MLA-DOST.DOBRO MAGAZINE

When the applications started and during the whole process of applying to the program, I thought I had zero chance of going to Portugal. The coronavirus had just reached Europe and suddenly no one knew what was happening and what are they doing. 

It was my last year of undergraduate study at University of Rijeka, and I was looking forward to doing my three-month practice in the hotel at the place where I live. When corona came, that was cancelled immediately and I ended up being at home for three months, bonding with my parents, having existential crisis and discovering new hobbies, like drawing and doing yoga. But all that free time led to applying for an Erasmus exchange in Portugal which would happen in the beginning of 2021. I applied to a few universities in the city of Porto and got accepted to ISAG, the private faculty. 

As I was gathering and sending all the documentation needed, I never fully believed I would actually go. Even when I booked my flight and paid for the first month of my rent – I made sure that I can get all that money back in case of the corona going crazy. To be clear, the corona went crazy, especially in Portugal, but I could still move there because I had a valid reason – to study at their University. For others who wanted just to travel, Portugal was not an option at that time. Therefore, I went, I packed two large suitcases and went abroad to live with people I’ve never met before. That is one of the top reasons I’d go again, the excitement of meeting new people from different countries and cultures. 

If I had to describe my Erasmus experience in a few words, it would be fulfilled, inspiring and stressful. I risked failing my exams in Croatia to go to Portugal and I wrote my masters there. So, last two months I spent on my computer in our beautiful garden, writing my thesis and studying for exams on both universities (Portuguese and Croatian one) while my Erasmus friends got to and go on trips. So, if you are thinking of going on an Erasmus exchange, maybe don’t do it on your last year if you don’t want to longer your studies. I made it all work in the end and I kept telling myself: ”Isn’t it better for you to be stressed out in Portugal at the ocean beach, than at home?”. And it really was better.

The corona restrictions in Portugal were very different than at home – we had to wear masks all the time and everywhere (outside as well), the police was going around on their bikes giving people fines for not wearing a mask or being outside their part of town, being in larger groups etc. We were trying so hard to maintain our social life, so we gathered in our apartment, which did not go well since our landlord threatened to kick us out because of the noise. But then, they opened the borders to other municipalities in Portugal – we started travelling around in rented cars and enjoying every step of the way. We visited many places from North to South. Those were amazing times with amazing people. 

Regarding University I was studying at – I’d say I am pretty satisfied. I enrolled in five classes which were all about marketing, event management, communication and content production. My schedule was not so tight, so I had enough time to explore around the city and surroundings. The faculty International Relations Office was always here to help and they were more than welcoming, and so was Erasmus Student Network (ESN) Porto. Portuguese people are usually really easy going and they always have time for everything – no rush at all. I liked that because it felt like home. 

I can freely say that I met friends for life in Portugal, from all around the world, but Portugal also became my home away from home. If you are a student who’s thinking of going on Erasmus exchange – I would encourage you! Don’t think about it too much, just accept the opportunities and enjoy it as much as you can, while you can. You can join the ESN in the city you are going to and hang out with locals and other Erasmus students, attend the events and get amazing discounts on rent-a-car, bikes, restaurants, even flights with Ryanair! For many countries, the Erasmus scholarship you get is often enough (I got €720 per month), although for me it wasn’t since I decided to travel the country and Portugal in general is not considered cheap. I had few student jobs that helped me go through and a little bit of help from my parents. 

There are also many options for Erasmus if you are not a student – you can volunteer in other countries or participate in short-term projects like I did in Slovenia and Latvia. You always come back just a little bit richer in experiences and with few more friendships.

Writer: Paula Petrinec

Skupi programi za dizajn često su nedostupni široj publici. Oni koji se ipak odluče kupiti neki program kako bi ga koristili za nešto što bi bez problema mogli odraditi i u nekom online software-u ni sami često ne pronalaze alternativni program. Kako ne biste bili jedni od većine nastavite čitati i upoznajte se sa besplatnim software-ima koji su jednostavni i lako je izraditi ono što želite.

