When design is not just design, but a zestful contamination of influences, creative energies and heterogeneous backgrounds. Draga & Aurel speak with Lampoon
Lampoon introduces Draga & Aurel
The paths of Draga Obradovic and Aurel K. Basedow, life and professional partners, have the same starting point – the Academy of Fine Arts – but then took different turns which, through contaminations, encounters and clashes, led them to found in 2007 one of the most interesting design studios of recent times.
Obradovic discovered textile design almost by chance and then realized it somehow summarized all her talents, inspirations, inclinations and passions: pen and paper, color, materials. On the other hand, Basedow’s creative approach has always been multidisciplinary drawing from different artistic fields, such as music and painting.
«Textile design has given me so much, but at a certain point my artistic vein ran out, I thought this crisis would lead me to a total change of course. I took a little break and putting my creativity to good use with the brush I created a fabric with which I started covering our chairs, armchairs, sofas. We didn’t know where we were going, it all started as a game», Obradovic explains.
Pioneers in upcycling: Déshabillé collection
Their passion for vintage and disused furniture soon became a philosophy. From reinvented vintage furnishing items covered with “ruined” fabrics and decorative graphics, they moved on to other eras, such as the nineteenth century, while maintaining the same mission: to give a second chance to antique and abandoned objects according to their personal interpretation.
«We not only liked working with the pieces we went to hunt down in local thrift shops and markets, but we also used to give other people the opportunity to bring their own objects to our workshop. On the occasion of the inauguration of our studio in via Ferrari, in Como, we invited our guests to bring us their pieces. We had prepared several meters of fabric: I was surprised to see the queue of people outside our studio, each with a piece to reinvent and personal ideas and tastes. We were not really aware of what we were doing, but the intention was strong».
Heritage collection and the discovery of resin
Draga & Aurel’s production took an unexpected turn when they encountered resin. A sort of call, as Obradovic likes to call it, to which the two responded generously. The first to employ this unusual material was Basedow, who soon made it the trademark of his large paintings, the result of superimpositions of a variety of elements: ancient rugs, pigments, cement, drawings and, of course, resin.
The re-working of second-hand furniture took a leap forward when the duo started to apply coats of resin on the surfaces of sideboards, cabinets and drawers. Playing with colors, shades and the inherent glow of resin, they started Heritage, their second collection of unique pieces, all restored by hand. Dexterity is in fact a characteristic trait of Draga & Aurel’s work which has accompanied them since the beginning.
From their academic training to the beginning of their collectible design studio, their production has been contaminated by various experiences in which the artistic gesture and handiwork have played a role of primary importance. The dexterity of percussion – Basedow’s instrument of choice – is also reflected in the application of paint and resin on his wall works, which are at the same time physical and conceptual, concrete and poetic.ù
Transparency Matters: new applications of resin
Over time, in the couple a new desire for experimentation arose which led them to create new pieces from scratch. Here resin not only covers the surfaces of furnishing items made by others, but it becomes a structural element often put in dialogue with other materials such as concrete, bronze, brass and cast glass. The Transparency Matters collection – presented in 2019 during Milan Design Week – represented a new challenge for the artist duo.
«We have brought this material to work in thickness. To these works is added the play on words: the preposition “trans” changes the meaning of things, just as “matters”, which has a double meaning referring to the importance of both the object and their materiality and transparency. Here the colored resin takes on the role of a filter through which one can look at the world», Obradovic explains.
Creating pieces in resin requires a structure, skills and specific conditions, such as the right temperature and tools. Over the years Draga & Aurel studio has expanded both in terms of staff and spaces, availing of skilled manufacturers and opening a laboratory dedicated to the delicate and complex processing of this material.
Modern alchemists of design
Looking at the pieces of their latest collection, the references to Italian and overseas artistic currents are evident: Arte Povera – which lives on in their tactile and textured works, as well as the minimalism of Donald Judd and Dan Flavin, which inspired the Joy and Jud lamps, among others.
«There are things we are aware of, such as our fascination for the 70s, and others we are not aware of, things which I may have always removed, but now re-emerge as reminiscences of the past. The fact that I grew up in Yugoslavia surrounded by concrete. A brutalist architecture I strongly disliked, but over time we understood that it also has its own impactful aesthetics», says Obradovic.
Combining brutality with the transparency and brightness of resin, they have started a process of research and sublimation, drawing on their background made of heavy, somber realities. «Someone even called us “alchemists” for this». This dualism derives from the two souls living and complementing each other in the Draga & Aurel project and communicating through the same materials with a holistic approach.
Although there is no aesthetic or conceptual interdependence between Obradovic’s design pieces and Basedow’s works of art, the mutual exchange between the two artists is reflected in the visual coherence and in the chromatic and material dialogue which stand out particularly in the exhibition setups and the in the way they interact with light and the surrounding environment.
Archiproducts Design Awards 2022: Soda showcase and Aries armchair
Since 2007 Draga & Aurel have developed several collaborations with renowned international design brands. Among these are Baxter, Wall&Deco, Gallotti&Radice and Visionnaire.
Thanks to the fruitful partnership with the latter two, they have been awarded as winners of the Archiproducts Design Awards 2022 with the Soda showcase and the Aries armchair. The strength of this dynamic duo is certainly their original point of view which derives from their multidisciplinary background and from an innate curiosity which guides their intuitions and creative choices.
«We do not have a training in product design, but it is interesting to see our artistic spirit applied to the world of furniture. Over time we have learnt what can be done, what can be proposed, we know whether an object is suitable for the corporate world or for that of collectible design», Obradovic explains.
The magnetism of the undefinable
2022 was a year of successes and new beginnings for the designer duo who were included by Architectural Digest among the 100 international names to keep an eye on in 2023. To these achievements are added, among others, the collaborations with Nilufar Gallery on the occasion of the Milan Design Week, already reconfirmed for the 2023 edition, the participation together with Galerie Philia in the Lake Como Design Festival and with Rossana Gallery in Nomad Capri.
The magnetism of their style, which responds to numerous creative influences and stimuli, and therefore difficult to frame, has attracted over the years the attention of the press and critics, as well as the interest of design companies and collectors who find in their pieces, halfway between art and design, a multitude of meanings and visual and sensorial suggestions.
«We are not so definable and we have no problem with this, it is a strength indeed. As Patti Smith would say, we are “just kids”. We play, we like making things and we don’t ask ourselves too many questions. Our paths are constantly evolving, but where exactly they will end up, is still unknown».
Draga & Aurel
Set up in 2007 by Draga Obradovic and Aurel K. Basedow, Draga & Aurel is a multidisciplinary studio and workshop for art, collectible design, and furnishing items. Their 2009 debut at Milan Design Week marked the beginning of significant partnerships with furniture companies, such as Baxter, Wall&Deco, Visionnaire and Gallotti&Radice. In 2019, at Milan Design Week the couple presented the Transparency Matters collection, which was acclaimed by the press and sparked the interest of prestigious galleries, such as the Rossana Orlandi and Nilufar Galleries, with which important collaborations would arise in the following years.
