Speed Date / AURÉLIA GAROVÁ, graphic designer
Photo: Leontína Berková.
Where are you from?
Bratislava.
Where did you study?
At AFAD and actually for a while in Munich.
Who was your best teacher?
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Palo Bálik.
Who were/ are your parents?
Parents. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What don’t you enjoy in design?
Stress and misunderstandings. ಠ_ಠ
And on the contrary, what do you?
The coolness when the work is a hobby, meeting new people – non-designers, when I get my hands on a finished “print”. ♥‿♥ My designer friends make me very entertained.
What do you listen to?
♪Dream pop, Space Lady, ♪Dan Deacon, Francesco Battiato, John Maus♪, Kosa z nosa, kexp, contemporary club techno, A4 gigs, whatever… But most of the time I don’t listen to anything either, especially when I need to concentrate properly.
Your favourite film or cartoon?
The last thing that charmed me was the miniseries Young Pope and New Pope by Sorrentino.
Lost in Translation is such a time-tested stalwart, and so is the soundtrack to it, because it oozes big city and life.
Who do you respect as an authority in and out of your field?
I acknowledge my contemporaries in the field. ┬┴┤ ͜ʖ ͡°) ├┬┴
Because we support each other.
What thing did you last buy?
Quality intersections in action.
Do you buy professional literature? What was the latest book?
Yes, sometimes ordinary because of the texts, sometimes extraordinary because of the design, and sometimes it comes together. This is the very last Sternberg press book I want to read because I love the ocean. (INGO NIERMANN, Solution 295-304, Mare Amoris).
Do you vote?
I do.
Who throws the best parties?
Now in the age of isolation we only have skype and streaming parties, so closest friends. ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪ And the moment when Miro Žbirka was streaming from his studio.
Your favourite dome?
Making memory by David Adjaye. And cave domes.
Party dress. Made by…?
Throwing a party is now forbidden!
Your hero from the past?
Jane Eyre and Spiderman. (LOL)
Best/nicest house?
I like houses with beautiful views and creative energy.
I follow Dezeen magazine for example, they fill my horizons with the most beautiful houses every now and then. ♥
Do you have any stereotypes when you work? How do they show?
For example, such a nice stereotype – I make mock-ups of books.
What’s on your desktop?
Clutter. Sometimes I sort it.
Best exhibition, work of art?
Art of local proportions that I own or surrounds me.
Petržalka Gallery Weekend, for example, was enjoyable.
What do you respect both from the local and foreign design scene? And why?
I respect our small scene and its mutuality.
From abroad I like the bill magazine and the REDO conference.
They are both very fresh.
Ethics or money?
A balanced combination of both is ideal.
Extraordinary book?
Most recently, Albert Cossery’s Ambition in the Desert.
Optimist, pessimist, nihilist?
A bit of everything.
Do you have any hobby?
I don’t have any hobbies for a while now, as I’ve given up music production as a proud amateur due to too much sitting behind a screen. Creative hobbies have been replaced by doing nothing for the time being.
Solo or in a collective?
Both. ♥
Slovakia as the Promised Land?
Sure. But sometimes you need to get away.