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    Brajak Vitberg

    Brajak Vitberg

    1. Where were you born and where are you from ?

    P: I was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia and I live there too. My parents previously lived in Croatia and most of my family still does, so a lot of my childhood memory is from there.

    R: Zagreb, Croatia currently living and working in Ljubljana, Slovenia

    2. What is your first memory connected to the art world ?

    P: All my mother’s paintings in our apartment since day one. My biggest inspiration.

    R: A house full of my father’s paintings. Also, my dad often used to take me to city museums after kindergarten. I was fascinated by pieces in archaeological museum’s ancient Greek and Egyptian departments.

    3. Have you always worked in the art/design field ?

    P: Yes. After college I immediately began designing and started working in a studio which I share with my friend and university colleague, Robert.

    R: Being surrounded by art since I was little, it was only natural for me to end up in the design world.

    4. What led you to the design creation ?

    We have always had an urge to instantly materialise our visions without discrepancies between the creative process and the realisation: our design is an intersection of the creative part and the material one. This is something that other forms of design, such as architecture, often fail to offer to an artist. Beauty makes us both feel alive, either through architecture, art, furniture design, or fashion.

    5. How would you describe your creative process and it influences ?

    We watch, feel, explore, learn, and then design. We really talk a lot about things we like and things we experienced. The world and people around us are our best inspiration. It is hard to say what is one’s obligation in our studio. We really help each other with ideas while designing, and we share other responsibilities too… Sometimes Robert focuses more on the technical part of our design and I focus more on presentation of the design, but in the end, we always make decisions together, making everything a product of us both.

    6. Could you describe a typical day of your work ?

    Coffee first. On most occasions we meet at our favourite café downtown Ljubljana, where we share our ideas and intertwine our creative minds so each of us has something to offer to Brajak Vitberg. On some occasions, we think and create and on others we realise our ideas, turning them into prototypes and products. Both of us have different dynamics, but we support each other, so when one gets lost or has difficulties in expressing their ideas and visions, the other is there to help with the articulation. We are friends first, then partners. We have had a strong personal bond before starting the project, meaning that this collaboration is more like a ‘productive friendship’ than a team.

    7. Why did you choose the specific materials you work with ?

    We experiment with many different materials. We seek and want to learn more and more, currently working with glass, lucite, metal, and marble, but want to broaden our design in more various and different materials. Our signature material is the dichroic foil – because it is so perfectly playful.

    8. What are the technical particularities of your creations ?

    Glass lamination. Also, we use various approaches which can sometimes be tricky, so we must make sure all the details are done right, which makes the process unstructured and full of improvisations and ad hoc decisions. It can be stressful, but if the product is as perfect as we strive it to be, then it is all worth it.

    9. What advices could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works ?

    Experiment with the materials. Be open to everything. Always try and do not give up when someone says your idea is impossible to make. Stick to your ideas and to yourself.

    10. If your works had to belong to a design movement, in which one would you define it ?

    Contemporary.

    11. What designers have influenced you ?

    P: Gabriella Crespi, Yves Klein, Achille Castiglioni.

    R: Geatano Scolari, Gino Sarfati, Cini Boeri, Willy Rizzo

    12. What contemporary designers do you appreciate ?

    P: Vicenzo De Cotiis

    R: Voukenas Petrides

    13. What contemporary artists (in any kind of art) have you been inspired by ?

    P: Olafur Eliasson.

    R: Eli Halili, Vojtech Kovarik

    14. If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be ?

    Search for eternity.

    Proust Questionnaire with very short answers (one or a few words) :
    (The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust. Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde, Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)

    1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

    P: Realisation of myself / R: Self fulfilment

    2. What is your greatest fear?

    P: Being mediocre, average / R: Being alone

    3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

    P: Indecision. / R: Stubbornness

    4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?

    P: Manipulation. / R: Small mindedness

    5. Which living person do you most admire?

    Parents / Parents

    6. What is your greatest extravagance?

    P: Vintage clothes / R: Old books and flea markets

    7. What is your current state of mind?

    P: “I want more” mind.” / R: Chase

    8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

    P: Self-marketing / R: Self discipline

    9. What is the quality you most like in a man ?

    P: Reliable, intellectual.  / R: Being a good cook

    10. What is the quality you most like in a woman ?

    P: To be sophisticated. / R: Independence

    11. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

    P: I am hungry / R: It is what it is

    12. Which talent would you most like to have?

    P: To play Rachmaninoff / R: To speak all languages

    13. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

    To stop procrastinating / same

    14. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

    P: Love for others. / R: It is yet to happen

    15. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

    P: The best version of me / R: Antinous

    16. Where would you most like to live?

    P: Between Italy and NY / R: Dalmatian island of Vis

    17. What is your most treasured possession?

    P: Family / R: …

    18. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

    P: Blaming others for your failure / R: Not being yourself

    19. What is your favorite occupation?

    P: Coffee first thing in the morning / R: Socialising

    20. What is your most marked characteristic?

    P: Authenticity / R: Extraversion

    21. What do you most value in your friends?

    P: Genuineness / R: Humor

    22. Who are your favorite writers?

    P: Hermann Hesse / R: de Sade

    23. Who is your hero of fiction?

    P: Batman / R: Catwoman

    24. Which historical figure do you most identify with?

    P: Cleopatra / R: …

    25. Who are your heroes in real life?

    P: Parents / P: single moms

    26. What are your favorite names?

    P: Esther, Pierre / Fredrik, Handrian, Kiara

    27. What is it that you most dislike?

    P: Injustice / R: Envy

    28. What is your greatest regret?

    P: Not listening to my instinct / R: I forget everything

    29. How would you like to die?

    P: In apocalypse. / R: In a plane crash

    30. What is your motto?

    P: Surround yourself with beautiful things and great minds / R: Do whatever you want

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