ROB SHERIDAN ART IS RESISTANCE By Diovanny Garfias
«Surreal, that’s the only way to describe it. Like a young kid who’s just graduated from high school, the fact of being in front of my musical idol, for an interview of my job!, it was like my lovely little world was turned around completely. It changed my life.»
Translation: Raúl Arce
He is Rob Sheridan and his name began to gain notoriety in the NIN’s world when his fanpage Above The Trees was discovered by Trent Reznor. Just like that, the musician hired the junior designer to update the then new launched website of his band (nin.com). It was 1999, and from that point, Rob began to become a fundamental part of the creative DNA of Reznor, with each album and sound concept translated to the visual and real world through Rob’s creative brilliance, who, by then, was already the art director; album covers and booklets first, then tours, videos, box sets and ARG experiences as part of the promotion for Year Zero (2007).
«It was always an immensely complex experience. Trent is a person who focuses a lot on the details and me too, but the most important are the fans of NIN, who are really focused on them. Each project (album / tour) was a twoedged weapon: contrary to how many designs were worked, everything we did with NIN was carefully examined, so every idea or detail added, was noticed and appreciated. Clearly, that also implied that every mistake I made, every time I failed, every time my work didn’t meet the expectations was noticed. There was no opportunity to be lazy so, for me, as a designer, I had to be ready to deal with anything.» Today the artist is taking a break from employment that took him to travel the world, to experiment with his creative processes and even to be on stage as part of the collective How To Destroy Angels, alongside Atticus Ross, Mariqueen Maandig and Trent Reznor: «After