Prigušena egzistencija - Muzej savremene umetnosti Vojvodine

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Prigušena egzistencija
The Subdued Existence
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Prigušena egzistencija
Savremena umetnička scena SRBIJE
Umetnici | Artists
Igor Antić | Breda Beban | Goran Despotovski
diStruktura | Dragan Ilić | Jelena Jureša
Stevan Kojić | MP_art | Museum of Childhood
Andrea Palašti | Vessna Perunovich | Nataša Teofilović
Zoran Todorović
| Miloš Tomić | Selman Trtovac
Subdued Existence
Serbian Contemporary Art Scene
Novi Sad, 2015.
U stanju prigušene egzistencije
Svetlana Mladenov
umetničkim vrednostima i univerzalnom umetničkom
diskursu, tražeći često utočište u najužem okruženju,
porodici, prijateljima i istomišljenicima.
n
Postignuti rezultati, u oslobađanju srpske umetnosti
od uticaja partijski usmeravanog i kontrolisanog
realizma i kasnijeg partijski tolerisanog socijalističkog
modernizma posleratnog (II svetski rat) birokratizovanog
i
tehnokratizovanog
društva
samoupravnog
socijalizma, kroz novu umetničku praku i talase
konceptualnih istraživanja s kraja šezdesetih i tokom
sedamdesetih godina prošlog veka, te kroz pluralističku,
dinamičnu, prevratničku, eklektičku, citatnu, prožetu
dekonstruktivističkim taktikama postmodernističku
atmosferu osamdesetih godina, bledeli su pred stihijom
ratnih razaranja tokom devedesetih godina na prostorima
ex-Jugoslavije i terorom Miloševićevog režima u Srbiji.
Umetničke slobode, pred kraj 20. veka, trebalo je ponovo
osvajati.
U ovako komplikovanom i nezahvalnom kontekstu vodili
su se dijalozi i uspostavljale relacije unutar umetničke
scene Srbije devedesetih. Karakteristika ove scene je
nepreglednost, postojanje mnoštva pojedinačnih, ličnih
poetika, među kojima se teško može odrediti glavni tok, ali
zato je moguće utvrditi postojanje više paralelnih tokova
koji nisu suprotstavljeni, već se, naprotiv, dopunju.
Početak devedesetih godina prošlog veka obeležen je
pojavom „nove skulpture” koja je u tadašnju aktuelnu
scenu Srbije unela novi duh i pomerila granice samog
medija. Koristeći racionalniji postupak ona se okreće
svedenim formama, geometrizmu, minimalizmu,
neokonstruktivizmu…. Umetničkoj praksi devedesetih
više odgovaraju termini već ranije usvojeni za savremenu
skulpturu, kao što su umetnički predmet, objekt, instalacija,
fragment, ambijent, a sam način rada primerenije je
označiti kao građenje, konstruisanje, slaganje... Odnos
prema materijalu je izmenjen. Pored klasičnih, uvodi se
obilje „ne-skulptorskih” materijala (filc, koža, najlon,
mreža, staklo, poliester, vinaz, guma..). Sve može poslužiti,
a mogućnost različitih kombinacija sasvim raznorodnih
materijala izazov su za mlade umetnike koji slobodno i
veoma autoritativno eksperimentišu. Utisak privremenosti
i nedovršenosti njihovih skulptura govori o značaju i
važnosti koju pridaju samom procesu rada. Često je on za
njih važniji od završnog umetničkog oblika.
Delovanje iz ilegale, u prigušenoj egzistenciji, za mnoge
umetnike, kao i za samu umetničku scenu Srbije
devedesetih, bilo je jedino moguće rešenje.
Tokom devedesetih godina prošlog veka, u obeshrabrujućoj
atmosferi,
nenaklonjenoj
novim
umetničkim
istraživanjima i eksperimentima kao i pojedinačnim,
ličnim poetikama koje su težile ka usvajanju univerzalnog
jezika umetnosti, krio se iznenađujuće bogat umetnički
potencijal. Ontološka potreba za kreiranjem, stvaranjem,
građenjem, uspostavljanjem relacija, kao i traganjem za
sopstvenim identitetom, unutar globalne umetničke scene,
bila je snažnija od neprijateljskog okruženja i odvijala
se burno, naročito u drugoj polovini devedesetih. To je
vreme obeleženo pojedinačnim naporima stručnjaka i
umetnika da sopstveni suženi kulturni prostor priključe
internacionalnoj umetničkoj sceni i sa njom uspostave
trajni dijalog. U društvu poremećenog sistema vrednosti,
postavljaju se, za umetnost, brojna pitanja o njenoj ulozi,
društvenom statusu, njenom uticaju na okruženje, o
vrednosti njenih ideja i poruka, o moći da kanališe
promene i utiče na svest i savest savremenika. Iz perioda
izopštenosti prožetog ratnom pometnjom, zabranama,
terorom, getoizacijom, podelama, ušlo se na samom kraju
dvadesetog veka u period tranzicije koji je još uvek u toku.
