Living Medium

FOR JONATHAN CASTRO, DESIGN IS NOT JUST AN EXPLORATION OF HIS COLOURFUL HERITAGE. THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE VIEWED AS A TRANSFORMATIVE ACT IN ITSELF

- Lisa Hassell

When we met Jonathan Castro at this year’s Us By Night design festival, the creative was taking a residency at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, The Netherlands. He’s also been researching ancient cultures and shamanism in the digital age, proposing the idea of visual and sound experiences as cosmic rituals. Here, he speaks about his fascination with ancient knowledge and Peruvian traditions, his passion for underground music, and how this, along with his own heritage, crystallizes his unique graphic design language, and how the process of development should be viewed as a transformative act.

Can you tell us about growing up in Peru, your early childhood and your surroundings? What was your upbringing like?

My childhood was very humble, far removed from technology, apps or video games. We spent more time on the streets, inventing games with the stuff we had around us, running and playing around the city. We were fearless and curious kids living life in the moment. I loved it.

As a teenager, I was more introspective, but music helped me to get through that period. I studied at a Catholic school where everything was prohibited. It was oppressive: you couldn’t fail, otherwise, they sent you home. We lived with this extreme pressure every day to satisfy our teachers, the institution and religion, which could have completely messed up me emotionally. Music made me realize there was more – it saved my life. I don’t blame my parents. They were young and wanted the best for me. It was a completely different time back then.

We read that you were part of this underground scene in Lima when you were younger, running a graphic design collective and making your own music. Can you share what it was like at the time?