y name is Stefan Haus. I was born in 1980 in Slavonski brod, Croatia and pretty much enjoyed my childhood (which btw still lasts). Luckily, my parents were people of culture, so I grew up in a home filled with classical music and jazz records, and a lot of books. Slavonski Brod was no Zagreb (the capital), but when you’re 15 and younger, you don’t care much about it. One of my father’s friends was a guy who has read Marquez’ “100 years of solitude” a dozen times, which can give you an idea of the crowd I was in, most of the time. The most important thing in my childhood was the exposure to those damn books. I knew that they exist (philosophy and other mind-blowing sparks)! It was easier for me to befriend them (the books) years after. I am sure that other people who grew in different homes (ones with no books) were rather reluctant toward that “strangeness” (later on). So, it was one of those wonderful fortuities that allowed my life to flourish. Or to sink into a dark hole, I don’t know yet!  Also, Slavonski Brod is a city by the river and near large meadows and few hills, so that landscape was all together very memorable. The river. We would swim in it. Is it possible to remember swimming 15 years later? In 1995 we moved to another part of the country. But that’s another story.

Why did you decide to study art?

SH. I still don’t know who decided to study who, me art or art myself. I am usually reserved toward all those stories about destiny, so I’m willing to call it a beautiful coincidence. First thing I remember wanting to do was fashion design. I was 13 then. I was eating Vogue and Marie Claire’s for breakfast! When 15 I even enrolled a tailoring school. I don’t remember what was it. Was it the gorgeous models in pretty clothes, or the pretty clothes. Considering my current outfit, I guess it was the first thing. When we moved to another city where I didn’t want to continue that road (who would, after discovering modern art?), I went to the sculpture department at the School for Applied Arts in Pula (city on the coast, north). In 1999 I went to Split (city on the coast, a bit south) to study sculpture at the Art Academy. The more time I spent learning about art, the more interested I was. First thing that got me hooked was the early 20th century “modernists” like Picasso, Duchamp, Kandinsky and Mondrian. I liked the work very much, and of course, didn’t have a clue about it. Then, it was the American Pop-Art. Wow! I was crazy about it! About almost all of them. But the crucial moment was somewhere in 1997 or 1998, when I discovered the old editions of Art News and Artforum magazines in my school’s principal’s office. There were two articles, one from the late 80s, about Anselm Kiefer, and the other from the early 90s, about Jeff Koons. And that was that. You had, that’s how I looked at it then, two guys, educated, smart and successful, doing very impressive art. And I thought, “hey, I want that!” My art education is not over. Whoever thinks that you finish your studies at 24 or something like that – is dead wrong. That is, I actually started studying art at 25, when I came to Zagreb and started reading philosophy. Studying sculpture or painting is one thing. Studying art is something else. To be able to figure out the possibility and necessity of art (and its essence) and the relationship of art and being, you need to do a lot of “reading” and thinking.

Were your parents supportive in your artistic endeavors?

SH. Well, as much as they could. It would be easier if they were rich or if I started selling paintings five years ago. Lack of (financial) success makes people trust you less and less. I mean, would you trust someone who was “fantasizing” about something? Without any “proof” that it made sense? I was asked that “Why don’t you get a real job?” question a hundred times. I saw a real job as a threat. A lot of my friends work and have financial security, but they don’t have time (nor energy) for art and thinking. However, I believe my parents are still not completely disappointed with me.

What evolutionary stages has your art gone through?

SH. Only in understanding of it. Since day one, my “art” was amazingly concentrated around one thing and one thing only, and that is to critically reflect the world we live in, or if you will, man’s work. Because, the world is a man’s work. This world has many sides to it. Or: the essence of the man who produced it has many sides. Therefore, all my, at first very different works, mirror all those, at first very different, aspect of the “arrangement” we find ourselves in (nihilism, self-destruction, world war, alienation etc). So, at first, I was partly aware of what I was doing. Now, I am more aware. Even more! I realize that not only that that’s not enough, but it’s completely devastating for art to reduce itself to “journalism” in which it, though critically (tells you that it’s wrong for you), reproduces the found “state of play”. I hate journalism in art. I hate my art as well. Art has to be able to do more. In a few words, art has to be able to produce the truth of being. That is, to free you from all sorts of slavery and empower you to be truly free (free in true life). Truth sounds too abstract, I know. Everyone seems to see it his or her way. It isn’t so. Truth must have its essence. Plato thought it to be The Good. Something that can and must save lives. Life obviously (or not) has something destructive in itself. Others thought that absolute freedom is the essence of truth, and that only that which is absolutely free, lives truly. This needs to be dealt with, as soon as possible.

How have your expectations changed over the years?

SH. Sure they did. I expect more from art and myself with each year. The fact that others are (still) not that ambitious only makes it more interesting. And more fun!

Do you think that your education had an influence on the diversity of media you work with today?

