Juraj Rattaj (*1984) is a Slovak artist that has always been interested in the production and post-production of artworks; from the actual production of artefacts to the art business itself. However, after graduating at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design his interest towards the subject of open source began, and since then, this enthusiasm has continued to grow.

Indeed, at the moment, the open source topic is completely present in his artistic process and he is trying to incorporate this phenomenon into his artworks. As he explains, the content of his project would have the “OS” essence: it would be an idea open to everyone, with the only purpose of improving the content itself and without a direct intention of enriching oneself.

OS is a philosophical movement led by Eric Raymond. Juraj Rattaj sees this conception as a utopian issue these days, but adds that “technology have opened up different and new possibilities for creative industries”.  For example, in his particular case this kind of projects take its shape from individual outputs of collective collaboration, as individual objects designs, virtual forums, model database, discussions or monuments (understanding monuments as an objects requiring collective attention). Juraj ends stating that “all these outputs are created in an effort to improve and enrich culture, environment, ecology, technology and so on”.                        

This residency project is made possible thanks to a financial support of our partner K.A.I.R. Košice Artist in Residence.