Street Levels Gallery collaborated with AEC Interesni Kazki on the project 1922-2022. MADE OF STAR STUFF, the work created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous astrophysicist Margherita Hack. An occasion that gave us the chance to delve into the artist’s work not only from the point of view of her practices and approach in situ, but also to intercept her vision, her transversal thinking, her paradigmatic path.
AEC Interesni Kazki fits into the international urban scenario with a totally singular trajectory. With his imagery, he has made himself capable of launching new trajectories of style, opening up an artistic parenthesis that has already profoundly marked the culture of public art but still has much to write, experiment and reveal.
With Short Talks w/ AEC Interesni Kazki, Street Levels Gallery takes a snapshot of the artist’s thinking, looking at all that lurks behind the wall and that is not manifested except for a few jokes in confidence.
What does the wall mean to you? Is it just a support or is the creative action of turning it into something else you think can communicate something more about your themes (end of the Age of Walls, war, struggle, conflicts between cultures)?
First of all, painting on the wall is just a different discipline, which requires some specific thinking attitude and quick-working techniques. I prefer not to mystify about the fact that it is wall and it is in a public space. Thematically, my public works don’t really change from my studio works. Maybe in the past I was trying to bring some specific message with my public murals, but then I realized that nobody really care — or even on the counter-side — people are often trying to find some clever concept where there are none.
Have you noticed that your human figures seem expressionless, emotionless?
Yes, some people told me about this. I think it is because emotion is an act by itself, and each of my pieces is describing some particular event, where my characters are just playing their roles in this event, they’re not themselves events. I guess this trick is similar to iconography.
Are you generally satisfied with your finished piece?
Yes, I am, but each time I force myself to reach the satisfaction from work, and I’m not leaving my work until this feeling shows up.
What would you like the audience to see in your work?
I like when there are many different visions and views on what my piece is about. More interpretations-it’s better.
What memories do you have of your first piece? How much have you changed artistically compared to the last ones?
The works I did 20 years ago and nowadays are completely different. But the works I made 10 years ago already have something of what I do now. Definitely there is and has to be an artistic evolution for every artist. Sometimes I’m getting bored with some particular themes or ideas in my works and I’m trying to search for something fresh and new. And when I find it, I feel like a scientist who’s just discovered something.
How important do you think it is to update, evaluate and test new creative approaches and techniques?
In this past 20 years I’ve changed many materials for my work — for mural painting as well as for the studio works. As for the present moment, I really enjoy working with oil paint. I’m just a painter, not a multidisciplinary artist.
How do you achieve that interaction between form and content? Do you usually think about the message you want to convey first and then search for the adequate image for it?
As I said before, I don’t care about particular content and message. I like to create kind of absurd moods in my work. It makes the piece much more multifaceted.
