Ognjen Rodić
I hate the civilization
In this work, the artist feeds wolves with raw meat which he is also eating. The wolves and the artist are in the same frame while they are eating raw meat. The artist and animals are separated by bars of the zoo cage - "civilized" man and "primitive" animals. All actors are doing the same act and the question is how much humans and animals in this context have in common and identify with each other? In that process of consuming the meat, hunger and the desire for the unique luxury are recognized - and that is to live, or to survive. At the end of the video, the artist tries to free animals from their cages. He is trying to destroy the sterility of modern man and his "evolution". The video work shows how he returns to his true nature as a predator, a wolf. The artist does not want to be a sheep or prey. By nature, wolves see sheep as prey, here the prey is people in cities, hysterical tourists, and visitors who disturb the peace of wolves and other animals in the zoo. Maybe that's why wolves are growling at us and want to tear us apart? Because they saw that we had betrayed our predatory nature, we were turned into sheep for the slaughter.
Interview
What is the language in common for the young people today?
For me, there is no difference in age, but it is up to the personality, it is about whether I have a common language with someone or not.
What does the process of making one of your pieces look like?
I think for a long time about the original idea that I will start with, and then I work out the work with my imagination, I create it in my head. I often go to people close to me, who have contact with art, and those who don't, and I show them my idea so that I can see how the most frequent audience will react.
Which challenges have you faced while making art as you know it?
An idea, sometimes I can't visually imagine what I want, sometimes I lack imagination and creativity, and sometimes it's just hard to report something in a practical sense. Also, time can distract me.
Do you consider yourself an artist, and what does that word mean to you?
No, I'm not an artist, I'm still studying, it would be egocentric to say that I am. I would like to become an artist, I think that one becomes an artist after death or at least in the late years when everything can be seen, I do not like when young people say for themselves that they are artists when they are still waiting for their life's journey.
What is your escape from reality? Do you even have a need to escape from something?
I have a huge need and I like to live it when I succeed. Movies, games, history, books, board games ... I love Medieval Fantasy worlds like Tolikina (there are many more) I escape into them through a game, a movie so sometimes I am even inspired by them in art. And on the other hand, what inspires me a lot is also history, cruelty in history, empires that wanted to create global hegemony… all this is my escape.
What does the word innovative mean to you?
To have your original ideas, which is questionable as much as possible today, to be original. At least it's very difficult in art.
Do you have a plan for the future? Where can your artistic practice take you?
I just enrolled in college, I hope to finish it. I would like my main job to be environment concept art or 3d modeling, and on the other hand I would like to be involved in multimedia projects - ideally doing a performance or video work twice a year, this multimedia part is releasing me much more than the first part. is passive, which is good. I can see myself working, I don't know where. It would be ideal to be America, although I could imagine myself in Japan as well.
What made the biggest influence on you to become what you are today and do what you do now?
Disappearing into my personal world - I spent a lot of time with myself as a child. My mother plays the harp, so I had the opportunity to spend my childhood in the theater, where I watched interesting halls there, they were also much bigger than now because I was a child. Then I started playing games and watching movies and I realized that I wanted to make that world a reality. As for the performance and video works, they are inspired by my personal traumas from the hospitals I was dragged through as a child to the horrible abuse in elementary school, and a little in high school. They are also inspired by some historical events or some political attitude that I have.
How would you describe Serbian (Balkan or European-depends on where you live and work) contemporary cultural scene?
They are very unoriginal, they are all very red… They fit in, they have adapted, they have lost the Avant-Garde. Today, nothing is almost original anymore, but does that mean we need to relax and just copy or paste or fight for at least 1% originality?
In which way does your creative process shape you or changes you as a person, if it does at all?
I would say that what I create, when I create, is unique to me because of certain of my personal life experiences. And if my work can't change me because he already came up with an idea I had before, only I can change my ideas.