Privy and Sensual Works of Destructed Reality: Meet Anton Reva
Anton Reva aka @savemymind has an evident penchant for mixed media, something he’s revealed over the years with his stripped-down and undeniably powerful depictions of some of the world’s biggest superstars: Post Malone, Diplo, Trippie Redd, Brent Faiyaz … the artist has had them all in front of his lens. Reva is equally known for his ongoing experiments with various media modules media and captivating fashion editorials and advertising campaigns and has developed an impressive client list from Siberia Hills to Armani and Givenchy, from Sportmaster to Amazon and I-D. We had a quick chat on Zoom with the friendly Anton about his inmost secrets and got some professional bits of advice.
Hello Anton. Can you introduce yourself briefly to the GATA family?
Anton Reva: My name is Anton Reva. I identify as an artist, but due to people’s necessity for wanting a more precise description of my versatile activity, I can amplify my answer by adding a visual intern. For over 13 years I have been experimenting with various visual techniques such as design, mixed media visualisations, directing and combined experience—where I can create dynamic sculptures, spaces etc. Everything is tucked into a system of constantly exploring the idea of a visual perception of the world, influencing how you perceive it.
“Experiencing life. Expressing love. Providing special moments with a voice.”
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Self-portrait
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Inner sketching series and reflections of soul
Art is a subjective term, how do you personally define it?
Anton Reva: For me, the term “art” is the root of cognition of the world, in completely different variations and the possibility to choose the perception of life in general. It is a kind of taking a look at the world through diverse perspectives. Its retransmission, and the residence of the dynamic experience of every feeling and idea. Incredible magic. Due to interest in learning something from different angles, you can customise your brain as not forming preconceptions, not being predictable and always being capable of living a life beyond time.
In your old interview, you mentioned studying abroad, particularly in England. Can you emphasise something specific from that period?
Anton Reva: It was a year in London on a foundation course, which was almost focused entirely on reporting and documentary photography. Looking back on that period now, I find it difficult to pick appropriate words to define it. It was absolute magic. For sure, it was initially seen as an opportunity to combine pleasant experiences with utility; to improve skills at a rapid pace and get closer to people from diverse contexts. As a result, I perceived the meaning of fixation on my thoughts and ideas for future development more strongly than before— keeping a research book. Any undocumented thought is highly distorted within the time or completely disappears without outbursting any potential in the future. That’s why after graduation, I continued for the next 3-4 years to catch everything, from small objects to large-scale work. In attempting so, I created my own million archive of photographs, which I still use to this day.
“Found teardrop 1 -
‘solitude silent horror’”
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Mixed media, experimental photography, a mixture of printing stages
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When in the middle of your room you found a tiny real tear drop in front of your eyes accidentally while was listening to the silent noise of your inner reflections with some distorted silent sounds of frozen continuous anxiety. / Beginning of the story.
«Visual experience, where you only consume material without attaching any significance for it, even any type of reflection, probably not the most applicable information, as at the end it can’t be used as an instrument in building a visual concept.»
You work in a variety of forms and techniques, incorporating poetry and music into your work, and sometimes also notes from personal diaries. What mediums are you mostly drawn to?
Anton Reva: If we talk about the medium, I have always called it mixed media, although it is controversial. Due to the fact that I have millions of images in my archive, by working through mixed techniques, I transform my real memories. This is how momentum is created. The idea behind mixed techniques is the idea of layers, where you can create a kind of fixation, where any volume can become a flatness. There is a dissonance for the viewer because they are put in a space that doesn't exist, while at the same time feeling it. Crazy, right? I like to keep partial realism with a more metaphysical emotional character and meaning when talking about my work. Due to the fact that there is no limitation of techniques, materials, methods etc, it is an endless process of enjoyment in which you try to reach some alternative perceptions of the world.
Is there any fundamental difference between working on static and moving images? What does interaction with a moving image mean to you?
Anton Reva: Static and moving images are practices that grow out of each other, the only thing that distinguishes them is the types of thought processes and the idea as a whole. For me, there is not much difference in the thought process between any dynamic visualisation and static one, because for example, in the process of creating any object or installation, I can use video capturing certain performances with characters and then arrange them into different blocks. Through the idea of the video, you can capture a lot more and be more structural, and meticulous in selecting the character's dynamics, facial expressions, posture, and how you can then arrange and lay them out. At the same time, in the ideas of experimental practices and animations, you're elevating the space of dynamics through a static image because, in any static experiment, there can be some kind of energy form connection that may not be trivial to the dynamics. That is unpredictable.
« Despite how unpleasant it can be, I am more used to understanding life as an utter chaos which I try to strive for. Either you make it even more chaotic, which often simplifies, as when chaos is layered on the previous one it doesn’t burden you to with accuracy. This is the key to constancy. This kind of constancy is the accuracy.»
From all your series, can you pick the one that closely interacts with your persona and initiate us into its concept?
Anton Reva: There is a personal project called "Nervous Book" which has been going on for some years and will be published and realised continuously. The idea is to convey the body in plastic connecting it with objects in tension, a kind of performative practice.