Dizajn se dijeli na pixel i vektorsku grafiku. Vektorska grafika predstavlja veličine između vektora te uporabom ovakvih grafika izbjegavamo deformaciju nekog oblika, odnosno oblici su određeni matematički izračunatim veličinama te ih zbog toga možemo bezbrižno uvećavati i smanjivati. Suprotno od toga je pixel grafika koja je zadana veličinama pixela, smanjivanje ovakvih grafika ili fotografija je moguća, no svakim povećanjem gubi se kvaliteta te samim time i izgled grafike.

Najbolji primjer software-a za dizajn su Adobe Photoshop (pixelska grafika) i Adobe Illustrator (vektorska grafika). Na internetu postoji mnoštvo programa koji su bazirani na Adobe-ovim programima, a izdvojeni programi su:

Vectr.com – online; besplatan program  (3 stars out of five – it would be added later in designing magazine)

Vectr je online program koji je u potpunosti besplatan i bazira se na obradu vektorske grafike. Ovaj program zadovoljava bazične zadatke koje bi svakome mogle zatrebati. Od kreiranja raznih oblika pomoću pen tool-a ili linija, ubacivanja teksta ili kreiranje jednostavne pozivnice, plakata, čestitke ili post-a za društvene mreže. Postoje i mane samog programa, kao što su nedostatak alata, fontova i mogućnosti no to ne bi trebalo stvarati probleme ako se radi o jednokratnoj upotrebi kao što je npr. izrada logotipa. Stranicu možete podsjetiti ovdje. 

Photopea.com – online; besplatan program (4 stars out of five – it would be added later in designing magazine)

Photopea je kao i Vectr online program, no baziran je na radu sa pixel grafikom. Ako ste upoznati sa Adobe-ovim Photoshop-om onda će vas sučelje Photope-e iznenaditi nevjerojatnom sličnošću. Photopea sadrži gotovo sve alate kao i Photoshop, izgledom jako identičan program. Prilikom unosa i izvoza grafika, Photopea vam daje mogućnost izvoza i importa .psd datoteka. Stranicu možete podsjetiti ovdje. 

U slijedećem broju otkrijte nove programe, trikove i zanimljive multimedijske sadržaje.

Autor: Marija Gebert – voditeljica ZagorMEDIA radionice 

Što je igra, tko se smije igrati, igraju li se i vanzemaljci lovice ili su pak oni više tip osobe za lego kockice? Igraju li se vanzemaljci uopće?

Ako ne znaš odgovor na prvo pitanje, nema veze, ni autor ovog teksta nije dobar s profesionalnim definicijama koje su izašle iz nekih obrazovanijih glava od naše.

Nije bitno ni znaš li koje igre igra neki tamo daleki potencijalni život udaljen od nas miljama i miljama svjetlosnih godina. Zapravo, nije bitno ni vjeruješ li da taj život uistinu postoji.

Bitno je jednostavno pitanje koje je slučajno zapelo u sendviču onih kompleksnih – tko se smije igrati?

E pa, ako misliš da je odgovor apsolutno svatko tko ima želje, kreativnosti, volje i/ili nekoga za igru, apsolutno se varaš! 

Neke igre stvorene su samo za one čije se godine ovozemaljskog života mogu pronaći između brojeva 5 i 99, a neke druge imaju limitiran broj igrača. 

Igre s kojima ćeš se susreti u ovom članku sastavio je Alastair Brotchie u svojoj knjizi „Surrealist games“, a iste su podijeljene u nekoliko kategorija. Nadrealisti su se igrali jezikom i  govorom, vizualno su eksperimentirali, mijenjali svoju zbilju i tako stvarali umjetnost. Iako same igre neće potaknuti tvoje tijelo na stvaranje hormona potrebnih da bi dobio Salvador Dali brk, zasigurno će pomoći u kreiranju tvoje unutarnje mini verzije tog ekstravagantnog i genijalnog umjetnika.

