feeder insider w/ Julien Britnic [en]

feeder insider interview with julien Britnic

[ro]

Julien Britnic, a.k.a. Iulian Fecioru, is a full-time copywriter and cultural fun time remixer, and if you haven’t read any of his posts reinterpreting famous quotes yet, you’ve definitely seen his covers which associate classical Romanian writers with images from international pop culture. We spoke to Julien about himself and the art of remixing, go ahead and click to read more.

keywords: illustration, remix, pop-culture

Although I frequently resemble a Facebook app, I actually exist in the old-school 3D world.

A beautiful day begins with… a status about the beautiful weather. Nope, it usually starts with a cup of sea buckthorn tea.
Remixing is to me… conceptual DJ-ing and a way of filtering the world without the use of Instagram.
With words, you can… seem more coherent than a cat meowing although in the end it’s the feline who will get the most Likes.
I’ve always enjoyed… not rejecting Friend Requests.
3 of my favorite artists… Duchamp, Borges, Banksy.
The books I used to love in high school… “The Catcher in the Rye”, “Craii de Curtea-Veche”, „Nostalgia”.
I wish all the people understood that… in life, you can’t put a hashtag on everything.
My drug of choice… Dr. Dre-naline.
In time, I learned that… you can travel in Timeline but you can’t change the present.
Julien Britnic in 3 words… remix-made man.

Ana Grama: Hello, Julien! What exactly is a cultural remixer and what does he do? Your name is associated with this expression, one which I haven’t come across in Romania until now.

Julien Britnic: Yes, it’s hardly used abroad too, it has an academic ring to it, but to me, it clearly defines the current digital zeitgeist: toying with established works of art, visual puns which generally stir up LOLs and shares. It’s a side job I took on and so far I feel like I’d want to retire doing it.

A: How did you come up with the idea of taking well-known icons of Romanian popular culture and giving them a new twist? What inspires you, what compels you to keep doing it?

JB: It’s not a complicated process, it stems from a primordial graffer’s instinct of tagging things, but in a more conceptualized fashion.

We take daily showers of pop culture whether we want to or not, I’m just trying to find that link which makes you see the familiar in a new light – of an IKEA lamp from the latest catalog. Inspiration strikes me like a puma when I open the door to the street or Google Chrome. The challenge I continue to face is that of doing it a lot better until I rouse the interest of art buyer Brad Pitt.

 

A: Tell me about your exhibition taking place this Friday, “What kept artists up all night”. 

JB: Friday night, at the Williams Galleries (on 57 Mircea Vulcanescu street) I’ll have 5 objects on display which will be talking in a relaxed and playful tone of “The White Night” of several household names in the arts, from Brancusi to Daft Punk.

A: Your collaboration with Lana was wildly successful. What other artists would you like to work with?

JB: The projects I share with Lana will continue to develop towards fashion but probably into something wider in an artistic sense as well. A list of ideal features would include Shepard Fairey, Tyler the Creator and Rei Kawakubo.

 

A: Any plans for this summer? For this lifetime?

JB: I’m currently in quite a frenzy preparing something for the beginning of summer: my series of remixed covers will be on display in a really cute library in Bucharest. If it turns out the way I imagine it, it would be worth about as much as an even tan in Saint-Tropez. After that, I’ll be working on the same series for a campaign aimed at high-school-goers which will hopefully expand towards more remixes of Romanian literature. I also want to try out a script for a short film based on an idea which has been haunting me for some time. As for my life plans, I wish for as few Missed Calls as possible.

 

A: Feeder is celebrating 10 years online. How important has the website been for you? What else would you like to find while browsing its contents?

JB: I’ve known Feeder ever since its first few months of online existence, I worked on the Chestionabil music blog for a long time and that’s how I ended up working with Igu and the crew. I hope it stays a bookmark for all that the urban art scene in Bucharest represents.

A: Does Dristor Kebab pay you for the publicity you give them? But seriously now, how do you like your shawarma? Why promote that instead of huge pretzels or “angry donuts” as a symbol of Romanian fast-food?

JB: I’m not getting paid at all, not even in ayran, I tried to suggest a collaboration but nobody replied. I’m extremely fascinated with their role of nightlife icon in the city, the quality of a nocturnal snack, the combination of cholesterol and clubbing, it’s got a much sexier vibe than the “angry donut” or the huge pretzel, who do indeed have their own qualities. I also appreciate the merdenea (cheese pastry), but that’s an entirely different discussion. Honestly, the shawarma appeals to me more on a conceptual level than in my hand, but I won’t say no to it if it’s just slightly spicy.

feeder insider julien britnic

Words by Ana Moca Grama
Photos Julien Britnic

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