Vasilis van Gemert

This is Vasilis. He makes websites. And sometimes he makes physical things. And a while ago he wrote some code that turned his server into a publishing machine: every day it publishes ten unique books, with random colours and all kinds of random shapes. For this he needs nothing, just the money to pay for his hosting bills. For the other things he makes he needs his head and his hands. And to a lesser degree his eyes. He makes podcasts as well. He definitely needs his ears to listen to his guests, but weirdly enough he doesn’t really need them to do the audio postproduction.

Vasilis’ ears

Vasilis doesn’t really use his ears to create. His creations usually don’t use sound. Except for his podcast. But postproduction is almost automated, and he prefers to read the transcript. He likes to listen to music when he’s doing stuff though.

Vasilis’ extension

Without a computer Vasilis would be a different person. Well. Maybe not a different person per se, but definitely a different maker. This computer is what he makes his things with, and what he makes most of his things for. He uses it to create his websites, of course. He uses it for making books, for creating models for 3d printers and lasercutters, and even for sketching ideas for furniture.

Vasilis’ eyes

Vasilis likes his eyes. But to be honest, he doesn’t use them as much for making as you might think. A lot of the visual stuff he creates is generated by code.

Vasilis’ feet

Vasilis does not need feet. Creating websites can be done without walking. He is happy he has them though.

Vasilis’ hand

Vasilis needs his hands. He uses them to type code, to write, to draw, to create pictures. Everything he does, he does with his hands. In the future he might control his tools with his voice. It’s not something he looks forward to.

Vasilis’ head

Vasilis needs his head. He needs to think. Not everything he does can be done automatically yet.

Vasilis’ place

When Vasilis needs to really get into a flow, he works from his hammock. And when he wants to relax he lays in his hammock as well. Or in his beanbag. Or his sofa. Or his lamzac.

Vasilis’ reason

Vasilis likes the web because of one of its core principles: the idea that the things on the web should work for everyone. Not just for rich people. Not just for young people. And certainly not only for tech savvy people. It’s less straight forward than desinging for people like yourself. Vasilis created this Atlas project, which consists of a website and a book. For the book he had to print braille strips with URLs on them. Without them the book would be completely useless for blind people. The website on the other hand can be consumed in many different ways. It can be looked at on all sorts of devices, and if you don’t want to, or can’t look, you can use a screen reader to listen to it. That’s why Vasilis likes creating things for the web.

Vasilis’ tools

Vasilis doesn’t need many tools. He needs his computer, which is more an extension of his hands than a tool. And he needs his audio recorder for his podcasts. And he probably doesn’t need his phone, yet he does use it quite often. For the physical stuff he creates the toolchain is rather large. He uses all kinds of wood working tools, laser cutters, 3d printers, laser printers, anything he needs to get his idea working, really.