This Canadian is behind some of the paintings projected during Taylor Swift's massive Eras Tour
CBC
If you had told Canadian artist John Smith six weeks ago that he'd be looking for Taylor Swift livestreams on TikTok, he would have been "very confused."
The Hamilton resident was scrolling through social media posts over the weekend related to the singer's Eras Tour, trying to spot the digital paintings he made for part of Swift's show.
"Now I'm very much enthralled in this world," said Smith.
Smith did the digital art and animations that are projected during two back-to-back songs, August and Illicit Affairs.
The Blank Space singer kicked off her 52-date United States tour in Glendale, Ariz. — renamed Swift City for the occasion — on March 17.
In Swift's 44-song setlist, fans will be able to see the Hamiltonian's artwork towards the middle of the concert, on songs 27 and 28.
Smith worked with Los Angeles-based creative studio Human Person to bring his art to the stage.
He told CBC Hamilton his involvement with the concert started with making the "right connections at the right time" in the Hamilton art scene.
He said while working with fellow local artist Kyle Stewart at the Hamilton Art Gallery, he was introduced to Matt Cummer, the former Hamiltonian who is now the media director at Human Person. Cummer has done visual editing for performances by artists such as The Weeknd, Megan Thee Stallion, Janet Jackson and Diplo.
"It is a very Hamilton-based thing," said Smith.
Smith's involvement in the project started only a month ago, and after much stress and countless hours of work, his work was showcased at the State Farm Stadium Friday and Saturday, in front of around 70,000 people each night.
The tour continues later this week, with dozens of shows across the U.S. slated until August.
"It definitely was stressful at times, but like an exciting kind of stressful when you're working on something passionately," he said.
Smith said he listened to August and Illicit Affairs "constantly" while working on the digital art for them, but he also listened to Switft's track Betty a lot, which he was originally supposed to make the artwork for.
