Fine arts student: As long as something draws breath, there is art
Žan Gašperič studies time and space arts and enjoys the diverse communities that exist under one roof in Sörnäinen campus.
Who are you and how did you know you wanted to study at Uniarts Helsinki?
I am Žan, 24, from Slovenia. I’m currently in my final year of studying time and space arts in the Master’s Programme in Fine Arts. I work under my own brand identity žANŽAN, where I’m both the subject and the author, building a story-driven world by blending together clothing, design and visuals.
Funnily enough, it was actually interviews like these and the university’s various videos that first drew me in to this school. Uniarts Helsinki stood out to me because of its well-structured website filled with student projects, interviews and tours around the school, which convey the kind of environment you’re signing up for… and I liked what I saw.
What do you remember most about the application process or the entrance examinations?
I remember dedicating a good chunk of my summer specifically to creating a single, blended work for my Uniarts Helsinki portfolio. I felt that way I could really emphasise the mediums I was interested in, and it helped a lot with keeping focus. I also treated the entire portfolio presentation as a publication in itself: I designed it as something I’d want to see printed and out in the world even as a standalone piece, regardless of the admissions process. I imagine so many applications get sent in that communicating my sense of design, while also making the process of review more enjoyable, was a big part of why I was considered and accepted.
What is the best part of studying?
I would say being able to choose your courses and basically curate your dream curriculum is the best part. Throughout these years I’ve taken courses in filmmaking, sound design and even theatre (at the neighbouring Theatre Academy) and ended this semester with my favourite thus far: a RISO printing course. That totally obsessed me, and I used it to print about 700 publications as part of my master’s work.
What has been the most challenging aspect in your studies?
When signing up for courses, it’s a bit difficult to know what to expect. I think I’ve often stuck a course out, hoping it would get better or that I’d still get something out of it. While that’s definitely been true sometimes, I think I should have trusted my gut more often and just dropped out when it wasn’t working. It’s not necessarily the course’s or the professor’s fault either; sometimes it’s just me feeling like it’s not for me.
What have been the most memorable experiences during your studies?
I love that the Theatre Academy is connected to the Academy of Fine Arts. It’s not just the physical, visual change of school environment, but the diversification of communities too. We also get to see all of their performances, which have given me so much inspiration and joy. I love TeaK (short for Theatre Academy) and its people.
What do you hope to do after graduation?
Under žANŽAN, I want to create clothing pieces accompanied by design publications, each delving into a certain topic, paired with visual promotional material — all tied together within one consistent style. I see this as a chance to blend my interests and put my visual language out into the world, to let it breathe and exist on its own. There are a lot of open questions: how to operate within a capitalist, exploitation-incentivised world and how to deal with consumerism itself. I don’t have all the answers yet for how that will look, but I know I want to stay dedicated to an ethical perspective, toward animals and humans alike.
I’d like to release a single piece at a time and build a whole identity and story around it, maybe even keeping the clothing to one singular size. We’ll see, but either way I’m very excited for the future. Alongside this, I’d also love to work in a creative studio, since design and visuals are at the core of what I do. That may be particularly true until žANŽAN becomes self-sustaining.
What kind of dreams do you have?
I wish we understood each other better. I think we all want the same things, deep down, but we’ve found such different, often opposing ways of trying to get there. I hope for a world driven by a desire to love and be loved, by all, for all.
Imagine a future without art. How would you describe that world?
I don’t believe such a world can exist. Art is in life — in the everyday, in conversations, emotions, nature, in beings, and correspondingly in what we create. I think it’s essential to our existence, as essential as existing itself. As long as something draws breath, there is art. I don’t know what kind of answer this question was searching for, but I cannot bring myself to imagine a world without art.
What kind of impact do you want your art to have on the future?
I want it to help us look more honestly at our own ways of thinking and acting, especially at the links between animal abuse and the broader patterns of violence and dehumanisation in our lives. I’m currently reading The Sexual Politics of Meat, and it highlights how connected these issues really are. The same logic that reduces people to abstractions in war and genocide, treats beings as lesser through racism, or excuses harm because it brings pleasure, shows up again in how we treat animals. It’s just given a different name, one that we’re taught since birth is normal and necessary.