Made by the print and multi media mastermind Oleg Morović, these pin badges of the most beautiful man in Istria, Nikola Racan, were available for a small donation to the festival.
Recently after having completed and released a video project for a large brand, I was having a brief follow-up conversation with the marketing person. The guys at the brand had been stoked on the video, they said, and also the video had done pretty well views wise, considering all the YouTube views were ‘organic’. What the fuck is an organic view? I had to know. A quick Google search held the answer:
An organic view is generated when users discover and watch your videos through natural means, such as search results, suggested videos, or shares from other users.
I suppose this is in contrast to these views being paid for, or in the case of some videos, heavy advertising and marketing campaigns designed to push viewers towards a video.
This year at Vladimir, on a boat to the island of the former summer residence of Josip Broz Tito (president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), a thought hit me: “How the fuck have all of these hundreds of people made it here?” The event has no Instagram page, runs no ads, and like your local premieres or exhibitions, makes no attempt to entice people or inflate the numbers with free beers, food or anything else. There is no corporate partnership and some years almost no media partnership either. And yet still, hundreds of people have made an arduous and expensive journey to be here. The main things on offer are exhibitions and videos from a program that was released shortly before the event began.
It feels like Vladimir puts out a specific call, imperceptible to most, in the form of a cryptic post from a personal account with some dates and a logo. But what you end up with is a few hundred die-hards flocking to a fishing village in northern Croatia for several days, safe in the knowledge they’re going be treated to one of the most hospitable environments imaginable for the enjoyable consumption of skateboard videos. In today’s media environment, it’s probably the most organic view a video can get.
An additional treat to the already fun car park DIY spot was this whippy corner pocket, which Sondre Mortensen quickly found some quirky lines for. Look out for something Dorkzoney in the near future.Does this need a caption? It’s a dog in a tie.Festival veteran and newlywed Nick Sharratt of The Palomino was on hand at the skate market for all ‘zine and DVD needs, as is tradition.Abe Dublin aka ‘Orange Man’ premiered two films over two nights. This one, entitled ‘Remnant Sale’ came with incredible live musical accompaniment from his partner Sarit. Bravo.The Kasarna parties, as always, went off. After this night, the ping pong table was sadly no more.Rob Taro, Smith grind.Rasheed Osman found a cool way to skate these odd little airplane shaped things with this quick-footed nose stall yank over.Abe Dublin, backside lipslide.Friday’s event was moved last minute to an old disused brewery in Vodnjan due to weather complications. Somehow with only a few hours, the Vladimir crew managed to magic up several exhibitions (including this one by Clement Harpillard), a fully functioning bar, a book talk, multiple screenings for hundreds of people and a punk gig involving three bands in a space they had never used before. These Croatians are a different breed, honestly.Hsin Jan Chao‘s excellent contemporary work was in fact repeatedly touched.Pepe Tirelli and his band Stronzette came from Italy and put on an absolute show. It was carnage.From Archiva by Michel Mesarić.A new addition to the Vladimir line up was this panel discussion in Kino Valli before the screenings began. The topic was Grey Spaces and the take-away was much too complicated for me to attempt to explain here. To summarise: it was interesting. From Jocko Weyland‘s The World Isn’t Finished Yet, Is It? exhibition in ECPD Pula.The sign for Nikola’s car park. As DIY as the spot itself.Russian ripper and potential genius Gosha Konyshev introducing his absurd Skate Film on Veliki Brijun Island. I have no idea where and when this will hit the internet, but don’t be fooled by the inconspicuous name when it does – it’s incredible.Rob Taro’s latest masterpiece, TImescan 2, featuring clips and parts from a lot of Japanese names you know and a lot more that you don’t yet.Probably the highlight of the festival for me was this surprise Gou Miyagi part to close out the video, his first in 10 years. Thank you to Rob for making that happen.Bravo.Rob Taro and Nikola Racan just after the screening ended.OK I don’t know how to caption this one either. It’s Helena on a boat, with a drink, looking cheeky.Final night Kasarna carnage.Still flying high from the outpouring of love he got for his video just moments earlier, Rob Taro decided to send the highest airs of the night on the Kasarna ramp.Paul Watson, backside tailslide over the doorway at the DIY.
