a sitdown with Saddo and Aitch: about life and death and 30 skulls

i first met Raul (Saddo) and Heliana (Aitch) when they were crispy fresh in Bucharest.  they didnt know many people, and not a lot of people knew ab them.  they were two of 20 artists we have picked to feature in one of 20 films for burn, and we quickly connected.

their works are an intriguing bacchanalia of masterfully drawn characters, sceneries and objects, with a fearless use of color and surfaces, and they had that certain inner drive to them, so we went straight on to work together on, first, Nightshift (blog & film), and then a follow-up, SleepWalk (blog & film), among a variety of commissions and collabs for projects i handle.

fast-forward today, and they are no longer new-comers:   they managed to firmly establish themselves as some of Romania’s lowbrow art scene finest, learned the tricks of social media storytelling to connect far and wide, left their artistic mark in Germany and Israel, had their works displayed all over the globe in galleries, mags and zines, and together with Kitra, Noper and Sinboy opened their own space to create and run shows:  Vatra Collective.

and things are getting bigger:  Cranium, their new exhibit, brings together 30 (you read it right, thirty) artists to explore things… life and death.

the opening is today, and we rushed to both ask them some questions – and urge you to go and see the show.

AK:  30 artists in one show… wow.  first, how did you select and then manage to bring them all on board?

Saddo: some of them we already knew and invited in the first place, then we asked them if they knew artists that might like the subject, and some artists recommended other ones and so on. we tried to invite artists from very different areas, from illustration, painting, graphic design, graffiti, sculpture, installation, or even more conceptual stuff. we managed to bring together a pretty impressive collection of skulls, and we’re still waiting for some late pieces to pop up these days.

AK:  of all subjects, why this?

Saddo:  it was an idea suggested by Matei Branea and Noper – first we thought it was pretty cheezy (I personally still find it cheezy), but also it’s a nice challenge, a very rich subject which fascinated artists from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, to Pop Art. So we thought it’s a good opportunity to bring a wide range of shapes, visions…It’s also really catchy.

AK: what’s your own perception of death?

Aitch: I’m pretty cool with it, it’s a good normal thing

Saddo: ouch. I don’t know. to be honest I’m pretty scared of the idea. I’m scared of losing people I care about. and of getting old and sick…But hopefully soon I’ll make peace with the whole death idea. It depends on the mood too, when it’s like this – snowy, frozen,ridiculous cold, it gets a bit scarier. when it’s nice and warm and sunny and I have lots of stuff to do, it’s better, it seems like a normal part of existence or something. but I never get too deep about it…

AK: how often do you think about dying?

Aitch: Pretty often.

Saddo: every day. almost

AK: silly, but still:   any preference to how it should happen?

Aitch: Noninvasive and quick

Saddo: I prefer it shouldn’t happen:P

AK: written on your tombs will be..?

Aitch: PinkKittyCandy

Saddo: I don’t think I ever thought of that….I mean, I do think about death…but never the design of my own tomb.

AK: do you believe in after-life and resurrection?

Aitch+Saddo: nope

AK: how’s Saddo’s skull (=the work) different to Aitch’s?

Saddo:  Aitch’s skull is small, a small part of the whole composition, the character carrying the skull is more important. Mine is the centre of the whole piece, with lots of small colorful stuff orbiting around it.

AK: was there a clear message you wanted to send out there, or was it an exploration in the subject?  research – or self-exploration, maybe?  what drove it: the concept or visual line?

Saddo: both the concept and the visual. but mostly visual. and maybe a natural fascination for the subject, beyond conceptual and visual.  I was fascinated for a while by the Vanitas paintings in 15th – 17th centuries in Netherlands and Flanders – they’re meditations on the emptiness and meaninglessness of life, visually represented as a still life with characteristic elements like: skulls, hourglasses, flowers, musical instruments, compasses, rotten fruit, etc. My piece is actually an interpretation of a classical Vanitas painting, only the skull is the main element, with lots of other small objects, characters, flowers, insects, creatures floating around it.

AK: do you discuss or comment the work of each other?   where is the limit of intrusion?

Aitch+Saddo: yea, sometimes, but only from a visual or technical point of view.

AK: sometimes you create together – how does this usually happen, as a process?

Aitch+Saddo: errm,I don’t know, it happens pretty normal and banal. we talk, we sketch,we start working, we talk again, and then we finish

AK: young independent artist in Romania of 2012.  an illusion or reality?

Aitch: For me reality.

Saddo:  I guess it’s a reality for some. sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s harder. but I don’t think you can be an independent artist strictly within the borders of Romania – I mean, if there wasn’t for the internet, and the connections with people, artists, galleries from other countries, and also with advertising agencies, and stuff like that, it would be pretty hard, at least for me.

AK: internet gives you the power to be your own promoters, and tell your own story your way, and you are guys are getting a good use out of it.  what’s the downside of it?  distraction, lost time? is some magic lost ab artist life and work?

Aitch+Saddo: nope, no downside, it is really helpful, not only for bringing opportunities, or commissions, or connections with other artists and galleries, but simply for the appreciation from other people or artists ( it can be a real boost sometimes, it helps us keep doing what we do, knowing that someone appreciates or is inspired by it)

AK: which other artists’ work do you closely follow?