Proces prodora slike u prostor započet u osamdesetim i
stvaranje slike-objekata i instalacija specifičnog dejstva
nastavljen je u devedesetim, naročito u drugoj polovini
decenije kroz istraživanja u polju sasvim različitih
instalacija i rada in situ ali sada u drugačijoj atmosferi
relacionih odnosa oslonjenoj na teoriju umetnosti
inspirisanoj relacionom estetikom, čiji je utemeljivač
Nikolas Burio. Njihovi autori ne dolaze uvek iz vajarskih
redova, već češće iz slikarskih .
Rad na licu mesta uslovio je prebacivanje težišta
interesovanja umetnika za realizaciju svojih plastičkih
koncepata iz galerijskih u alternativne i slobodne
gradske prostore koji svojom arhitekturom, istorijskim
pamćenjem, patinom, urbanističkim osobenostima nude
bogat materijal za istraživanje u polju društveno-istorijskih
Angažovanost umetničke prakse i
pojedinačnih
umetničkih napora usmerenih protiv svih tragičnih
dešavanja nije bila burna i glasna, već tiha, pritajena i
diskretna. Ona se manifestovala u nečinjenju, ignorisanju,
ekskluzivitetu, elitizmu, sa vizurom ka autonomnim
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i estetskih premisa. Druga polovina desete decenije i
godine posle obeležene su i pojavom sve intenzivnijeg, od
strane umetnosti, osvajanja zaboravljenih i napuštenih
gradskih prostora Useljavajući se u njega svojim
intervencijama, akcijama, performansima, instalacijama,
objektima i privlačeći publiku, omogućila je najdirektniju
komunikaciju konteksta, dela i publike.
polju novih tehnologija i elektronskih disciplina. Umetnik
se slobodno kreće kroz sasvim različite medijske prostore
prevazilazeći njihove granice i klasične podele. Mogućnosti
kombinovanja su brojne: slika, svetlo, zvuk, pokret, miris...
Svaka provokacija na naša čula je dozvoljena. Često se
gotovi ili nađeni odbačeni predmeti kombinuju sa svetlom,
zvukom, ekranskom slikom. Takođe fotografije, plakati
i sve što može biti reprodukcija (umnoženo nebrojeno
puta) može biti u relaciji sa video-artom ili komjuterskom
slikom. Rezultat su instalacije, video-instalacije, ambijenti,
performansi, hepeninzi spektakli... Umetnost sve manje
teži za konkretnim i trajnim proizvodom. Često su njene
akcije usmerene u pravcu odgovora na izazove određenog
prostora ili arhitektonske celine, te se intervencije izvode
na licu mesta ili interaktivno preko kompjuterske slike.
One mogu ispoljiti želju za provokacijom, šokantnošću...
Ponekad su jedini dokumenti o nekoj umetničkoj akciji,
hepeningu ili izložbi: fotografije, video-zapis i štampani
materijal.
U pluralističkoj atmosferi devedesetih mogle su se
uočiti tendencije obnavljanja modernizma što je već
nagovestila „nova skulptura”, a što se sredinom decenije
u slikarstvu manifestovalo geometrizmom i potrebom
obnavljanja autonomnosti umetničkog postupka kroz
redukciju, monohromiju, minimalizam... bilo da se radilo
o čistoj površini slike ili slici-predmetu. Likovni kritičar
Sava Stepanov ovu pojavu u vojvođanskoj umetničkoj
produkciji naziva „diskretni modernizam”, a teoretičar
umetnosti Ješa Denegri . govori o tome da se sve češće
polovinom devedesetih u okviru umetničke kritike može
uočiti upotreba termina kao što su obnova modernog
projekta, moderna posle postmoderne, neomoderna, druga
moderna i sl.
Kraj dvadesetog veka za umetnost je vrlo kompleksno i
složeno vreme. Pogled na umetničku praksu ovog vremena
daje sliku nepregledne, eklektičke situacije u kojoj nema
velikog značajnog zajedničkog projekta, nema određenog
definisanog stila ni pravca, stroge koncepcije, vodeće
ličnosti... Umetnost na kraju milenijuma, inventarišući
po prošlosti i sopstvenom biću stavila je pod sumnju neke
već ukorenjene činjenice i prihvaćene istine, kritički se
odnoseći prema tradiciji i mnogim zavodljivim iluzijama.
Nema više velikih istina niti ideala, nije više toliko
bitno ni samo umetničko delo, rad na njemu kao i sam
krajnji rezultat. Važniji su i zanimljiviji odnosi među
umetničkim disciplinama, mogućnost novih relacija, kao
i njihova egzistencija u određenom prostoru i vremenu.
