Kooness editorial team interviewed the Croatian street artist Kresimir Buden, known to the public as 2Fast. He told us about his background, his influences, his artistic evolution and he finally give some suggestions to young artists.
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Kooness: Can you introduce yourself?
Kresimir Buden: My name is Kresimir Buden (street nickname 2Fast). I’m a freelance artist and designer from Zagreb, Croatia and a member of the Croatian Artists Association and Croatian Freelance Artists Association. I was one of the proud founders of the Croatian graffiti scene in the late 80s. I am a passionate biker and the father of a great man, Karlo.
K: What is your professional background?
KB: After finishing the School of applied art and design in 1992, I started to work as an airbrush illustrator and graphic designer. Since then, I have brushed my visual communication knowledge in many design studios and advertising agencies as a Designer, Art and Creative Director. I worked as a creative leader and creative thinker on numerous projects and advertising campaigns. At the time, I was also living my second life as a graffiti writer and artist, creating side projects to fulfil my passion for self-expression.
K: Describe what kind of art you focus on
KB: Since my childhood, I always draw and created something, so I was quite sure of what I wanted to be in my life. I also attended a great art school where I improved my skills. During the late 80s, I started to paint walls and write graffiti, inspired by MTV hip-hop spots. I always saw graffiti writing as a great escape to a creative world, especially for a young person. It is a brave way to make our world more beautiful and available to the public. Later, I got tired of painting two-dimensional walls, so I started to create three-dimensional sculptures based on my 3D street artworks. It was quite a challenging job because I started doing something new which I did not know and was not good at. But for me, as an artist, it was also stimulating to explore new forms and possibilities. I think art is a process of learning and exploration with a final result: personal satisfaction. Only if we are truly satisfied do we share this energy with our audience.
K: Describe your Splash series
KB: The Splash sculptures are inspired by the artworks created for my solo exhibition in 2013. It was my first solo show and I have given my best to create 13 street sculptures in a few different series. Some of them represented cans that dispersed the shape of colour on the wall. The reactions of the public were so surprising that I decided to create a series of objects that were faster to make, small enough to fit in a gift bag and accessible to a wide audience. I put all my knowledge and effort into creating the first Splash sculptures in different colour combinations. I have also created some of them just for myself and as Christmas gifts for my friends, without any commercial expectations. As time passed and thanks to online promotion, more and more people wanted to buy them. This gives me the opportunity to constantly explore and develop new creations.
K: Who are your biggest artistic influences?
KB: I think we are very lucky to live in these times with unlimited online options. We are constantly overwhelmed by an infinite number of images and news about the world, art, science... What we do with it is up to us. We can look for our creative inspiration everywhere and it is a process that changes throughout life. I was once inspired by great artists, such as Warhol and Dali; old masters such as Rembrandt and Michelangelo, Le Corbusier, Bauhaus, De Stijl...
My passion for car and motorbike design has, since childhood, directed me towards the greatest product designers of our time, such as Pininfarina, Walter de SIlva, Peter Schreyer, Starck and many other more or less famous designers and artists. Finally, Street art is such a fast-changing process that it always gives us new heroes (with each update of the Instagram feed).
My huge respect goes to Banksy. Regardless of whether it is a person or a project, his innovative approach to the public and the mix of different techniques he uses, make me think he may be one of the greatest artists of our time.
K: What would you advise young creatives who are currently looking for their place on the scene?
KB: Inspiration is not accidental, it takes a lot of practice, learning, and mistakes... The daily practice and a lot of thinking lead to great ideas. Every creative person exposes his work to the opinion and criticism of the public, and it takes a lot of courage to do so. It is okay to make mistakes and do not expect every piece of work to be a good one - bad work is part of the process and we learned from them.
Art is a process of learning, playing and researching with the final result: personal satisfaction. Only when a person is satisfied with himself, is he able to create, to be pleased with his work, and then he can beautify the world and others around him. Everything else will happen exactly when it has to happen.
Cover image: 2 Fast, Splash It Tomato Soup White, 2023 courtesy of Studio Tangerine
Written by Kooness
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