I broke Dimitar’s Light Sabre.
Vanya, our project-coordinator, introduced me to a friend and colleague of her: Dimitar.
His studio is one of the, on its appearance, more chaotic ones. It felt like we were walking directly into his imagination. My first impression was that he’s an assemblage artist: I was wrong. He views himself as an artist that does everything. I was joking: “Do you write poems” and he answered: “Of course, they are laying somewhere here but they are written in Bulgarian”.
Dimitar creates sci-fi movies. His sculptures are autonomous works but they act as props in his movies. So, A rebar becomes a light sabre. And a Bulgarian traditional toy is converted to a work-out device. Other found objects got infused with sound devices and became sometimes nonsensical. (In a good way)
He handed me a sort of whip-lightsaber and instructed me to make it do ‘click’. I broke the thing. He wasn’t mad and reinforced it with a thin steel bar. It became technically better instantly. No thanks. ;)
Dimitar explained his love for the outskirts and small villages in the Rhodope mountains and why I should visit them. He uses these locations to film his sci-fi movies. His practice made a surrealist contrast seeking impression to me.
But I also imagine a complementary dystopian landscape. With his message of futurism he made me curious at the outskirts of the mountains. It convinced me to take one of next days of to discover the unearthliness of the old villages. It’s good advice. :)