„Upute za korištenje“ 

Materijali: 1. Stari bakini recepti/ Ikea upute za sastavljanje kauča

                    2. Olovka

 Jedna od igri kojom su se nadrealisti služili u stvaranju poezije bila je „Upute za korištenje“. 

Uzimali bi recepte iz kuhinje ili upute za korištenje određenih alata/predmeta te bi ih zatim primijenili na različitim konkretnim i apstraktnim pojmovima. 

Za primjer koji možete vidjeti zaslužan je Jean-Claude Silbermann. 

„Automatsko crtanje“

Materijali: 1. Flomaster/Olovka/Tuš za oči/Kist

                    2. Komad papira

Automatsko crtanje odraz je naših instinktivnih pokreta. Zanemarujemo trenutni vrtlog misli koje nas opsjedaju i crtežu pristupamo uz minimum svjesne kontrole. 

Automatsko crtanje najlakše je i najzabavnije kada zatvorimo oči i prepustimo ruci da radi što hoće.

Iako nam pravilo ove igre nalaže da olovku cijelo vrijeme držimo na papiru, ako se želimo uistinu predati apstrakciji, možemo ga i zanemariti.

Upravo u neočekivanosti i nepredvidivosti konačnog rezultata leži zabava.

Pro tip: automatsko crtanju možemo pristupiti i kao temelju za daljnji rad na crtežu, a ne samo kao konačnom rezultatu.

„Exquisite corpse“

Materijali: 1. Flomaster/Olovka/Tuš za oči/Kist

2. Komad papira

Ova najpoznatija nadrealistička igra namijenjena je za 2 ili više igrača.

Ako igra ima 3 igrača, svaki igrač presavije svoj papir na 3 jednaka dijela. Prvi igrač crta u prvom dijelu papira te rubovima svojeg crteža minimalno prelazi na drugi dio papira po kojem će crtati igrač broj 2. Kad igrač broj 1 završi crtež, svoj dio presavije tako da je skriven od igrača broj 2. Igrač broj 2 nastavlja svoj crtež, a startna točka su mu  rubovi crteža igrača broj 1 kojima je ovaj ušao u prostor igrača broj 2. Kada je igrač broj 2 gotov sa svojim crtežom, prosljeđuje ga igraču broj 3 i igra se nastavlja.

Najvažnije je da igrači ne vide crtež prijašnjeg igrača te da se ostave linije vodilje za sljedećeg igrača koji će crtati kako bi crtež ipak imao određenu strukturu.

Autor: Gabrijela Rogan

Photos: Brotchie Alastair: A Book of Surrealist Games

Margareta Sinković who is 23-years old is a professional dancer. Sinković who studied Academy of Dramatic Art at University of Zagreb gived contemporary courses and organized movie days about performance art. She explained her dance journey…

•  First, how did you decide to study dance and start contemporary dance?

I had started with the ballet lessons when I was four and I liked that a lot so I had enrolled in School for classical ballet years after. It was there where I was introduced to the modern ballet in which I had the opportunity to create by my own and find my own expression without the need to fulfill the perfect form. I have found the most of creative possibilities in contemporary dance and I wanted to learn about it even more so I enrolled in the dance course without thinking about professional career. By taking the lessons and watching the performances, my interest was growing so I decided to start preparing myself for the audition for the Academy.  

• What does contemporary dance mean to you?

Contemporary dance to me is a way of connecting with others. Ability to express ideas and opinions, my personal way of communication with society. 

• What kind of prejudices about contemporary dance have you faced so far? 

People mostly don’t know well what it is so they assume that I’m doing ballroom dances, step or any kind of street dances. In a performative context, contemporary dance sometimes can include those things, it can absorb a lot of different approaches to the body and the movement itself, including the martial arts also, but it has its own specific characteristics and technique. The ones that heard somewhere about it or they have some kind of an image of what it could be, they often find it incomprehensible, confusing, sometimes even elitised, reserved only for the artistic world. 

