KASK & Conservatorium brings together talented and motivated students with outstanding educators, inspiring artists, designers and theorists in art and design from all over the world. In this mini-series, we’re featuring some of its graduates from the past years. Next up is Ada Güvenir, a multimedia artist born and raised in Turkey and now living in Belgium. Holding a master’s degree in both audiovisual arts and animation, she’s thrilled to lose sight of shore and set sail to discover new oceans.
Hi Ada, can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
I moved to Belgium when I was fifteen years old to pursue my dream of becoming a filmmaker. The fascination for audiovisual arts set multiple balls rolling, thus it didn’t take long before I found out that filmmaking wasn’t the only thing I was passionate about. Nowadays I’m trying to combine all my passions by creating a world in which everything is possible, kind of living in my own utopic universe.
The dream of being able to bring my own drawings to life one day is what fueled my journey
What was the trigger to study audiovisual arts and animation?
It has always been inside of me. I already drew a lot when I was younger but thanks to the birth of my younger brother, I suddenly got to watch shitloads of animated stuff. Fascinated with the movements and expression of these cute little characters, I realised my studies were meant to be. In the end, the dream of being able to bring my own drawings to life one day is what fueled my journey.
How do you look back on your studies at KASK?
Honestly, those were the best years of my life. KASK is an incredible place as a building and institution. There’s the right amount of freedom and, as far as I’m concerned, that has always been its number one asset. Yet this freedom does bring its difficulties to shore as well: you have to grow self-discipline to work on your projects because the teachers are mostly there to only guide you and not suffocate you.
It’s not a by the book kind of thing, which positively alters the perception of certain aspects. For example, my perception of animation, which was rooted mainly in Disney and Pixar, was completely thrown over by studying here. Furthermore, constantly being surrounded by other inspiring artists was the icing on the cake.
What are the strengths of animation compared to real-life video?
In the live-action video, there’s always the many restrictions of the physical world we perceive, disregarding special effects. These restrictions are non-existent in the world of animation. A good animation always works. The tiniest animated dot can take you on a trip through imagination land, creating your own unique world. To me, this actually feels like magic.
What’s your message for future generations of students?
Try to incorporate humour as much as possible; people really take themselves too seriously nowadays. It can be difficult sometimes, but humour possesses the power to spread strong messages if applied the right way. And to my fellow students, just look around and always try to see the potential. Make the most of this utterly inspiring school environment, because once you get out it’s down to just you and your imagination.
People really take themselves too seriously nowadays
What can we expect from you in the future?
My graduation film recently received a VAF wildcard, which means I’m currently in the writing process of a film set for next year. As I never liked to work too long on the same project, I’ll quickly move on to my other projects in which I always try to make accessible for everyone, so no elite public in a bigshot movie theatre. Unlike what's currently assumed, I do believe that good animation can be done fast and cheap.
Subbacultcha and KASK & Conservatorium are teaming up for a series of artist portraits, featuring some of the interesting alumni and student profiles.
The school is organizing an open day on 25 April. schoolofartsgent.be
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