My name is Mananiko Kobakhidze. I am an Illustrator and graphic designer from Tbilisi, Georgia. I study digital Media at Hfk-Bremen, Germany at the moment. I was raised in theater, and mainly that connection created my background. As a child, I tried to create puzzles and scenarios, which was quite challenging for me, helped with boredom. Now I try to translate childhood memories into my existing projects
Are there any artists who inspired you and shaped your aesthetics?
Yes, Bauhaus artist and DADA, their aesthetics. Net artists definitely such as Jodi art collective and Cory Arcangel. And some pop artists like John Baldassari. And of course architecture inspires me a lot.
What is your working process and what software do you use?
I mostly do the research a bit and then a lot of sketches. And finally, it comes in the form of an artwork. It depends. I try to shift into Net Art, as much as possible. Not just creating something that is posted on the net but that is created for the net and in the net itself. The tools I use differ. But it is mostely Maya, Adobe cloud, Unity, Processing, etc.
What are your thoughts on blockchain and NFT?
Is there something that is invisible on the internet? I meant the circulation of Data. I don’t think so. Information is stored somewhere right, never forgotten, everything is connected to each other. Even if it’s not on our screen, it’s saved forever to somewhere waiting for a comeback. Our information is never lost or forgotten, it will always surface somewhere. NFT is a unique way of representing data. Though we know what it’s unique, it seems to me that we can still find that one pixel on another artwork because for example, you screenshot it and then it becomes a new artwork, and then u do it again, and so the process is a chain of simulacrums. And even if we can go back to the origin with the blockchain, do we need it? is that so important to know the origin in the end?
Do you think that this new economy will change how digital artists operate?
Definitely, a lot of art agents (in a sense of institutions) have realized the power of remote, intangible exhibitions, communication via the web, etc. So at least for a while I think the focus will be shifted to digital domination.
Do see yourself selling your art in tokens, and what is your approach towards cryptocurrency?
Well, I won’t go that far, I know a lot of people are shifting to that kind of currency, but I think it needs time.
What collaborations you would like to mention that you did recently?
The game that I’ve made with help of Dennis Hoffmann and the sounds of Anushka Chkheidze: the Re-invention of Creation. It’s a game based on,7 days of creation, where every player is contributing to being creators a.k.a. gods. First was the concept, then visuals and coding, and then an endless process of back and forth, meaning you build a game, you test it, you get comments, and all over again, until the point you understand that it’s good. And even then you might find something that you want to fix.
What are you working on now?
My masters project in Hfk-bremen. It is about free play and Kamikadze Loggias from Georgia. It is a mixture, how can one play a game, without rules and at the same time it’s a “game” of self-proclaimed architects who just build buildings as they wish. It is a game of dependency.
What is important for you as an artist to evoke in your viewers?
I want them to play. For me, it’s important if they look at my works as the puzzles to solve, and can re-imagine them as they like.
More on Mananiko Kobakhidze: FALLACIES OF EMBELLISHMENT
Instagram | Behance
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