Movie heroes from different countries, genres and eras are on one screen. It is only possible with Klod Mande We talked with an author of unsurpassed collages, which characters will be recognized by everyone

— I'm probably not the first person to tell you this, but your works are incredibly popular on the Internet. Why do people fancy, what you do, so much?

— I think a lot of people like my works due to the unexpected combination of recognizable images, the birth of new subtexts and, of course, humor. When creating the collages, I play with intertextuality. This term was coined in 1967 by the French researcher of language and literature Julia Kristeva. Without going into scientific details, it means that each text or its fragment, in its broadest sense, whether it is a book, film, any work of art, is explicitly or implicitly secondary and always consists of quotes and references to other texts. This is not plagiarism, because the author may often not even know about other texts with a similar plot, characters, etc. Let me give you a simple example of the intertextuality of several works. In the films: "Pretty Woman", "Show Girls", "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears", "Carnival", "Wild Angel" and many others, one can trace the intertext, which was even given a name – the Cinderella’s story. Again, with a reference to a work with a similar intertext.

In most of my collages, intertextuality is the main principle and secret of their creation. Why does Comrade Saakhov in the image of Don Corleone make you smile? Because the characters are intertextual. Each of them can be said to be a powerful boss and who, with the help of the henchmen, does criminal actions. Why is Little Red Riding Hood so organic in the image of the hero DiCaprio from the movie "The Revenant"? Because the characters have a common intertext: both of them ended up in the forest, met the predator and defeated him. There is the same story with Volka, who, instead of the old man Hottabych, rescued the Disney Genie from the container. And there are infinitely many such parallels. I just show them visually using a graphics editor.

— When we arranged an interview with you, you immediately warned that you were not going to disclose your identity. Why?

— I do not disclose my identity, because I treat the increased attention to my person with a great deal of caution. For me, popularity is not some kind of advantage, but rather a new level of responsibility for myself and my actions, a new social role that can change my life and not necessarily for the better. In general, there are doubts, so for now it is more comfortable for me to work in the incognito mode.

— Isn't it a shame that popularity does not reach you personally?

— I have just answered above 🙂

— Describe the moment when you understood and felt that people like your works.

— Probably when I saw the first reposts of my works on other Internet resources, in social networks and the media. When they went viral and became memes. Accordingly, the audience of my followers on Instagram began to grow, and along with them – the confidence that I am doing something interesting not only for me, but also for a large number of other people.

— The publication of each of your work on the «Octagon» is accompanied by a text description. Do you write it yourself?

— Yes, I run the blog on «Octagon» completely by myself. I have experience in journalism, so it is not difficult for me to write an acceptable text.

— It can be seen from this text that you are creating a new picture based on some informational occasion. For example, the sequel to Sex and City, which was announced by HBO. Why did you choose this approach?

— This is exactly the concept of my blog: collages on topical news from the world of cinema. So, we have agreed with the editors, which have kindly provided me with their platform for the implementation of my creative ideas.

— Can we use the example of this work to describe the complete process of its creation with timing? You read that HBO had announced a sequel. What happens next?

— In fact, it all starts with the opening of all latest cinema news feed on the Internet. From this amount I choose the most interesting and significant ones, in my opinion, I dwell on one and think how I can play with it in a collage. From this moment, the creative process can take a couple of hours or a whole day. Firstly, an idea is born, then there is a search for the necessary images, angles, compositional solutions, and the creation of the final work in a graphic editor. Then I collect some textual information on the news from several sources and do a rewrite — the text for a collage.

— How do you determine which of the works will end up on «Octagon» and which on инстаграм?

— When I create collages for Instagram, I work without being tied to news and relevance. Everything here is random, where the imagination leads. Sometimes I duplicate some of the works from the “Octagon” blog on Instagram. I always inform about a new publication on “Octagon” in Stories so that subscribers do not forget to watch and read.

— In your Instagram, we have counted as many as 4 publications dedicated to Yury Dud. Is it because of much liking?

— Yury Dud is definitely one of the brightest and most significant figures in Russian YouTube journalism today. This is probably why, 4 out of more than 400 of my collages turned out to be with his participation. I watch his interviews and reports, some are interesting to me, but some are not very, however, as well as many other Yury’s colleagues. I would not say that I have any special liking for him.

— By the way, if Yury Dud called you for an interview (which implies the identity disclosure), would you go?

— I don't think, that Yury Dud would be interested in my personality and creativity. The wrong scale. But if we only imagined it, most likely, I would refuse. I am not a fan of speaking out on political topics in public, discussing personal life, and, in principle, expressing an opinion about what I am not good at. Therefore, even hypothetically, such an interview would turn out to be very boring and plain.

— You almost never speak on political topics. An exception can be (hardly) called the story with Timati & Guf’s music video about Moscow. Do you avoid politics consciously?

— Yes, I consciously avoid political topics. At first, I did not formulate this rule for myself, but now I can confidently say that the content that I do is purely entertainment in nature.

— Among the heroes of your collages were there those who were very offended? And who did you get the most positive reaction from?

— There were both of them. Those who were offended and even banned me, I will not name. It is their right not to accept my work. As for positive examples, I will simply list the names of those who reposted to their feed or stories my works with their participation. They are Vasily Vakulenko (Basta), Pavel Volya and Laysan Utyasheva, Garik Kharlamov, Timati, Svetlana Loboda, Mikhail Galustyan, Vasily Utkin, Ekaterina Skulkina, Marina Fedunkiv, Andrei Beburishvili, Viktor Bychkov, Yuri Kuklachev, Yana Poplavskaya, Robert Patrik.

— Do you monetize your business?

— I do not answer the questions related to money.

— I am sure that many authors are inspired by your example. And who are you inspired by?

— In one of my interviews, I have already mentioned the Chief Photo Editor of the “Argumenty i Fakty” newspaper, Andrei Dorofeev. In the 1990s, when I was a child, my parents bought every issue of this weekly. And in each newspaper a number of publications were illustrated with Dorofeev’s collages, including the front page. I really liked these works. Perhaps, partially, they have influenced my work today. But I must say that when I made the first collage and posted it on Instagram, I treated this venture as a creative hooliganism, I had no thoughts that it would become popular.

— End this interview with three words, please.

— All the best!

Interview: Sergey Gutakovsky

Translation: Angelina Petrova

Editor: Sergey Fomkin

2021