Well, every time I start working on a piece I first try to feel the space, I look for the connections of the space and the people, the way that people use the space, the spirit they put inside it... While working at Singular gallery, I was interested in several different aspects: the window, the strong connection with the outside, the space and the typographique situation of the gallery with the road.
Because the window shows everything that is going on inside the gallery space, and I also liked the idea that the viewer doesn't need to enter but can see everything from the outside.
The typographique situation is such that a road going uphill is absolutely attached to the gallery - in the sense that there is no sidewalk - finally the gallery is slightly under the road level in a way, and that creates a specific perception of the space when looking through the window.
At last, it is also important to mention that since there is no sidewalk - there is no space to walk in the road - cars are driving quite fast, and you can actually get killed, because there is no protection... But the road creates a kind of special situation for the space. Therefore I thought to create some kind of space accident in the gallery.
BD: Well, every time I start working on a piece I first try to feel the space, I look for the connections of the space and the people, the way that people use the space, the spirit they put inside it... While working at Singular gallery, I was interested in several different aspects: the window, the strong connection with the outside, the space and the typographique situation of the gallery with the road.Because the window shows everything that is going on inside the gallery space, and I also liked the idea that the viewer doesn't need to enter but can see everything from the outside.The typographique situation is such that a road going uphill is absolutely attached to the gallery - in the sense that there is no sidewalk - finally the gallery is slightly under the road level in a way, and that creates a specific perception of the space when looking through the window.At last, it is also important to mention that since there is no sidewalk - there is no space to walk in the road - cars are driving quite fast, and you can actually get killed, because there is no protection... But the road creates a kind of special situation for the space. Therefore I thought to create some kind of space accident in the gallery.SS: You did the Flow installation twice, before this one at Singular you realised it in 2013 in Québec, Canada, at the Centre d`Art Contemporain l'Oeil de Poisson, how do they differ, since the two spaces are very different ?
BD: Flow was presented for the first time in Canada, yes, but I like to reactivate my installations in a special context, when there exists a possibility to make a new connection, extend to some new meaning. Btw, the installation is the same, it is just a new version (II), that is adapted to this new context, a new shape, a new light context and a new viewer experience.
Singular gallery made me think about making an installation in regard to the definition of space, to create a direct relation with the entirety of the space and the aspect of everything being visible from the outside.
Flow in Canada was bigger but there was no connection with the outside, and here it is the opposite, it first works from the outside, only later from the inside... I started working from the outside, through the window, and then getting inside.
The Flow installation has different meanings. First it is an installation with windscreens, there is a kind of paradox present, of construction and destruction, the glass having two characteristics, it is dangerous as material, but then at the same time it looks precious as crystal... Which is part of my way of working, the double meaning. And it relates also to the occurrence of accidents in everyday life...
The other meaning is, the term Flow in psychology means the mental operative state in which a person performs an activity fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, this positive psychological concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields.
SS: How did you discover glass as a material that you want to use ?
SS: How did you discover glass as a material that you want to use ?
BD: Well, when I was for the first time working with glass, my interest was about people's reaction towards the government - they usually destroy urban furniture, and they destroy glass... Laminated glass is a very interesting material because it preserves the impact, the 'gesture' of destruction.
It's the same with the windscreens.
This aspect pushed me to think about some project as the Crystal Palace, or Aerial...
I'm also very interested about the paradox present in glass, beauty and danger.
I also discovered how actual and special this material was in regard to our time.
The laminated glass became a norm in civil architecture because of the terrorist act in Oklahoma city in 1995, the US Government then decided to extend this type of glass to every public architecture, because the glass killed many more people, than the actual destruction of the building.
Today my aim is to develop some new works in the same material which I will present in September, in a new project in Krupic Kersting Gallery in Cologne in Germany.
SS: You realized many projects in Eastern European countries, what attracts you to this part of the world ?
SS: You realized many projects in Eastern European countries, what attracts you to this part of the world ?
BD: East Europe is very different from the west... so many things are under a question mark, the heritage from communism, the heritage of the unfortunate war in Yugoslavia... the mafia within the governments... And it is a time for change.
It is maybe wilder, but in a way it is more open to different directions, then what the West opted with the austerity, the conservatism, and the way in which we just go along with what the Americans decide.
I can feel more energy from the young generations in deciding about their future.
It is also a question of the meaning of making art and the reason of being an artist in general.
I started to be curious about East Europe because of the architecture and the communist monuments, and after a while, I discovered a lot of life, and powerful artists too.
Then my meetings with the people inspired some of my works that I have done; sometimes in collaboration with artists, with architects, or a gallery; and I should be specific about a strong link to Pierre Courtin Director of Duplex100m2 in Sarajevo.-Bosnia
SS: You are also a teacher, what is the most important thing you try to communicate to the students ?
BD: Well, the first point is to let and encourage them to come up with their own tools in order to create their own experience. And the second thing is, in my point of view as a teacher, to accept that I don't know everything, and that I learn every day as they do...
SS: You are also a teacher, what is the most important thing you try to communicate to the students ?
BD: Well, the first point is to let and encourage them to come up with their own tools in order to create their own experience. And the second thing is, in my point of view as a teacher, to accept that I don't know everything, and that I learn every day as they do...