Let’s start at the beginning of the AUSGANG Studio. What inspired you to form your creative duo and how did your collaboration begin?
It’s hard to do complex work alone. You need a partner in crime. Both of us have a different background. Alex studied painting and I, Radovan, photography, and together we are creating objects in space and time. Its always nice to have someone helping you to get the concept right and to stick with what is important. As mankind, we got so far because we collaborate. We do the same. Collaboration is key.
How do you balance the raw energy of rave culture with the conceptual depth of your installations?
It comes both ways. We love to search for balance. People at raves are always glad to see something visual and with depth. At raves, it’s dark, it’s raw; there is sweat dripping from the ceiling. It’s a very human experience yet the music is very machine-like. In general, people stay much longer at raves than in a gallery. We found it’s different and very pleasant to exhibit our works at raves since people there are already in an open-minded state, as opposed to those coming to a white-box gallery to see what is expected to be seen in a gallery. When we do something extraordinary in a gallery space, people never expect that. That’s how it started. We got bored with typical gallery openings and we began to do little raves at each vernisage. Now it comes both ways.
I want to spotlight the installation titled “DØØM” featuring a quote from your portfolio: “People are Dead. Nature is dead.” What message do you aim to convey to the viewers regarding the mixed feelings of optimism and pessimism evoked by technological advancements through this art piece?
This is the concept that we started creating at the beginning of our artistic practice as AUSGANG Studio, it is slowly evolving and growing. We look critically at the future and current technological advancements. We react to them and think about what impact they might have on us. The techno-organisms we create in our works are very animalistic and alive. Most of the time they are moving, making specific sounds and are made of materials that people today consider waste. We often play with the topic of birth, embryos and, in general, think about how new organisms and animals will arise based on our activities in the present.
We are not saying that technology is unconditionally detrimental but we are also not saying it’s only beneficial. Technology is often an innocent entity in this situation, and only the way people work with it and what design they create around it is where it goes wrong. DØØM is an example of one of the visions of the future where the womb is cast from plastic (there are cable, USB, etc., imprints on it) and it is powered by a cable that goes up to an object we named “mom”, and from this object, there are two more cables feeding together the 3 “organisms” that you can observe through the plastic. Sometimes, they are shaking, screaming strange sounds and you don’t know if they are dissatisfied or if they are just being born and already observing the world.
At SWARM Mag, we are now focusing on the theme THE ROOTS OF TASTE. So, the last question is: how do you remain connected to your roots while embracing the future?
We are always staying true to our roots. We grew up in Eastern Europe, after the Berlin Wall fell. So western culture’s influence is very strong, yet the cold touch of concrete blocks we grew up in is very present. We are aware of the true human nature. We hate when unnecessary economic growth is the priority.
We often feel everything is doomed and that there is little chance of hope. We see the light breaching here and there in between the dark clouds and that is what fills our hearts a bit. Our souls are dark but glowing.
