An Interview with Gagosh on Designing the Lomo'Instant White with Mysticism

Georgian urban artist Gagosh is known for his references from literature when it comes to his visual work in stencils, installations, mosaic and street poetry. A socially aware artist he is, Gagosh discusses social stigmas, labor rights, unemployment and politics in society through art. When he's not out there fulfilling his artistic advocacy, Gagosh will mark small devices with his creative touch. This time, he has painted over the Lomo'Instant White.

Here's our exclusive interview with Gagosh and his experience with the collaboration with Lomography.

Tell us about yourself and your projects.

Mostly I do street art. I like to try different forms of street art and observe what will be the feedback, how people receive the messages and what they see behind it. Gradually I understood that when you want to include different messages you need to wrap up them in different styles. For example if you want to address a vulnerable issues, being it political or social, you need to make a street poem, in that way it's sharper and people grasp it, If you want to say, “hey people, smile more” or “you should change attitude towards something” then it’s better to do a mosaic and so on. I ended up doing various styles as graffiti, stencil art, street poetry, mosaics, lock-ons, and installations. Also, I do new media art and cyber art and right now, my goal is to merge them with street art and do projects that include technological challenges as well as artistic ones.

Why were you interested in the Lomo’Instant White Project and what was your first impression of the camera?

I told to myself, If I can’t deal with taking photos, maybe I challenge myself to play with the camera itself. Basically, I like the idea of coloring things around me so the idea of the project was fully acceptable for me.

What was your first impression when you heard about the project and cooperation with Lomography?

I didn’t know anything about Lomography, my friend asked me to join the project. So I did some research afterward and I took it as a challenge. For me, photography and particularly, lenses were always associated with mystery and depiction of something that is constantly on the move, as time, maybe that’s why I have never tried to be a photographer.

What was the inspiration for your Lomo’Instant White?

As I mentioned above, for me photography is a mystery, so I tried to find the story of mysticism and of course, what one can find more mysterious than Mikhail Bulgakov's “Master and Margarita”? I was also inspired by the Chagall painting of Master and Margarita’s air floating kiss. So I recreated the kiss and took the scene near the black hole.

General relativity states that there is a singularity in the center of the black hole, meaning that spacetime curvature is infinite there. In other words, there is no time and space that can be perceived as an eternity. And this is where Master and Margarita are going at the end of the book, maybe this is the place where all things go?

Where do you usually go to, to get your inspiration?

I get inspiration from daily life. It’s not necessary to visit any special place for inspiration, it can be your surroundings, your current moment, your status in society, even problems around you or people around you. I think inspiration is everywhere, all artists should do is to be observant.

What message are you hoping to convey with your finished Lomo’Instant White artwork?

Faust had a deal with Mephistopheles that he will give up his soul when he will find a moment in life as meaningful as to say, “stay a while you are so beautiful”. So I painted scene that depicts one beautiful moment from the life of Master and Margarita and put it in the context of eternity, near the black hole to make a comparison between eternity and a particular moment of the life, because I think photography is the same=to depict a moment, to tell a continuous story within a second.

If you are to give this to your favorite artist or designer from the past or now, who will that be?

I won’t give it to someone because I think art is not a gift, but a belonging of the people. So I would put it on the street and it would be owned by the first person who would find it attractive and take home.

What is your vision with your art? What kind of message are you trying to send to your audience?

For me, art is a language and it always changes. With street art, I want to have a conversation with people about ongoing issues, about politics, sociology or just about my feelings. And I want to hear them back, cause that’s how communication is made. And if I see that my language is not perceived I try to change the dialect. Nothing is more miserable than artist talking to himself!

For more of his works, visit his website and Facebook. Start with a blank canvas like the Lomo'Instant White and personalize it with your own art, available in the Online Shop and Gallery Sttores worldwide.

Lomography Georgia teamed up with artist Giorgio Gagoshidze a.k.a. Gagosh to design the Lomo'Instant camera to support Lomography Georgia and Georgian Artists for Vertiando # Avto, Waiting for You, Join Us a campaign for 17-year-old Avto Kiknaveelidze's spinal cord injury rehabilitation course. Gagosh's one and only Lomo'Instant Master and Margarita Edition is priced at 100 GEL. For purchase, contact Merab Kiknavelidze through 01019024633.

Payment (of any currency) may be made via:

Receiver: Merab Kiknavelidze
Bank of Georgia (bank code BAGAGE22)
Account Number: GE44BG0000000035929400
(Intermediate Banks: Commerzbank Frankfurt, Germany; SWIFT: COBADEFF Citibank NA New York, USA; SWIFT: CITIUS33)
TBC Bank (bank code TBCBGE22)
Account Number: GE59TB7465345062100003.

2018-06-09 #gear #lomo-instant #lomo-instant-white #gagosh