Giuseppe Russo – showcasing SA’s talented

Posted on 29. Jul, 2009 by admin in Headlines and Opinions

Giuseppe Russo, founder of one small seed, talks to Gita Pather about creating fertile platforms one small seed at a time…

What was the inspiration/idea behind one small seed?

The idea was to showcase the South African creative movement in 2005 since nobody else was doing it at the time. I saw that South Africa was emerging in the field of design but the media was too busy talking about overseas celebrities to notice. There were a couple of existing magazines focussing purely on artists or product designers, but I wanted to have a broader, more diverse publication that would target a new mindset and not a specific demographic. Whilst doing that, I wanted obviously to create a ‘New Media’ platform, beginning with the magazine as a starting point, since a tangible product gives you a better understanding of the underlying idea. We wanted to expand quickly and extended our showcase online so as to fulfil a complete and more holistic showcase of all contemporary artists. To me, showcasing local means talking to your community. It’s making people proud of who they are and what is happening in their own country, since pride is key for a better self-esteem which in turn leads to better quality and more competitiveness. It’s essential for reaching your full creative potential, individually and as a country.

One small seed provides a platform for new creative talent – as editor and founder, what would you choose as THE cultural/creative innovation the magazine has showcased since its inception?

I can’t answer that, there is a lot going on in SA worth mentioning. Illustrators, like Louis Minnaar, the animation of Tale of How by The Black Heart Gang was amazing. A South African photographer working in New York, Sacha Waldman, is also doing an amazing job and the music industry has been exploding with high quality music and some very good rock. Well again, it has been a pleasure to be part of all of it.

What are your thoughts about the fact that media gurus argue that traditional print is rapidly being rendered obsolete in the light that you have recently launched two new online ventures, off shoots of one small seed?

Well you know the term ‘media gurus’ might be a bit extreme, perhaps giving them too much credit or authority. But yes, big publishers printing mainstream magazines for everyday people face the reality check that all the information they give to their readers is weekly or monthly information, and becomes irrelevant thereafter. They were all too busy making money and publishing as many magazines as possible for every kind of reader imaginable so they could make as much advertising revenue as possible. But let’s face it, when you come into a bookshop and you see over 200 magazines, one looking exactly the same as the other, just changing the faces of stars in between them, does something not feel a bit “wrong”? Mainstream magazines will disappear with the time, and it will, in my opinion, be inevitable. At the moment, we still have what I call the two generation clash. We have one generation who barely goes online or reads his news on his mobile phone, and the other who does only that. Once the “older” generation starts to fade into a non-lucrative target market, and technology (mobile phone, e-paper, online magazines etc) becomes a part of everyday life, there is no question that major magazines will shift their interest into publishing online only. They will be able to control their ads, targeting a specific reader profile, and even the articles will be selected for the user. Printing will be too expensive due to increasing costs in paper, ink and production. That will be the time when “niche” magazines will re-emerge, since people will then buy quality magazines for the pleasure of it and as a luxury – like a coffee table book. Saying that, one small seed puts a lot of importance on our online platforms. With our online TV, online community site, online photography magazines and soon, a complete new online magazine that will include video and sound, I feel that with technology being part of the new art world, the showcase of it will be much more complete on a multimedia platform. Interaction is also key.

This obviously excludes the factor of the emerging ‘eco-conscience’. Soon the community will not feel very comfortable wasting so much paper just on a weekly read. Something that is considered a luxury though, like a niche magazine or a coffee table book, won’t be considered as so much of a waste. People will come to prize these luxuries even more.

Computer technology is an inescapable aspect of our lives. What are your thoughts about digital art … specifically art created or viewed using computers, digital technology or the web?

We must go and redefine art to answer this properly, which I really do not want to do. I think that as long as people express themselves, consciously or subconsciously with passion, concept and integrity, digital art is as recognised as traditional art is or was. The only problem is that the viewer should be more educated and be a bit more critical, especially now with computers where everybody thinks he is an artist – they scan a picture, put a photoshop effect on it and that is it. As in communication, digital art is a matter of filtering the right one and enjoying technology at its best, but don’t swallow everything they give you.

Theorists argue that true creativity is dead and all art forms now are derivative. Do you agree?

I don’t think so, well I try to convince myself not to agree. Yes, for the majority it is derivative, but do not forget that because of new technology there will be two surviving forms of creative thinking. There is the one who will have to think in a completely new dimension to use this new technology in different conceptual ways, and there is the other, trying to contra-balance the “noisy” technological creative communication, which goes back to a very simple way of creating. That will be interesting since they will have a complete different way of approaching simplicity, since it will be a choice and not a necessity.

South Africa spans both first and third realities. What excites you about the possibilities that such diverse universes present?

Everything – the difference, the contrast, the fact that we will be forced to diversify our thinking, reaching for the left but keeping a foot down on the right, celebrating the new black but decorating it with all other colours. Diversity is key in life and this country definitely brings that part to the table.

Is there a marketing campaign that you find particularly creative? If so, please explain why?

Well there are a lot of very good campaigns in South Africa. To have to pinpoint one, it’s better I that don’t. Perhaps also because it is the last question of the interview and I must get back to work.