Due to the constant feeling that the world is excessively progressing in turbulence, it turns out that through the constant inner turbulence in people, there is a simplification of contact. Incredibly acute feelings become almost unattainable as the brain lives through more global experiences. This is the cause of attachment to whatever groups, contexts and divisions, are imposed on you. As a result, you gradually lose yourself. There is a sense of hollowing out in this practice, sometimes it is overt and exaggerated, and sometimes it is subtle. There is an appearance of being like a "broken puppet", like the feeling that you are turning into yourself, but into a more simplified version of yourself. Aside from the fact that there is a construction of turbulence and nervousness in the context of the world and everything in general, there are no specific details other than the sense of community. Furthermore, a gigantic archive of photos of people I interacted with, over a period of 8-9 years ago is included in the book. The basis is over 1000 portraits, where their original dreams and orientations on life are slightly destroyed within time, or rather modified. Conditionally, as in the idea of a Dorian Gray painting, where life can be poured out in context and the character's image can age inwardly. Here is something close to that only conveyed with more fragility, that everything is a bit broken. Really, that's the beauty of life, that it's unpredictable and you can change repeatedly.
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Top view floor patch - NERVOUS ROOM for the Pop-up exhibition
So far, you have collaborated with various artists and industry titans, are there any people on your list with whom you are willing to cooperate shortly?
Anton Reva: There is a desire to collaborate more. Lots of work has been done with big brands and special releases: C.P. Company, Regit Snow, Uniqlo x Troye Sivan. It would be crazy to get in touch with MASSIVE ATTACK and Robert Del Naja in any way because the way the man interprets the world is so unlike anything I've encountered before. Also, I would like to exchange energies with Damien Hirst, by making even just one stroke together would strengthen our mental connection.
I can't neglect to mention Dimitris Papaioannou, one of the most brilliant directors of engineering physical theatre that I've been crazy about since I was a kid. Being a fan of engineering physical theatre and already having the experience of interacting with some people behind the scenes, I would like to get in touch with him at least in the space of dialogue. I've always been blown away by the idea of the communication experience of engineering theatre. As there you can find the idea of how the world looks completely different with real characters. Nothing puts you into context more than real characters caught up in the complex circumstances of visual transformation. Total delight. Dimitris Papaioannou and Romeo Castellucci can also be credited here. I have great respect for these people, their thoughts and ideas.
The main thing I would like to emphasise in the interactions is the realisation that in different places of the world the idea becomes visible to others and of course the contact with the artist himself. It is important to note that I do not start from the popularity of the artist but from the idea as a whole.
Speaking about the Dadaist artists of the 20th century, can you highlight the one who resonates with you?
Anton Reva: There is an eternal character—Kurt Schwitters. As a kid, I had a mental connection with him, without any specific reason, his personality evoked warm feelings. Perhaps, I was initially intrigued by his thoughtless idea of living life intertwined with the art, a person completely detaches from the context of life and lives only in the process of creating. Unthinkably, even everyday life was transformed into a stream of creativity, a boost of ideas and transformations. Schwitters mostly worked with collaging the world, namely found objects. To be more specific, working with banal items, he tactilely but with particular care builds up compositions, giving the viewer some food for the mind. Possibly, this is one of the main reasons for resonating with him.
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Mixed media sculpture.
Endless territory of thoughts.
Poetry.
Lifetime experience.
FRAGILE LOVE
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No description
Describe the most appropriate setting in your work, where inspiration takes hold of you.
Anton Reva: I guess, it only happens when I can feel a space of a free day, which is quite rare. Realising, that I am completely independent, I can be in a flow with myself, owning the energy to create. Speaking of external factors, there are almost none besides the silence and the night, namely the feeling that the world is asleep and you are awake. The night is the only time of minimal contact with the surroundings. The outside world is very disruptive. Even in autonomous mode, lots of things are manifested in the light of the day, which are absorbed by the brain, while during the night you distance from everything. To be honest, I am impressed with my little world, it’s just you and the surroundings.
“Any sort of visual experience drains me, sometimes it’s unbearably to walk in a gorgeous place.”
Despite the photography, united with other modules of art, is there something else that inspires you?
Anton Reva: Most of all I am fond of visual practises, especially the highest degree of visuality, where you cannot transmit an idea with vocabulary, as its meaning itself amidst the context and other things become unnecessary. The only thing is a tough process which is impossible to reach. Apart from this, experimental literature explosive in ideas, numerous performative practices and physical engineering theatre can easily provoke a new nerve in me, as I am drawn to complex words and inexplicable sensations. Through these experiences, there is an opportunity to look at the world through another distinct prism to highlight a new explosive idea, new methods of describing an object going together with its interactions.
Can you name a film director, whose works you keep rewatching?
Anton Reva: A few years ago, I would mention Terrence Malick’s works causing inexplicable lightness. You can watch them either as fragments or as a full-length film, being up to your ears in philosophical and visual work. By focusing on the visual part, you can point out some new methods in camera work, the interpretation of the plot, and a different transmission of the sense of plasticity.
Is there any way we can get a sneak peek at what projects you are currently working on?
Anton Reva: Probably…Lots of them are pilled up. Right now there are approximately 35 shootings with performative body plasticity in the process of the final stage, plus the creation of ideological eco-system animations and visual installations in collaboration with Nike Air Jordan under our creative laboratory “Destructed Vision”, which we launched in February 2023. Also, there is a pool of seven projects from different disciplines: magazine covers, mixed media animation, campaigns, and initiations regarding clothes and object design. In addition, we are working on a release directed for Armani. The process of this work we plan to share later in a more detailed way, illustrating how we, as a combined team of 45-47 people filmed a global rollout in Milan in remote control mode. There you will find an accurate description, of how people from five countries collaborate as a team to create a video in another country, combining dozens of visual disciplines.
“Mixed media layers and concepts with the imagery from le Pere FW23 collection”
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Mixed media universes through all mediums
Click on the image to watch “A/X Armani Exchange Fall Winter 2023-2024” advertising campaign
“FA23 Lookbook Jumpman “
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Mixed media animation experience and analog layers / artworks
All images by Anton Reva
Interviewed by Elizaveta Khimicheva