the above areas. I think difficulties are an integral part of our lives, and in creation, in particular, it is impossible without them; they make us stronger, smarter and help us develop as a personality. I think I have developed and continue to develop myself while learning from the difficulties because I learn to accept them and not fight them, trying to see every difficulty as a challenge that teaches the way forward; this is the best advice I can give to anyone who has difficulties, what is difficult for us today will be just a page in our history book. . As I mentioned earlier, I have moved between countries and absorbed different cultures. Along the way, I would always hear that it is impossible because we do not have the necessary resources to be successful. I saw it as a challenge to use the whole environment on paper that was supposed to stop me as a boost in order to move forward. I realized that there is no such thing as a perfect work environment as there is no perfect product, the process by which I start the wheels is what drives me to keep going. I want to show and let all who have a dream that a perfect moment in life will not come; we are responsible for our future; all it takes is a strong belief in perseverance and enjoyment of the whole process. Thought creates reality.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Israel is so rich in history and different cultures within one small country that I am not sure if a week is enough to see all the beauty that we have here. What is special is that on the one hand, the country represents ancient historical places like Jerusalem, Acre, Jaffa, and more when in each of the places there is a wealth of cultures, religions, and places preserved to this day. Experience and inspiration for a whole life. On the other hand, there is an amazing urban scene, mostly in the center but not only that includes art, music and of course amazing beaches which spread all over the country. As for places, in terms of food, Israel also has a very wide range of foods from dough to meat, depending on what my friend likes. Until now, every friend who came to visit me I tried to stay with as much experience as possible from the visit, but most importantly, satiated 🙂

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This year I have celebrated five years since I started creating on the streets; from there, I flowed over time to galleries and kept developing myself. First of all, I will mention my family and close friends who do not doubt what I am doing and always push me to keep going towards the dream. As I develop myself, I meet new people who love what I am doing, my art speaks to them, and with them, it brings up a smile on their faces, creates interaction, and all this great vibe comes back to me as boomerang as a huge boost to keep creating. The list of people who give me love is big and keeps growing as I develop myself more; I can say that I was blessed with a warm, loving, and pushing environment. If I had mentioned key points in my development, I would have mentioned three characters and one small gallery. The first one is Tal Florentin, with whom I studied user experience, a field on which I rely a lot to interact with people on the streets with my artworks, Michal Schreiber, my former boss who became a close friend and from the first moment believed and continues to believe and push me And Hanita Elitzur, a curator who invited me to be part of her group exhibitions and made the switch in my head that my art can also be part of galleries also. The last one is the Michaelson gallery where I did my first solo exhibition and my first exhibition ever, which first got me from the streets to the gallery. As an organization, I can mention the School of Design Faculty of Kibbutzim College of Education. I studied there about 8 years ago, and I learned a lot, and this year, I returned as a lecturer to that place. Books and movies have been a part of my life since I can remember myself when one of my favorite categories is autobiography and biography. It is very fascinating to see people or organizations from different periods deal with complex situations and how they solve them or to see how some people or organizations are set up in different fields based on a strong belief in the vision. History often reproduces itself, and from these cases that I watch and read about, one can learn a lot and project on our lives.

Website: https://tagstreetart.com/

Instagram: tagstreetart

Facebook: TAGurbanart

Image Credits
Mark Zuckerberg, modern knight – Photo by Eli Yurkovsky Me giving an interview – Photo by Yakov Roshba YOU’RE JUST A DOUBLE TAP – Photo by Hadar Cohen