In an era where art galleries compete with Instagram feeds, Anatoly Shabalin K. is carving out his own niche — sometimes literally, with a hammer. Born in the industrial Russian town of Izhevsk, he’s now a sought-after multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, fashion, graphic design, and painting. His résumé reads like a who’s-who of big brands and collaborations: Apple, Nike, Universal Music, and even A$AP Rocky. But Shabalin isn’t one to bask in shiny names.
“I create all the pieces, and I always scratch them, damp them with a hammer,” he explains in a recent sit-down with Archived Dreams. “I really like to damage my art so it won’t be precious anymore.”
Destruction, for Shabalin, is liberation. It’s the act of breaking away from the traditional notion that art is something delicate to be preserved behind glass. His work is meant to be touched, used, and maybe even altered by its audience. He’s not just making art; he’s making anti-precious art.
Turning Fashion into Interactive Art
One of Shabalin’s standout projects is his collaboration with Protémoa, a clothing brand with a taste for the unconventional. Together, they created garments that come with extra-long sleeves and — here’s the kicker — scissors. Yes, you’re expected to cut your new clothes to fit.
“When you buy it, it will arrive in a box with a custom set of scissors, and you're going to cut it and adjust it to yourself,” Shabalin says. “Our idea is to make a canvas, and you're gonna make it work for you.”
In another project, Fridge, he took the interactive concept further by turning a painting into something modular. Visitors could move custom magnets around to create their own version of the artwork. “I was documenting how this canvas was changing every single day,” he recalls. “All the visitors are essentially collaborators.”
This participatory approach to art — inviting viewers to mess with the work — is central to Shabalin’s ethos. It’s a rejection of art-world snobbery in favor of something more democratic, a conversation rather than a lecture.
From Soviet-Era Art Schools to Central Saint Martins
Shabalin’s artistic roots trace back to his hometown of Izhevsk, where he attended a traditional fine arts school. “Originally, I’m from Russia, a small town called Izhevsk. It’s a very Soviet-oriented education system... very academic drawing, painting, all about rules,” he says.
That rigid foundation gave him technical chops, but it also left him feeling stuck. He was taught art up until the 19th century — and then, apparently, nothing. “My teacher, I was like, what about now? What artists do we have now? She’s like, well, art is dead. Nobody is making great art anymore.”
That bleak outlook didn’t sit well with Shabalin. He eventually moved to London to study at Central Saint Martins, where he encountered contemporary art and digital media for the first time. It was like stepping into a new world.
“I learned a lot about contemporary art,” he says. “And I got to the point where I have all those skills, so I just want to use them all and create multidimensional pieces.”
The Anti-Metaverse: Building a Real World
In a tech-obsessed age where the metaverse is supposedly the next frontier, Shabalin remains stubbornly committed to the physical world. “I think I’m just the enemy of Mark Zuckerberg, who’s trying to build a multiverse, and I’m trying to build a real life, a real world,” he quips.
It’s not just a philosophical stance. For Shabalin, art needs to be tactile, something people can touch and experience firsthand. He believes in crafting detailed, intricate objects that hold people’s attention — an antidote to the scroll-happy, digital-first culture of today.
“I’m on a path of building something very detailed with ornaments, like with attention to details,” he says. Minimalism, he argues, has flattened everything into lifeless white bricks. He’s not interested in sterile perfection. He wants things messy, textured, and real.
A Career Built on Asking Questions
Curiosity is a recurring theme in Shabalin’s work and life. His initials — ASK — even spell out a reminder to keep digging deeper. He sees questions as the fuel for creativity, both for the artist and the audience.
“I realized that the question is the most important thing,” he says. “Because it allows you to grow. And with art, I realized that it doesn’t matter what meaning you put in it while developing what concept. What’s important is the emotion that the viewer gets… If the viewer asks a question, that’s already a thinking process.”
This mindset has driven Shabalin to pursue unexpected projects and collaborations. His work with A$AP Rocky, for example, began with a simple outreach to the music video’s director. “I really love what I do, and I always want to do it on a bigger scale. So I’m in a constant search of opportunities,” he says.
Looking Beyond Social Media
Despite his success, Shabalin is wary of relying too much on digital platforms. His career, like many contemporary artists, has been fueled by Instagram connections. But he’s uneasy about building a legacy on something that can be hacked or deleted.
“I want to kind of build my offline presence,” he says. “Is there any value in the real world? Obviously, I have a skill. I have friends. But I want to establish my presence outside of social networks.”
It’s a refreshing take from someone who’s already well-established in the digital space. Shabalin isn’t rejecting technology outright, but he’s pushing for balance — for art that exists beyond screens and algorithms.
Conclusion: Making Art, Breaking Rules
Anatoly Shabalin K is part artist, part provocateur. He’s not content to make pretty objects and call it a day. He wants to challenge the way people think about art, how they engage with it, and what it can do. Whether he’s creating sculptural seating, hangers, ping-pong tables or handing you a pair of scissors to alter your own clothes, he’s asking you to participate in the process.
To hear more from Anatoly himself — and dive even deeper into his creative mind — check out the full interview on the Archived Dreams YouTube channel.
