8 Questions to Sebastian Summa & Jo Hany

Tell me about your cupboard installation in Café Linnen in Berlin...

Sebastian: Our friends from Café Linnen in Berlin asked me if I could design something unique for their new café place. I had the idea of an wall filling installation, which would give a certain charm to the room. To me the vintage cupboards, we’ve used were a symbol for a welcoming kitchen.

We cut them into hundreds of pieces and constructed something new. By doing this, we exaggerated the idea of a kitchen, and turned it into something more absurd, but tried to keep a friendly atmosphere.

What is your background and how did you end up doing what you are doing today?

We both trained to become artisans, before we met in 1999 in Potsdam, where we studied Design. After finishing University we both started to work on our own projects, while working for a company that produced sculptures and art installations for contemporary artists. Working at this place, refined our artisan skills and gave us a good impression on how different applied artists work. This experience has influenced our projects ever since.

What inspires you currently?

Sebastian: I always feel drawn to the 50s and 60s, a time that was key to the history of Design. Of course it is impossible to reinvent the industrial shapes and materials of the 50s and 60s, but it is a great base to de-construct and re-interpret.

Jo: It’s nothing for our corporate work - more for me as an artist. I’ve noticed the trend of morphsuits with a laugh and a smile. It´s about the mixture of anonymity and see through.

What would be your dream project together?

We would love to discover the chapter 'Design as an installation' even more. The perfect scenario would be an open but neutral space, something like a white cube, and limitless materials.

If you had to do something else, what would it be?

Sebastian: We share a passion for the mountains. We have played with the idea to leave the city behind and open a camping ground in the Savoy Alps.

Jo: Oh, and I thought it was the Karwendel Mountains.

Sebastian: It doesn’t matter, it was all about the culinary peaks : )

What is your favourite place to be?

Our Workshop!

What does a typical Sunday morning look like for you?

Having breakfast in Café Linnen : )

If you were a colour, what colour would it be and why?

Sebastian: For me it would be brown. It’s down to earth and it is a bit of every colour.

Jo: Is grey a colour? If it is, I’d choose grey, because I think that most truth is neither black nor white, it is a shade of grey. 



www.sebastiansumma.de

8 Questions to Armin Ceric

What is your background and how did you end up doing what you are doing today?  

That is basically what I'm trying to find out in my work – if there's a link between where you came from to where you are going to in your live. On the one hand I doubt it but on the other hand I have this emotional link to my past. I think I wouldn't do an exhibition of my work, if I could answer this question. Then I would stay at home and be happy that I found out.

What is your motivation?

I am trying to be brave and live a life without fear. I want to look back with the feeling that I somehow understood what life is all about.

Who would you like to work with?

I would have loved to do a trip with my father to Bosnia where he grew up to do a documentary. Unfortunately he died in 2001.

What is your favorite subject in your painting?

I am obsessed with people. I tried out still-lives, but it bores me to death.

If your weren´t an Artist, what else would you be?

Then I wouldn't be an artist. It has nothing to do with a job... it is more like an attitude towards life. I didn't do a lot of artworks recently, but I never stopped being an artist.

What is your favorite place to be?

My bed.
 
What does a typical Sunday morning look like for you?

Spending a lot of time at my favorite place including a hot coffee and company.
 
If you were a color, what color would it be and why?

Pearl white. On the first look it's white – but if you look closer it's shimmering!

8 Questions to Mark Pillai

What is your background and how did you end up doing what you are doing today? 

I have to admit that I always was fascinated by this technical miracle capturing a moment of our life and seeing it projected on a wall or appearing magically on a print in the darkroom.

Well, times have changed and digital photographs can instantly be viewed on the back of the cameras. A good thing I assume. I don’t care so much about the technical side anymore. I focus only on what’s happening in front of the camera and eventually check rapidly after if, for example, the exposure was correct. Going through the shoot still has its surprises though – almost like when shooting on film.

I have assisted other Photographers for many years and traveled a bit through the world - shooting catalogs for mail-order-houses, advertising campaigns for cars or editorials for sports & health magazines. But rarely fashion – (un)fortunately ! I guess that’s why I had to leave Germany.

Becoming a fashion photographer was not because of the fashion but what it allows you to do with it. Transforming and directing the models how to pose in front of the camera is only a part of many others that I love. And so you can see at my current exhibition at Pavlovs Dog, the process of the casting is another major aspect of my work that I enjoy.

What is your motivation?

Good question! I don’t know anything else I’m good at! Not saying I’m a good photographer – it just happens to work out for me – at least for the moment! And what else can be more exciting in photography than shooting women and experiencing the aesthetics of the female body!?

Who would you like to work with?

I still ask myself how it would feel to photograph a blind person. Would it be like with kids that don’t have this self-perception like models do…? And how would I feel about the fact that they would never see the result of their effort?

What is your favorite subject in your photography?

See answer to question no.2

If your weren´t a Photographer, what else would you be?

I grew up in the country side in the south of Germany. As kids we spent most of time outside on the fields or in the forests. Before taking it more seriously with photography I thougt I should do something considered ecological, following an ideal.

What is your favorite place to be?

Behind my camera! Best place to hide and to observe! Feels sometimes like wearing a magic mask that allows you to do things you wouldn’t dare with out it!

What does a typical Sunday morning look like for you?

Sunday, Monday or Friday is all kind of the same. Except that most people don´t work on the weekends, so I don´t have to stick to anyone´s schedule. that’s why I enjoy the weekend more – there isn’t any rush!

If you were a color, what color would it be and why?

I reckon it would be something simple, subtle. Look at the colour of my skin, I would probably be just that colour. But to be honest, I find it quite a difficult to point out a color. I´m kind of scared of colours, and if you look around my place, there´s hardly any colour that jumps out. 60% grey is a bit boring, but I reckon that might do the job… 



www.markpillai.com