CREATIVITY, BODY, DANCE…

• You are giving contemporary dance lessons in Zabok. How did you decide to give lessons?

I wanted to share the things that I’ve learned with others. I was lucky and I had a privilege to take dance classes because I had a big support from my parents who wouldn’t mind driving me everyday to Zagreb. I felt the need to give the opportunity to the ones who have the interest for dance, but it is not so accessible to them. 

• It’s good that young people in Zabok have access to a course like this. Finding a dance course in Zagreb is easy, but in Zabok it can be difficult. What do you think?

I agree. There are no contemporary dance classes in Zagorje, and the dance scene is centralized. Before, there was an enthusiasm for doing the classes and creating a dance scene here, but after some time it faded away. In other parts of Croatia there are some tendencies also, but we are all still focused on Zagreb because there we have better conditions, although not ideal. But nevertheless it is a place where the art scene is and there is an audience who is following it. 

• Can someone who has never danced before learn contemporary dance? Have you encountered people who are hesitant to attend the course?

Yes, of course. It is interesting that contemporary dance goes into studying the movement itself, not necessarily some dance element, but also the everyday movement. How to move in the most efficient, functional way with the creating the awareness of anatomical connections, one’s own body possibilities and the influence of the gravity. With this body understanding, a lot of different movement possibilities are opening up, one can go even in more complex situations. This is what technique is about. When you add the creative aspect of the dance on top of this, transfering the thoughts and emotions into the movement, it is beautiful what can be made, no matter if the person who is dancing is doing this for the whole life or whether it is somebody that attends the second dance class in life. We have to allow ourselves the freedom to express ourselves, get away from the thought that what we are producing with the movement has to look in a specific way, or to be perfect for somebody that is looking at it from the outside. I definitely try to share this with the others and encourage the ones who are hesitating, I hope that I am successful with it to some extent. Some like it, some don’t and that is completely fine. 

“KINO PLEŠE” IN ZABOK

• You organized “Kino Pleše” movie days. How did you decide to organize this event? Do movies about performing art reach enough audiences?

Idea for that started during my studies when my colleagues and I were making experimental dance movies. I thought that the things we’ve made were great and that more people should see what we are doing. And in general there is a boom of transfering the performing arts into film and video media, partly because of the huge influence of the movies on the wider audience and partly because of the epidemic. With my tendency to decentralisation of the dance scene, and knowing about the culture events at the Green Room in Zabok, I thought this was the ideal place for the realisation of this idea. 

The number of the audience of the experimental movies and about performing arts is definitely quite smaller than the number of the spectators of the more commercial movies, but it is existing. I even think that the interest for this is growing and that in popular culture since the middle of the 1960’s until today there is a tendency towards the experiment in terms of making the art. But it is only my point of view. 

• What kind of feedback/reactions did you receive from the audience after projecting a movie?

So far I always got really nice comments, I didn’t get any negative feedbacks yet. But sometimes people don’t want to admit that they don’t like something. I personally think that there is nothing bad about “not liking” something, thinking about what you saw, about what you consume as an audience is far more important. To me, that is the point of art. To make you think, enable you to feel, whether this is the positive or negative emotion and make just a  slight difference in our everyday life. 

• What would you suggest to young people who want to study at the dance academy?

You just have to keep going and try not to overthink. Mind is blocking us much more often than the body does.

Interview: Evin Arslan

Photos by Luka Smuk

“She needed a metamorphosis because she would not want to be a caterpillar anymore.”

“Do you know what’s the best thing in the world?” he asked. “ I really don’t care” she replied while she was lighting up her cigarette. It was a breezy, June night, at 3 in the morning, they were on the top of the roof.  Everything was so calm, the city was so dead. Yet, she could still see the lively city lights. Soon they would be turned off one by one as her cigarette fades away.

