The Local: Aleksandar Lazarkov
Three things the artist and designer wouldn’t be without.
It begins with his curiosity about the unusual things other people tend to miss.
As a child, he discovered that drawing and sculpture gave that curiosity somewhere to go. Art school and the National Academy of Art later confirmed the feeling. An Erasmus exchange in Spain a few years ago opened his interests further. Bilbao brought architecture, ceramics, ecology and technology into the same frame. There, he realised his thinking crossed disciplines: design, construction and technology belonged together. Primarily an artist and designer, he has taken part in more than 50 group exhibitions and held 12 solo shows, earning two BAZA Award nominations and a nomination for the Stoyan Kambarev Award. At the time of this interview, he was developing his own studio, focused on light-based forms and experimental design.
Printer
Not just any printer, but a 3D printer. I use it every day to visualise ideas and turn them into physical objects. It lets me create complex geometries that traditional methods can’t achieve, making unusual forms and structures possible.
Every day I print is a day I learn something new and learn how to think.
I’m constantly experimenting with materials. That lets me make all sorts of objects and, more often than not, creates plenty of problems for me to solve afterwards. I find the whole process fascinating. I love it.
Swiss Army knife
This is the second thing I can’t do without.
I carry it every day and use it for something almost every day. Or it just falls out of my pocket when I take out my keys. Basic as it may be, it gives me the reassurance that I’m ready for anything.
Space
The third thing isn’t exactly an object, but it holds all my objects. There’s usually never enough of it. Space brings together everything I do, and it tends to be in shortest supply just when I need it most.
I can’t do without it, whether it’s cluttered or empty.
It’s the foundation for everything I build. There’s a Bulgarian saying about only stretching as far as your rug allows, but I always end up off the rug and onto the floor. I think that’s the most productive thing for me, and for artists in general: we shouldn’t limit ourselves. We should always look for a space where we feel free.
The Local: Simone Civitillo (in Bulgarian)
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