SH. Yes. As I said earlier, my (philosophical) education (which will last and entertain me for an entire lifetime), made me see all sorts of different aspects and “corners” of our condition. I know that the “art market” prefers “branding” and “style”, but what is art market compared to truth and freedom? Seriously. I would love to be loaded with cash, but there are things that deserve my love more. It
was never an option to “stylistically” do one or two things, just to be easily recognized. Maybe it was a mistake. Who knows. At this point, I’m running it this way.

“Playing no 29″, 2008, c-print, 205 x 135 cm

Do you feel that the media that you work with should represent our present day?

SH. Yes. I know some “think” that painting is dead. That same people think their bodies are dead. These people don’t know what life and death are. Some believe that “digital” age needs digital art. New media etc. But what is “present day”!? Is it a matter of numerical calendar or something else? What would happen if we were to finally nuke everything up, or an asteroid would smash everything up, what would we do? Cry for our i-phones and laptops and hd cameras? No. We would draw and paint. We’ve been doing it for thousands of years. It might be a good thing to ask ourselves not only is our hand more appropriate to our essence (than digital media for instance) but also what is to “be digital”? What is that? What’s the reality of the “digital”? Are ones and zeros something we should relate to, or maybe something that is slowly but surely, if not destroying us, but letting us forget about out bodily and spiritual richness? One of the reasons I mostly make work with my hand (I did use digital media few times) is to keep myself away from the digital “universe” in which everything gets reduced to information. “Present day” will pass, questions will remain. Life will remain. Painting will remain.

Can you describe your style of work?

SH. Well, I wouldn’t. There’s no “word” I could use. I make works that mirror man’s crimes toward himself and everything else alive and (hopefully) provoke thinking.

How do you support your art making habit?

SH. As you can see on the website (blog), I am not very productive. I work few times a year, and mostly on small scale. So, I don’t spend much money. And don’t need much. I am of humble needs. I was so far very fortunate with my landlord lady (who seems to believe I have stars on my side). I did and still do odd jobs like babysitting (for friends), work sometimes for a local arts organization etc. Also, I did sell few paintings here and there (for little sums). Anyways, it’s been all so modest in numbers. But extravagant in time and interests!

I blog to get people seriously interested in art, to make them realize that art has way more to do with them than they think.

The art world has been infiltrated with blogs and other forms of online media—giving readers information and fresh content faster than traditional print magazines can realistically do. In other words, it could take a week or a month behind for print magazines to publish breaking art news. Do you think print art magazines will eventually be a thing of the past– or will they always have their place?

SH. If information is what you want, it doesn’t really matter. Information is information. Printed or seen on a screen. Question is, what is an information? What is the process of “in-forming” something? What kind of “form” are you getting into, when being in-formed? You and I are just an information to most of people. Nothing more. And btw, how many information do you take in, every day? Hundreds? Thousands? Who did what, where and when, etc. Mostly it’s all trash.

Art magazines are here for you to think about art. I hope they will not go out of print. I am always happy to take Artforum in my hands, or Art Review etc. I like paper. Considering that information comes faster on a screen, I suggest magazines to focus more on images and texts about art. Texts you read slowly. When on a screen, images are not seen, they are scanned. When on a screen, text is also not read, it’s scanned. We are scanners while in front of a screen. Fast paced world (fast paced? what would flowers say about that?) kills time. I hope art magazines will work on us finding time for art (and ourselves).

The Internet has also changed how success in the art world can be interpreted. Not long ago it was assumed that an artist has not “arrived” unless he moved to a major cultural hub like New York. Some say it is the thing of the past, but there are still in some circles, hard-liners view of what “success” in the art world means. Nevertheless, with the Internet, artists can reach a global audience– and offer opinions and images that can impact readers from the comfort of their own homes. What are your thoughts on this? What is your definition of a successful artist?

SH. If you draw conclusions out of my previous answers,  it’s obvious that truly successful artist is the one which has makes true art, the one that produces truth (sense, meaning, purpose of life if you will). Everything else is money making. Picasso wasn’t a successful artist. He was a magnificent painter, but that’s something else. I repeat, everything else is making money. Which isn’t the worst thing in the world! And you can be a successful artists (if you’re lucky enough to pull it off. Also, true “luck” is when you meet or see the truth) in New York or in a small country village in Croatia. Of course, you’ll reach greater audience in NY, or London. Giotto and Fra Angelico didn’t have to go to New York or London. They painted (as they saw and felt it) the true life. With the help of the Internet, you can reach a “global world”. That’s true. But let’s not have illusions that the global world will get more than an information. Which is nothing. It can be something great, if you turn it into something else. Like knowledge and experience!

What advice do you have for emerging artists who face obstacle after obstacle in claiming their slice of the pie, so to speak?

SH. Again, there are pies and then there are pies. If you want a brand, money and fame, “discover” your own style and go to New York or Hong Kong or Rio, develop social skills and you’ll have it. If you want more from art and yourself, invest your time and life to philosophical and similar studies. And don’t let anyone near you and your work until you’re willing to die for the (art) production you’re doing.

LEARN MORE ABOUT STEFAN BY VISITING HIS BLOG
http://stefanhaus.blogspot.com/

stefanhauswords.blogspot.com