 She scratched her chin and bit her lip. She could see the fondness of the lights and fake lives of the city.  It was not a person what she was.  Took a deep breath, felt the summer breeze on her shoulders coming from the ocean behind. It was rubbing her tend skin. Lift her head and looked at the starry sky. Closed her eyes and tried to listen to the melody of the universe. She really desired to be alone. Because she was tired of being among the people. “ Is it the life that you are living to?” she asked. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Nevermind,” she said. She would know that he would not understand any of her speech. It was not even worth losing a single breath for that, she thought. Maybe she was pretending too arrogant but she was feeling that it was the time for transformation. She needed a metamorphosis because she would not want to be a caterpillar anymore. She would like to spread her wings and fly across to the moon and thrive in the dust to the universe and the way unknown. Sipped the last straw of the alcohol and climbed to the fences. “ What is passing in your mind ?” he shouted. She smiled. “ I just want to bring my rains.”. “I really don’t get  what you are talking about,” he said. “ Does it matter what I am saying?” she turned and whispered. “ Of course!” he said. “ Well, why?” she came closer to him. He stuttered. “ C- cuz I like you”. This sentence made her laugh. “Is that all ? That’s simple?” He continued “ I do care about you” She laughed again “You do?” swung her head right to left and went inside. Took her bag and tightened up her hair. Put on her shoes and went out. Pushed the button of the elevator but it was the slowest thing she has ever seen in her life. Rolled her eyes and went downstairs.  She wanted to get lost in the streets of her favourite city. Reckless, she walked down to the city. She could hear the music. The music of nature. The symphony of the cosmos. She wanted to be a note of this perfect philharmonic.

While the purple and red neon lights that blended by the morning mist reflecting on her face, she raised her head and looked up skyscrapers rising from the ground. She could not breathe when she felt being surrounded by such an environment. She got excited like a wanderer who sees a mirage in the middle of Sahara when she saw the tree standing ahead. She had her mouth gaped open wide. With the dizziness that the alcohol gave, by teetering in the concrete jungle, she sat down under the tree.  She looked at the beam that the billboards transmit and the sizzling wires above. She thought about the meaningless conversation that she just had. Are people really getting such dull? Don’t they want to comprehend? Or she just cannot express herself well enough? While the thoughts were running inside of her head, the sourish feeling made her feel sick to her stomach. She gulped sourly. By flipping her hair back, she covered her face. She wanted to cry her eyes out. Maybe that was the only emotion she could feel at that moment. She was feeling alone in this robotised world. Not a robot world but a robotised world. Because she was wishing to believe that there is someone who can still feel something somewhere. She knew that It will not take a long time. She was thinking that soon, not only the souls but also the hearts will be automatised. Well, why did she care about it that much?  Yet, while she was loving this electrical city madly. Was not she a part of this city? She took a deep breath. She looked at her digital watch. The two blinking dots were showing four-thirty five in the morning. With smaller dots, the date was indicated as 2041. Soon, the sun will rise and people will wake up and go to their works as if nothing happened. They will have lunch, work all day long and will come back home in the evening. While that thought occurring in her mind, she stared at the date written on her watch. How come the time has flown such quickly? As if the small girl was not herself who used to capered in these streets once upon a time. Like she suddenly grew up and this digital city has grown up with her together as well. While the building painted in white stretching out the sky, she transformed into an illusion. Well, what was making her sad?  Elapsing or the alteration of this city? Why she was so angry? To herself or others? She tossed the warm water that she pulled out of her bag. She went with the flow of the pick-me-up. After she had cleaned her mouth with the back of her hand, she put the bottle back into her bag. She stood up and dusted off. She walked home by being captive of her thoughts. She came home. After she had thrown her bag to the entrance, she clumped to her room. She stared at the ceiling. She was trying hard to not get lost in her mind. She conditioned herself to stay in the moment. “ Just watch your thoughts” she murmured. Her lips vibrated. That shiver captured her once again. She closed her eyes while the morning breeze coming from the open window was mixing her thoughts and caressing her body. Soon, she will have woken up, gone to work and then had her lunch. She will be working all day long and will come back home in the evening.

Writer: Erkin Duman

Photo by Deniz Atasoy