Today we put the spotlight on Dan Basu – artist who works with installations, photography, drawing and porcelain. Dan is one of the founders of the Romanian Mental Health Film Festival, which will be in its third edition between May 9 and 12, 2024.
Subsign: First, can you tell us a few things about yourself?
Dan: I’m from Iasi, born in 1983, and I conduct my activities both in Iasi, through the friends I have here, and in Bucharest. I love movies, I’m passionate about art, both in practice and theory, and I enjoy traveling and to have different experiences.
Subsign: What was your childhood like?
Dan: My parents worked in education.
Subsign: What did you want to be as a grown up?
Dan: I’ve always been passionate about the real and rational side of things, less than nature and literature and interpreting reality. So, I focused on mathematics, physics, and IT. However, I found the middle ground between the two “institutions,” namely Photography and Graphic Design. So, after studying computer science, I started studying photo-video at university, finding a correct guide there in terms of the significance of art and the history of beautiful things.
Subsign: What does your workstation look like?
Dan: It looks good :)) The space needs to be clean and quiet, flat, bright, and without too many uncontrollable stimuli. I work digitally, so a computer is enough, but I also work traditionally in the studio.
Subsign: Do you have a work style? Can you share with us how your creative process works?
Dan: My work style in terms of the creative process is very simple. I don’t start off with a pre-established or sketched idea; I start with a feeling, and then I materialize that feeling into a work. I usually work in series. Uniqueness is not a component I emphasize in my artistic practice.
Subsign: What is your favorite work you have done so far?
Dan: I’m currently working on a series on cardboard, with red and blue ink. Here is a work in progress photo.
Subsign: Where do you get your inspiration from?
Dan: As an artist, I choose not to draw inspiration from the current everyday, political, or social context. Inspiration comes more from within than from without. I approach themes such as asemic writing, stream of consciousness, and “translate” them through ink placed on paper or cardboard.
Subsign: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the creative field of work?
Dan: The advice is to create continuously, without a commercial stake.
Subsign: What superpower would you like to have?
Dan: I don’t believe in superpowers. I believe in curiosity, kindness, and patience.
Subsign: Can you recommend a book, a song, and a movie to our readers?
Dan: Euclid – “Elements”, Isaac Newton – “Principia” and Stefan Zweig – “Magellan”.
Telephone Tel Aviv – “Fahrenheit Fair Enough” (2001, album).
“The Truman Show” (1998, Peter Weir), “The Shining” (1980, Stanley Kubrick) and “Seinfeld” The Series.
Subsign: If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what famous people would you invite?
Dan: At your studio, with some Netflix in the background, juice, PlayStation, and lots of people.
Thank you, Dan, for being a part of our Spotlight!
If you know an artist that should be in the spotlight, contact us at teodora@final2025.subsign.co.
For more of Dan‘s work, you can follow his work here: Dan on Instagram.
