Vladimir Vidanovski

As an image-maker growing up in a visual era, I find that the idea of an image has shifted from being a representation of an actuality, to an actuality within itself. My work deals with this confluences between the real and imaginary, the faux and authentic, the virtual and physical.

With my photographs, I present moments in spaces that seem to be not of any temporal nature, ones constructed on the basis of memories and desires, playing with their physicality, and lack thereof. I bring made-up characters to life, ones that stem from my subconscious, acquainting the audience with the personalities that inhabit my imaginary worlds.

Through my motion work I construct narratives that blur the lines between fantasy and mundanity, exploring the intersectional effects that result from such convergence. I search for relationships between past, present and future, investigating how memories, dreams and the subconscious come into play to create collective emotional human experiences.

GRADUATION PROJECT

Sometimes I look for comfort in the digital memorabilia buried deep in my old hard drives. The realities that these images open up seem sweeter than my very own. My first digital drawings, computer games, family photos and video, pixelated video logs, low-quality voice recordings, PowerPoint presentations - all giving me a strange conflicting feeling of serenity that comes with memories, and the confrontation of my own existence. Knowingly accepting time’s passage, while staring right at its proof.

As an attempt to reconnect to my inner child, I started revisiting my old computer files, when a narrative started to emerge. Each file became a building block, a jigsaw piece, allowing me to assemble the puzzle that is my screen-based upbringing. Along the way, I explored the ways media has affected my own childhood, in order to recognise its wider influence. The final result is a story that floats in the in-between space of my dreams and reality, truth and fantasy, the virtual and the real. A conclusion to the narrative I seem to have started long ago.