INTERVIEWS

01

interviews

10:02

BHAGYA SIVARAMAN

Sivaraman is a creative coach, self-taught inter-disciplinary artist, and an entrepreneur. She runs her own creative business in the combination of Healing, Fine, and Wearable arts. Her wearable art form sees the creation of contemporary handmade jewellery that is unique, created with intention and intuition to champion for unapologetic self- expression. Sivaraman uses polymer clay as a medium to fiercely express her love and curiosity for innumerable shapes and colours in the form of modern-day statement jewellery. Playing with clay also serves as her personal restorative practice of the mind.

02

interviews

44:34

In Your Face: Interview: Ryder Ripps

Ryder Ripps is an American conceptual artist, programmer, and creative director.

03

interviews

10:17

Joan Rivers finds humor in being yourself

On November 16, 2006, Joan Rivers spoke about her experience as a female comic in the early 60s and finding her comedic voice. Interview conducted by director Michael Kantor for the six-hour PBS comedy series, “Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America” (2009).

04

interviews

10:24

The Funniest Girl in NYC

05

interviews

09:52

Darja Bajagić: “My work is a provocative exploration of society”

Darja Bajagić’s work confronts loaded thematic content and recontextualizes history, urging viewers to navigate the complexities of contemporary society through their own interpretations. We met with the artist at the Montenegro Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, in her exhibition It Takes an Island to Feel This Good. An exhibition that reframes the layered history of Mamula Island—a site once used as a fortress, prison, and concentration camp, now transformed into a luxury hotel. Through fragmented archival images and symbolic shapes, Darja Bajagić challenges viewers to confront the tension between historical memory and contemporary reality without offering clear answers. "My goal is to highlight the complexities of the world that we live in," Darja Bajagić explains, "and assert agency to the viewer." Scavenging images from the dark web and state archives, Darja Bajagić explores the tension between what is seen and what is hidden beneath. Through imagery and formal decisions such as shape and composition, she subtly intertwines historical references and contemporary issues through a deliberately disjointed narrative style. The resulting work is intentionally ambiguous, echoing her ongoing theme of obscured and fractured narratives. As an artist, Darja Bajagić resists offering her audience definitive interpretations, instead urging them to engage with the work on their own terms: "I don’t give instruction for the viewer on how to understand the work." Darja Bajagić (B. 1990 in Montenegro) is an artist whose research-based work is known for its provocative exploration of contemporary and historical themes. She splits her time between Chicago and Montenegro. In 2014 she received an MFA from Yale University. Darja Bajagić’s work has been shown at international institutions such as Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-οn-Hudson, US); Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland and Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Franc. In 2024, she represented Montenegro at the Venice Biennale.

06

interviews

02:40

Erik Yvon

Erik Yvon is a Melbourne / Naarm-based fashion designer redefining perceptions of femininity and masculinity. His bold, transeasonal pieces are a dynamic combination of colours, prints, shapes and textures – drawing inspiration from art, his everyday surroundings, and origins in the island of Mauritius. Having completed a Bachelor of Fashion Design at RMIT University in 2014, Erik gained experience training under iconic Australian labels such as Romance Was Born and Neo Dia. From here, he continued to find success in national design competitions such as The Wool Awards and the Australian Fashion Awards. Yvon launched his eponymous label in 2017 with a focus on sustainable and ethical production. Each piece is made to order, and every collections includes collaboration with some of Australia's brightest textile and jewellery designers. His works have a appeared in countless editorials and runways – recently opening the Next Gen Runway at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (2021). As he continues to expand his reach across the globe, he hopes to continue to share stories of diversity and joy through his incomparable style and personality.

07

interviews

04:33

MICHAEL STANIAK

Michael Staniak’s work concerns the changing dynamics of images and materiality in light of the proliferation of digital culture. Grouped into the post-internet movement, Staniak’s process-oriented paintings explore the relationship between flatness and texture in digital images. To create his paintings, he builds up textural surfaces out of materials such as casting compound that he then sprays with acrylic paint, creating subtle gradients of texture color with minor stippling that evoke the effects of inkjet printers. The work oscillates between a sensation of a flat, screen-mediated image and the rich texture of an analog painting. For Staniak, the life of the painting both as object and image is crucial. “I consider the finished work as a moment in my practice; something to be considered and valued as an object that will ultimately end up as another picture entering the stream of the internet,” he has said.

