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FAME magazine, No. 11, September 2008

Fame factor
Aleksandar Maćašev

Birthday, Zodiac
I was born on 3 August 1971 and it was scorching hot as I am told. I was recently writing about that date on my blog, Americana Tidbits (www.americana-tidbits.blogspot.com). Elisha Graves Otis, the guy who invented elevators, was born on the same date, and I am scared to death of them. And Martha Stewart, the queen of American domestic life (American middle class horror, more like). And Hitler became Führer on that date.

There is a crazy story about an interrupted radio transmission during the Apollo 15 mission to the Moon, at the same time that my mother was in labor. I found it in an old issue of Arka magazine (a magazine about the supernatural). Allegedly, aliens interrupted the transmission and inserted their own message. No one knows what the message meant. It could be: "Push a bit more Mrs. Macasev, he's almost popped out." Like an X-files directed by John Waters ;)
Stars? I am a Leo with Virgo rising... and I don't have a clue what that means. Although there is a lot known about Leos, its mainly bad stuff.

Pseudonyms
As a kid I had a big list of nicknames. Moćko is the one that remained for some reason. It was actually a type of of meat paté from the Njam-Njam brands (if anybody remembers them). It was given to me by a high school friend trying to be funny about my physical stature. I thought I would lose it when I moved to Belgrade, but it leaked. It was transformed into the English, Mighty and I used it as an artistic moniker. I still have www.the-mighty.com web site.

Once, I invented a female identity and applied for the Videomedeja female video festival in Novi Sad. I changed my name to Aleksandra Živanović (a blend between my own name and Duchamp's female alter-ego Rrose Selavy, vie=life=život). I left a phone number of a friend of mine, Svetlana Ćopić, creative director in the New Moment agency, so she could act as me in case someone called. No one saw through this charade. My work of art was actually the fictional female identity of mine, not the video that I submitted for the show. Who says that men cannot make "female" videos?

A few years ago I decided to start using y full name. Sometimes I like to play with the Russian variation of it, Александр Раикович Матяшев, because my family came from Russia a long time ago. In the United States they think I am Scottish, MacAsev, so I always carry a card with me with a phonetic pronunciation of my family name. And people are really doing a good job saying it. Much better than in Serbia where everybody is confused if your family name doesn't end with "ić". Especially journalists, who it seems don't pay much attention, so I turn out to be Mašaćev, Maćeša, Maćašević very often.

Formal education
I have a degree in architecture although I knew from the start that I would not practice architecture. I don’t think schools can completely define you professionally and satisfy you. I started some post-graduate studies in contemporary architectural theory, because I didn't have anything better to do at the time. I gave up and my mentor, Ranko Radovic had died in the meantime. I could hardly wait to get rid of studying. I mean, it's great to have a degree and school is a valuable experience, but I prefer to do what I really want to do. I appreciate "informal" education much more. Things that you gather on your way or learn because you are really into it. And if you cannot find a vocation, you should invent one. Although in Serbia they look at your diploma first and then what you can actually do. We just cannot get rid of that social realism guild-like attitude.

How I see myself professionally
That’s a very tough question. I have bumped into various obstacles because I refuse to be tagged (artist, designer, architect...). It seems people can see you and understand you only if you are in a clearly labeled box. If I had to choose a label it would be visual-culture worker or visual communicator. Identity also varies, depending on the context. When I am with people, I prefer to be social science people, politicians, scientists. Much more than with visual artists. That is why I like Washington DC very much. It is much more stimulating there than being in the same group of people talking about same old boring things. The same thing is true when gay activists gather together to tell to each other how endangered we are. Nonsense. I also prefer it when an article about me appears on the social or political pages than in the arts&leisure section. Everything labeled "art" loses its edge. Nobody takes art that seriously to be honest. That is why I like to show my work outside of galleries. Getting out of the "proper" context is always a valuable experience. If you are really interested in what I actually do, just go to www.macasev.com and see for yourself.

Art vs Design
In my experience there is not a strict line between the two, but that issue is really a broad one and already much discussed. My thinking goes along the lines we discussed about not having a clear label. Which is another way I run into troubles. The formal boundary between these two disciplines is rather blurry, but it is much clearer in terms of the commercial aspect. The art world has one set of rules, and the design world has a separate set of rules and products, especially when you find yourself in a highly developed market system. You know exactly on which shelf you can find what, and if you mix up the shelves, no one will buy the product. But it’s up to you whether you want to play this game.

