The man who recreated the shadow play: Vincent Bal

Vincent Bal, who created a new shadow play by combining the shadows of everyday objects with simple drawings, is one of the most remarkable names of social media. Are you ready to step into the creative world of this Belgian artist?

Shadow play is one of the traditional visual arts in Turkey. We all know the characters Karagöz and Hacivat very well. This art is traditionally performed by cutting figures of humans and animals made of animal skins, in front of a light source, and then shading their shadows onto a white curtain. It is estimated that the origin of this art dates back to the 10th century, China and India. However, shadow play has also had its share of the changes experienced by every branch of visual art in time! Now there are names that perform this art by using shadows in many different ways. One of the most famous names is Vincent Bal. Bal, who is known as a shadow arts expert and who appeals to more than 500 thousand followers on Instagram. He is perhaps one of the most successful of “shadowologists”. 

Belgian Vincent Bal is actually an award-winning director. When you look at his IMDB page, you see that he has won many awards. Bal, who is currently teaching directing in Ghent, Belgium, described in his recent interview that he had found the term: shadowology: “I gave this scientific name to the drawings that I created with the shadow. In fact, it was a game for me or a kind of meditation. I play until I create something with the shadow of an object I've got. What I can do in front of me appears all of a sudden. It's actually like looking at clouds to make them look like something. When the shadow of the object in my hand creates an idea in my mind, I complete and photograph this with a few drawings”.

Nice things happen in an instant

According to Bal, nice things happen in an instant. His new career started with in instant. “I was working on a scenario, which has never been on white screen yet showed me another way. All of a sudden, I saw an elephant-shaped shadow on the scenario papers I was working on. I drew eyes to the shadow and took a photo of that. When I shared that on Instagram, I got many positive feedback. Hence, I decided to make new drawings every day and share them”.

“I went through all the drawers”

The biggest challenge faced by Vincent is that he has already used all the materials in his house: I have gone through all the drawers to find something new. Fortunately, my kids have a lot of toys. I use them. Sometimes I'm looking for something cheap and useful. But I put myself in a rule and I don't buy anything more expensive than 3 euro.

Break your mind free

So how do you think that Bal comes up with all these creative ideas? He explains it: “In fact, the answer to this question is very simple. Playing games is actually the process that brings out the most creative ideas. Your mind is free. Other than that, I find my best ideas while walking, half-sleepy, or taking a shower”.