08

interviews

07:35

Michaela Stark on subverting fashion's body ideals

In this episode of In The Studio With... body inclusive fashion designer Michaela Stark invites us into the creative chaos of her space where she's 'making a new kind of beauty'. Her boundary-pushing attitude is fuelled by “a lot of laughter and fun,” she tells Dazed, as she opens up on working with Beyoncé, the cultural impact of her reimagined Victoria's Secret show and being fuelled by the “body dysmorphia of my entire generation.”

09

interviews

05:59

Timeless Wisdom from 89-Year-Old Investing Legend Ed Thorp

Edward O. Thorp is the author of the bestseller Beat the Dealer, which transformed the game of blackjack. His subsequent book, Beat the Market, coauthored with Sheen T. Kassouf, influenced securities markets around the globe. He is also the author of A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market. Edward was one of the world’s best blackjack players and investors, and his hedge funds were profitable every year for 29 years.

10
Original

interviews

01:20

TAEETIMEE | MAFF chat

“Create art just to create art. Don’t follow whatever’s trendy or be motivated by money. Creating what you love the most is so much more rewarding and fulfilling." For this episode of MAFF chat we dial in with Tae-young K.C, a Korean director and artist who grew up in the Western world. We fell in love with her animation and illustration style which she utilizes to tell stories that resonate with her audience.

11
Original

interviews

01:47

Pelitoz Locos | MAFF Tour Colombia (Episode 4)

For Episode 4 of MAFF Tour Colombia, we head to Bogotá to meet with visual artist, Fabian Rojas, who created the project and alter alias, Pelitoz Locos. Rojas uses hair as a canvas for creativity and shows us the opportunity for self-expression and transformation through styling. Most of all, Pelitoz Locos is about having fun and playing with ones identity while using hair as the medium. Starring models, Vagabunda Frite & Alexa Tmg.

12

interviews

07:47

Chia Amisola, Art & Code Talk at DEMO2024

Chia Amisola is a Filipino internet artist and founder of Developh, a nonprofit community that seeks to promote the use of 'technology as a tool for liberation rather than oppression.

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interviews

Renzo Piano: On the Shoulders of Giants

Youtube

In-depth biographical interview with the Pritzker prizewinning Italian architect Renzo Piano – known for celebrated buildings such as The Shard and Centre Georges Pompidou – who explains why it’s okay “to steal” as long as you give something back. “What keeps people alive is not what you’ve done, what you’ve been, but what you will be and what you will do.” Piano feels that one must avoid falling into the trap of nostalgia by thinking too much about one’s roots and past. Born in Genoa, he feels that the sea and its connotations are part of what shaped him: “The sea is like a mysterious place to go one day, so you grow up with this idea to run away one day, and to discover the rest of the world.” Moreover, compares the sea to a soup, “a consommé of different cultures.” “It’s very funny, because as an architect, at a certain age, when you travel you feel at home everywhere.” Piano, who considers himself to be a European rather than an Italian, feels that that travelling is extremely important, because it allows you to get away from what you’re doing, permitting you to see it more clearly when you return. As an architect, you can’t simply be “a tourist”, but you need to understand and listen – not only to people, but also to places, as places too have a story to tell. In continuation of this, he emphasizes that “young people should travel to understand how lucky they are to be born in a place where you live on the shoulders of giants. You live on the freedom that was build up in centuries.” If you don’t go away, if you don’t travel, you don’t understand how lucky you are. Moreover, it is important that you appreciate that diversity is a value, not a problem, and what makes us grow, learn – and steal: “Stealing, I know, is not nice, but if the condition is that you give back, it’s not that bad.” When young people come to work at Piano’s offices, what they’re told is to “take, take away – don’t wait for us to give you, take. But if possible, give back one day.” “Architects don’t change history, but they witness the change of history.” Architects give a shape to the change, which is why public buildings are so important and apart from being good craftsmen, architects need to master the social aspect: “You are not just a builder, you are also a civic person, so you make a shelter for human beings and human communities. And this becomes even more interesting, because then you make buildings that are for people to stay together and to share values, which is the beginning of maybe making a better world.” In continuation of this, though the war didn’t affect him directly, Piano (b. 1937) grew up with a pacifistic attitude, which has stayed with him ever since: “Making a great building is a civic gesture – a gesture of peace.”

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