There are some great examples of people that managed to be successful in both systems. Barbara Kruger, for example.

The turning point in your professional life
There are several. The first one is when I started to paint when I was fifteen, out of sheer boredom. I wanted to get a girl’s attention (Zorica Stojkov). She didn't get the promised painting for her 15th birthday but for her 20th. Then, when I graduated from the architectural faculty I realized that no one needed me. The manager of a certain architectural studio told me that he would have had a job for me if I was an economist or a lawyer! Some other guy told me I was too young to work in the management of the local cultural center. I suppose you have to turn fifty in order to get a "responsible" position. Another turning point was when I started working in advertising, in the former Saatchi&Saatchi (today it is called New Moment). That experience was really valuable for anyone who wants to work in the field of visual communication, but after a while it became too inhibiting. Then I escaped advertising and became a freelancer. You just reach a point in your life when you really want to control your own professional life. It is a little bit risky but I would never go back again. And then I traveled to the United States a lot and Yugoslavia (the non-existing country that I grew up in) started to diminish and became a very small Serbia.

Influences
My high school literature professor in Becej, Zorica Svircevic, told us to think with our own heads and not to think what we are told to think. That may sound a bit common place, but there are only a few teachers that really make you think and not accept everything you hear. I remember my professor of geometry, Nenad Grujic, at the faculty of architecture who told us that we always have to be skeptical, especially when it comes to "obvious" and "exact". Are you really sure that 2 and 2 are 4? That moment of accepting skepticism really changed my life. I would like to mention the best two creative directors that I had an honor to work with: Nadežda Milenković i Maja M Marinković. I learned a lot from both of them. Mirko Ilic has an incredible mind and he is a sort of a father figure to me, in the best sense. In one hour you can "steal" so much knowledge from him that you cannot during the entire school semester.

If you think about dead artists I would like to mention Alfred Hitchcock. I would put all his movies in the regular curriculum of all art schools. Also, it may sound common place, but Marcel Duchamp who for good reason is considered the most influential artist of the 20th century; Boris Vian, an almost forgotten French writer from whom you can learn how to communicate surrealism, is another. I like the visual language of Saul Bass, Milton Glaser, Alan Fletcher, and Vaughan Oliver.

Clients
Oh, this will be tough. I should mention them all. I have established great business relations with ERSTE bank and Telenor in Serbia. These companies really give a lot of freedom to creative people and everybody ends up happy. It was a great experience working on the "ERSTE machine" project. It was an unusual bond among various creative individuals and the client who gives you all the freedom you can get. My long term client Mrdjan Bajic is someone that any designer would wish for. He is a great professional with very interesting material to work with. I liked my work with the Center for Contemporary Art. Borut Vild totally moved the borders of graphic design over there. A very nice surprise for me was the Squadra company. They have the Fish&Bar chain of restaurants in Belgrade.

Your approach to design
Let's make some things clear. It's not industrial, nor is it fashion design. Design often refers to one of those two. In the United States it is even related to Creationist mumbo-jumbo. My domain is visual communication through paper and screen (graphic and web design if you like). My approach to art and design is the same: these are forms of communication. First of all I decide what I will communicate and then how to communicate through a suitable medium. Duchamp was very interesting when he said that the creative act consists of the artist, the artwork and a spectator.

There has been a lot of talk about “originality” (a totally obsolete modernist category, if you ask me), who has stolen what from whom, how everything possible has already been created. Its total nonsense. Although if your field is narrow then people really do get the same ideas at the same time. The solution to this problem is rather simple and I have been telling this to my students. Always do things that only YOU are driven by. Nobody else is driven by the same combination of impulses. Of course, you need some courage to admit to yourself what your real drives are.

Your professional network
Women, mainly. There are the Mikser girls: Maja Vidaković, Tatjana Ristić i Nina Babić. Anica Tucakov (Anonymous Said:), one of the most successful promoters of visual communication in Serbia and abroad. Andrea Brbaklić, the communications manager of ERSTE bank in Belgrade. Kiosk: Milica Pekić Conev i Ana Adamović. Aleksandra Jovanić, artist and programmer. OK, there is one boy: Andrej Dolinka.