Aitch: I don’t really have someone in particular

Saddo: I don’t know, there are a few, but I’m not really up to date with the important/serious art, I’m more focused on the lowbrow art scene, street art, etc. And lately I have a passion for Walton Ford and naturalistic illustrations of plants, animals, birds, etc. I keep an eye on artists like Escif, Heiko Mueller, Jon McNair, Ekta, Collin van der Sluijs, Os Gemeos, and many others I can’t think of right now.

AK: ideal world, everything possible:  which artist would you loooove to contribute their piece to the exhibit?

Aitch: Linus & The Feel Good Factory

Saddo: Hopefully this thing will be possible soon, if we manage to find some sponsor, or raise some funds for different shows, our plan is to have a bunch of group shows with some of the artists I told you about in my previous answer. With some of them we’re already in touch, been in some shows together, and I’m sure they’d be more than willing to show in our gallery.

AK: any sorting you do to the submitted works?  what’s a no go?

Aitch+Saddo: We don’t have much experience as “gallery owners” or curators, but personally, even if we wouldn’t like a piece submitted by an artist invited, we couldn’t and wouldn’t not put it up in the show. Maybe suggest a nicer way of presenting the piece, so it would look better as part of the whole set up. But it’s not the case with any of the pieces in the Cranium show :)

AK: you already seen most of other artists submissions, what should we expect?  can you describe the works by each artist with 2-3 words:  Andrei Robu: xx, Matei Branea: yy, …

Aitch+Saddo: We’re not really good with words, and in this case the best is to come see them, or take a peak at some details and the creative process of few of the artists, on our Facebook page.

AK: Saddo, you daily post a movie recommendation on your Facebook wall.  what’s a movie to watch after visiting Cranium?

Saddo: I don’t know….any movie involving walking skeletons or zombies, or any movie about death…Dead Man, Dawn of the Dead, The Seventh Seal, Cries and Whispers, El Angel Exterminador, Hamlet…etc

AK: what’s Cranium soundtrack?

Aitch: Absolute silence.

Saddo: Bruce Springsteen… Or some Medieval sounds, or some Requiems, or maybe weird circus/fair music or something.

AK: few brands in Romania yet look into collaborating and supporting artist scene. who do you already work with – or would like to collaborate one day?

Aitch+Saddo: hmmm…we know that Grolsch supports the art scene, but we’ve never worked with them. We saw Red Bull also gets involved in artistic projects. It would be cool to work with any of them, but artshows are not really huge money-making events that bring hundreds of people – even if we do need funds for bringing artists or paying for materials and expenses, or promoting the show, we don’t really need lots of money to put up a show, and we don’t know if a big brand would get involved in such a restrained, quiet way, without huge logos and plasma screens and banners. Or maybe they do?

AK: ideal visitor?

Aitch+Saddo: ideal visitor – someone who loves our art and would like and has the money to purchase it. but not all visitors are ideal visitors, it doesn’t mean we’re not super glad if someone just appreciates what we do but doesn’t have the will or means to buy the art. our main goal isn’t money making, we do this because we love doing art, we love seeing art, working with art, bringing together artists we love. but it is refreshing when sometimes someone buys some of our art :)

AK: best accolade to hear?

Aitch: I’m always skeptical, I always assume they don’t mean it.

Saddo: I don’t know, it’s always nice and refreshing when people like what I do. I must admit it’s even nicer when an artist whose art I truly respect, appreciates some of my work.

AK: if i can’t make it to the exhibit, is there a way to see / buy works online after?

Saddo: if you can’t make it to the opening it doesn’t mean you didn’t make it to the show:) it’ll be up till February 29. but if it’s too cold, we do have a website and a Facebook page where we’ll put up photos of all the pieces in the show, and anyone who’d like to see them or get them can drop us a line.

AK: what’s next?

Aitch: Not sure.

Saddo: Next I think is taking a small break, spending time with Heliana, going to some concerts, playing some mystery games. And finding a new space for the next level of our curatorial/artistic project. I’m also planning to illustrate a beautiful story by Jean-Lorin Sterian, for a bigger project in collaboration with a gallery in San Jose, California. Painting some murals when it gets warmer. Doing some more,new,challenging paintings….etc

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000448508864

http://pooqpoo.carbonmade.com/

http://www.facebook.com/saddojdero

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saddo/

http://www.behance.net/Saddo

The show:

CRANIUM. About Life & Death
Friday, 10-29 Februarie, from 20:00

Artists:
Aitch, Adrian Moise, Alan Dalla, Alex Baciu, Andrei Robu, Bogdan Rata, Cristian Prandea, Cristian Raduta, Dreamrec, Eldercut, Emanuel Borcescu, Florin B. Tomescu, George Rosu, Homeboy, Irlo, Kitra, Lea Rasovszky, Marius Purice, Matei Branea, Mihai Zgondoiu, Mimi Ciora, Mircea Pop, Mircea Popescu, Noper, Paul Hitter, PisicaPatrata, Radu Oreian, Saddo, Simona Vilau, Sinboy, Suzana Dan, Tara von Neudorf, Tucske

Vatra Collective
Jean-Luis Calderon 44, Bucharest, Romania

http://www.facebook.com/events/316649265037220/