SHORTLISTED

Им благодариме на сите који испратија аплицација за нашиот Open Call за стипендија, спонзорирана од Feydom Interiors.

Поради големиот интерес, имињата на кандидатите кои влегуваат во потесниот круг за избор ќе бидат објавени на нашата веб/страна и FB страната. Победникот-ците ќе бидат објавени на 10.05.2014.

Текстот подолу е објавен во англиски јазик, поради полесна комуникација со нашата надворешна комисија.

 

GENERAL NOTE:

The list of shortlisted candidates is quite comprehensive; due to the considerable quality of the applications received. The level of the chosen candidates is varied: there are high school candidates, BA students, BA graduates, MA graduates and professionals with several years of work experience. We valued the applications equally, basing our judgement on the potential we would have of assisting the candidates in a certain (very specific) way. In other words, we created the short list according to the candidates we feel would most benefit from the advice and activities of the AaD agency.

We have therefore not selected the candidates whom we felt would not particularly benefit from the assistance of AaD, nor have we selected candidates whom we felt would need more than a course of 12 lessons (the number of lessons covered by the scholarship) in order to reach a reasonable level of improvement. It is important to mention that the number of applications was quite overwhelming and that some candidates could therefore simply not be shortlisted.

We also believe it is important to be open and critical of certain current situations and we hope that you will agree with this critique. We have noticed, for example, that there are certain ‘fashions’ (specific prevailing ‘styles’ of work ) in some of our local universities, with several students working really hard (as requested from certain universities) but with a lack of individuality and criticality in their work. In some candidates’ work, there is a clear interest in visual aspects, but the work is lacking of any conceptual depth, contextual value and appears to be purely decorative. Furthermore, we noticed that in general there is little understanding of what is meant by a ‘portfolio’; most of the applicants’ portfolios lack individuality and do not represent their work in the best possible manner, or even in a particularly coherent manner.

On a more positive note, we were impressed with the creativity and the diversity of the candidates’ work, appreciating also their varied experience and a certain persistence and passion towards their chosen profession. We know that in these difficult economical circumstances, it is hard to work within the creative industries or as a visual artist, therefore one of the aspects we valued most highly was the individual persuasiveness and the persistence with which the candidates have worked within their own fields – be it jewellery, fashion, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, architecture or fine art.

For all those who have not been selected for further consideration on this particular occasion, please follow our website or Facebook profile, as we will have new scholarships announced in the near future. We sincerely thank all those who have applied and look forward to seeing your work again.

 

SHORTLISTED ART AND DESIGN

The short-listed candidates are all exceptional in one way or another; in the short texts below, we have tried to explain what we found intriguing and inspirational about each candidate’s work.

 

Eli Ainoska

Eli is a confident installation artist, creating ‘total environments’ in which all visual means are ‘at play’ – the architectural elements, light, reflection and the selected objects that occupy the space of her installations. Eli’s work is not conceptual and she is preoccupied with form and the effects that can be achieved by visual means. In some aspects, her work intersects with contemporary design concepts, and her attempt to experiment in this area could benefit from our support. We алсо see her artistic work as a fertile ground for a fruitful collaboration.

 

 

Tanja Bogoevska

Tanja is an artist, who works on several different platforms and artistic media – installation, sculpture, etc. She has also worked as a glass designer, graphic designer, and so on. We can easy imagine a fruitful collaboration with Tanja, who is still lacking a clear overall approach, and a more rigorous visual language in all aspects of her work. There is also the need of a more visually coherent portfolio and an overall discussion of how to continue and focus her career. We are confident that we can support her efforts and provide her with an independent professional view of her projects.

 

Emilija Damjanovik

Emiilja’s new collections display a clear development of fresh ideas and potential as well as an understanding of the material she is using to create her newest jewellery pieces. We find her work to be highly promising, but that it is in need of improvement in terms of the communication of the ideas and context behind her work. Further clarity in terms of the visual communication of her work will also serve to develop a sense of refinement of the products themselves and a clearer overall design strategy.

 

Goran Kostovski

Goran is the person behind http://indog.info. We simply adore Goran’s work; he is talented, experienceд, full of flair and is a a classic example of a good graphic designer and illustrator. Although some of his art direction projects may appear rather corporate, his illustrations (supported by excellent art direction of photographs) offer an alternative approach, resulting in an original and individual approach.

 

Marta Mirova

Marta is a highly unusual applicant (in comparison to the others). We love that Marta is from Veles (rather than Skopje) and has found ways to establish and run her own shop for 12 years and has been producing her own collections in the last three years. Although she is already quite prolific – designing, producing and selling her own products – we believe that her work would benefit from a more refined branding (that might include setting up the company’s CV, the brand portfolio, as well as a catalogue, or company book) that we are confident would bring her own production to a more selective audience.

 

Aleksandra Petkova

Aleksandra is the person behind the ACID WEAR shop. The shop was formed in ’97 and since then she produces unique garments that reflect ‘street fashion’. Aleksandra’s style is well formed and has clarity of visual communication. In this sense, AaD does not see the need of a collaboration with Aleksandra, as she has already raised her stakes very high, but the issue of how to make ACID WEAR different  from other similar stores around the world, is appealing and intriquing for us and is one of the reasons why Aleksandra has been shortlisted.