We have the habit of collaborating with personal friends and that can backfire often. But if you know how to draw a strict line between personal and professional, which is hard, everything works out perfectly.

The greatest challenges
I'm afraid that I haven't met them yet. It was nervous about working on the Mirko Ilic Exhibition campaign, but I think it turned out fine in the end. It's not easy doing work for other designers. Like my work for the karlssonwilker studio. You have to be careful not to detract from someone else's work with your own expression. It has been a great challenge for me to work with students. I was not quite sure whether I would be able to do something like that and not to turn into one of these arrogant and sterile professors that you meet all the time. There's that harsh saying: those who can’t do, teach. I had a great exchange with students. They are all very dear to me and I stay in contact with many of them. Joseph Geobbels™ was a great challenge , and that project is still living after three years. People invite me to give lectures, they ask for posters or advice for their school papers. But I would like to get out of the shadow of this Nazi master of propaganda. "Hey, that's that guy who did Goebbels."

A long time ago I had an idea for a web site for blind people. That would have been a real challenge, but unfortunately it didn't come to life. The client and the agency didn't come to any agreement.

What are you doing now?
These days there is the promotion of my latest art project "Margins" that is included in the poetry festival "Trgni se!Poezija!" organized by Treći Trg. The project is an intimate visual blog, at www.macasev-margins.blogspot.com. You know when you make some ephemeral things just for yourself in your home (wherever that may be), and then you decide to share that with the rest of the world. It turns private into public. Of course it is all wrapped up as “art”, which protects you. It is a blend of word and image, and I'm glad that it is presented at the poetry festival. Basically it is a web art piece adjusted for public viewing in galleries and public transportation.

I am preparing my "Random T-Shirts" collection. These are T-shirts that I made for myself, for when I want to have something on my chest like a walking billboard. It is out of control right now, because people often ask me in the streets where they can buy them. I think it is a good opportunity to make some money.

By the end of the year I should finish my book "PrintScreenSolidWetWork". It is some sort of a printed portfolio published by MikserBooks. I divided my work into media sections: print, screen, space, painting. Andrej Dolinka will design the book and there will be a party promotion in Belgrade soon.

A friend of mine started an American branch of Mikser/reMiks which is good for the further networking and a good platform for freelance work. I intend to collaborate with a young Albanian designer from Kosovo, Bardhi Haliti, who is in New York right now.

Dream Project
I don't know. I have never dreamed in terms of " I would like to work this and that for him/her...". I realize that something is a dream project when it is done. It would be interesting to work for Google, for instance. Or to work on an indie movie.

America?
I have been traveling to the United States a lot in the past three years. I traveled a lot, but I think it is time to settle down a bit. I hope to settle down soon in New York with a friend of mine. That city is a total separate entity and it has nothing to do with the rest of the US. It turned out to be unavoidable when it comes to my business. I am actually more interested in a different America without the media stereotypes. Something along Wim Wenders' lines. That's why I write this blog, Americana Tidbits, where I try to digest textually all the amazing different things that I have seen. It is a very interesting and diverse culture and you can learn a lot from it. And different is always beautiful. You just need to explain that to Serbs.

 

Info

www.macasev.com
This is my central web site where you can reach everything that I made. You can also find all the links related to my web presence.

www.the-mighty.com portfolio web site till 2006
www.goebbels.info Joseph Goebbels TM project
www.kontrola.co.yu Kontrola virus project

www.aleksandarmacasev.blogspot.com Professional diary (continuation of the www.the-mighty.com )
www.macasev-txt.blogspot.com Collection of published articles
www.macasev-t-shirts.blogspot.com Random T-shirt collection
www.americana-tidbits.blogspot.com Bi-weekly column about USA
www.joseph-goebbels-tm.blogspot.com Diary of the Joseph Geobbels™ project
www.macasev-margins.blogspot.com "Margins", art project in the form of an intimate diary

tag cloud

improvisation, salon anarchy, chaos=order, neurosis, fear, searching/running away, private=public, temporary, instability, personal=political, media, ideology, communication, vodka, chocolate, old TV shows, music, paper, screen, blur, uncertainty, atheism, mania/depression, skepticism, unforeseen, voyeurism




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© 2008 Aleksandar Maćašev