 

Julijana Rosoklija

Julijana has just graduated with BA diploma and during her studies she worked in many different media. Her projects in graphic design and animation are very promising and since she is interested to pursue her further studies abroad, we will be able to support her attempts towards this, giving her clear guidance and practical advice on how the better represent her work in a more coherent manner. Her portfolio would benefit from a greater conceptual clarity, where particular relations may be established between Juliana’s interesting underlying concepts and the resulting visual material.

 

Art group SEE

The Art group SEE, works exclusively with land art. We like the rigour of this approach, and appreciate the themes and coherence of their work. As a group consisting of 10 individuals who create work individually,  but working collaboratively for the research stage, exhibition and post exhibition reflection, it would be difficult to work with them on the basis of their individual merit or creative input towards the group. What we find intriguing is the context within which they work, or a certain return to ‘Arte Povera’ which could be relevant for any period of time and all geographical areas. We like the seriousness and complexity of their approach towards contemporary art production, and we are therefore interested in supporting them in their potential expansion in all aspects of their work.

 

 

SHORTLISTED ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

 

We apologise for the delay in announcing the shortlisted candidates for architecture and design (interior, industrial, product design), and in our final announcement of the chosen candidate/s.

As mentioned before, we were impressed with the creativity and diversity of the candidates’ work received in response to the announced scholarship. Overwhelmed with the number of applications, we regret our inability to award all the individuals whose work we appreciate and with whom we would wish to work/collaborate. We have, however, sought to broaden the scope of the Open Call for the single scholarship, in the attempt to offer our course to more than one candidate.

This has become possible by pursuing support from other companies from the creative industry, and the offer of a further scholarship from the company fx3x, which has allowed us the opportunity of selecting more than one candidate at this point. This has delayed the selection and decision-making process, yet ultimately it has resulted in broader support for our candidates.

The finalists will be announced tomorrow – 15.05.2014, we now have 2 full scholarships, one from Feydom and the second one from fx3x.

Tanja Dobrovocka

Tanya’s designs for the ‘Ethno Cube’ and ‘Pixel Me’ tables, are enjoyable developments of an idea interpreting traditional folkloric patterns. However, we are under impression that the other projects, represented in the portfolio, do not align completely with the quality of that particular project. We feel that giving her clear guidance and practical advice on how the better represent her work in a more coherent manner will ultimately benefit her work as a designer. Her portfolio would benefit from a greater conceptual clarity, where particular relations may be established between Tanja’s interesting underlying concepts and the resulting products.

 

Ilcho Ilievski

Ilcho is an architecture student, currently in his final year, developing his thesis project. We thoroughly enjoyed his portfolio, which demonstrates both a passion and a natural inclination for the subject. The presentation of the work is both confident, mature and subtle. In relation to several of the other architecture candidates, his work and manner of presentation displays a great deal of individuality and character. The judgement of how to communicate the concepts of the projects displays both a refined graphic sensibility and a clarity of thought. While the work is already at a high level, we feel Ilcho’s work and portfolio would benefit form a further process of critical selection, enabling a more detailed presentation of some of the projects and a more refined narrative – which would place him in a stronger position when embarking on his professional career.

 

Emilija Kolevska

Emilija has been studying interior design at the LUI Fine Art and Design High School in Skopje, and now wants to apply to continue her studies of the same subject (interior design/Iindustrial design) at university level. As our youngest candidate for the scholarship, we feel her work already demonstrates a variety of skills, and would like to support her in her application for further education. Her portfolio, although prepared at short notice and therefore somewhat rushed and incomplete, illustrates her dedication and abilities: the model is ‘hand-made’ (rather than a computer rendering), the drawings are also all by hand and shows a confidence which we feel deserves for her to be shortlisted for the scholarship. We would certainly enjoy the possibility of helping her put together a more developed and complete portfolio.

 

Maja Zlatevska

Maja’s portfolio, as an architect, demonstrates a high level of maturity and confidence, combined with a variety of technical skills. Her inspiration from elements of traditional design is intriguing, although at times it feels somewhat forced and too literal a translation of the original patterns. Nevertheless, it is a strong body of work which we feel could be further improved by a refinement of the visual communication of ideas and the overall manner of presentation, so that the conceptual and contextual aspects of the work is highlighted rather than the purely decorative.

 

Natasha Tanushevska

Natasha’s portfolio contains several interesting designs and some of the drawings and illustrations are evidence of a talented individual with many skills. We enjoyed the concept of the ‘Firefly’ lighting and the ‘space-smart’ air-purifier, although they are not yet fully developed as prototypes, while the ‘Bloomy chair’ and the “Levitating light’ designs are both more consistent and delightful designs. We value the sketches and models developed for her graduation thesis (the “Levitating light’ project); her portfolio demonstrates a certain curiosity about the world and a solid way of working. Making a more critical selection of works and focusing on fewer, stronger projects would certainly improve her portfolio. It would also benefit from a clearer and more consistent manner of visual communication, which we are confident we would be able to offer her; this would also serve to develop a further refinement of the products themselves and a clearer overall design strategy.