Slobodno kretanje kroz široko polje umetnosti uz stalno
eksperimentisanje i istraživački diskurs postali vrlo
inspirativni za umetnike. U Srbiji, osvajanje novih medija
i uvođenje novih tehnologija proširilo je izražajno polje
umetnosti i omogućilo više prostora za eksperiment čije
su granice nesagledive. Radoznalost, istraživački duh i
hrabrost same umetnosti da se upusti u novo i neistraženo,
doprinelo je mnoštvu različitih diskursa koji su otvorili
neslućene mogućnosti novoj umetničkoj praksi u Srbiji
devedesetih godina dvadesetog veka.
Nasuprot ovom opredeljenju za apstraktne forme,
početkom devedesteih godina zapaža se, od jedne druge
grupe mladih umetnika, insistiranje na figuraciji i
vraćanju figure u centar zbivanja što je praćeno jednim
više relističkim i podražavalačkim pristupom umetnosti
oslonjenim na na tradicije „pop arta”, „nove figuracije”,
„hiperrealizma”, primitivne i naivne umetnosti. Za
razliku od figuracije s početka osamdesetih koja je sva u
ekspresivnom grču, deformacijama, ružnoći, ova sa početka
devedesetih je uzdržana, ravnodušna, depresivna. Snažne
emocije zamenjene su intelektualnom kontemplacijom.
Osećanje ugroženosti sopstvene egzistencije čini vezu
između umetnika i dela tešnjom, te umetnik svoju ličnu
sudbinu poistovećuje sa sopstvenim delom, tražeći
u njemu i kroz njega potvrdu sopstvenog identiteta.
Predstavnike ovog toka umetnosti u Srbiji povezuju
slična osećanja i atmosfera kojom odišu njihova dela, a
to su otuđenost, usamljenost, izolovanost, melanholija,
nekomunikativnost, nezainteresovanost, ravnodušnost,
ponekad blaga ironoja ili tek nagovešteni humor.
Takođe, atmosfera umetničke scene u Srbiji devedesetih
(sredina i druga polovina decenije) obeležena je pojavom
neokonceptualističkih istraživanja i to kroz nastojanja
ponovne aktuelizacije inicijatora „nove umetničke prakse”
s kraja šezdesetih i tokom sedamdesetih godina prošlog
veka, kroz njihovu revalorizaciju i ponovnu afirmaciju
preko mnogobrojnih izložbi i javnih nastupa.
U toj poslednjoj deceniji prošlog veka u kojoj se umetnost
sve više internacionalizuje, u kojoj se umetnici slobodno
kreću različitim kulturnim prostorima, u kojoj umetnost
sve više poprima nomadski karakter, jugoslovenski
umetnici i galerije, kontakte su ostvarivali vrlo teško i
sporadično, a kada je do njih dolazilo, oni su bili rezultat
ličnog zalaganja pojedinaca i njihovih već ranijih privatnih
kontakata sa umetnicima i galerijama iz Evrope i sveta.
Druga polovina devedesetih i sam kraj veka otvorili su
neograničene mogućnosti umetničkog istraživanja na
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Zbacivši desetogodišnji Miloševićev režim, Srbija je, na
prelazu vekova, zemlja u tranziciji, na putu ka demokratiji.
Potreba njene umetničke scene za otvaranjem i snažnijim
kontaktima sa svetom, sve više se aktuelizuje. Raste želja za
povezivanjem sa svetskim aktuelnim tokovima umetničke
prakse i uključivanjem u istu, za uspostavljanjem veza
sa internacionalnim kulturnim prostorom i njegovim
akterima: umetnicima, galerijama, asocijacijama,
velikim izložbama, umetničkim sajmovima, kritičarima,
teoretičarima...
često prepuštaju multimedijalnim i intermedijalnim
istraživanjima.
Danas, skoro deset godina nakon sumornog perioda
nacionalne istorije, političke izolovanosti i tokom
sporog procesa društvenog oporavka, umetnici i kustosi
samoinicijativno uspostavljaju saradnju i komunikaciju
sa umetničkom scenom Evrope i sveta, istovremeno
proširujući svoje polje istraživanja, metode i jezik
umetničkog dela kroz međusobne relacije. Razmatranje
odnosa lokalnog i globalnog, regionalnog i univerzalnog,
intimnog i javnog, ličnog i političkog ostaje i dalje aktuelno
unutar savremene umetničke scene Srbije, ali sada sa
manjim insistiranjem na velikim, kolektivnim makropolitičkim pitanjima, već sa sve primetnijim usmerenjem
ka individualnim, mikropolitičkim konceptima. Neka od
pitanja koja se danas postavljaju su: koliki je značaj mikrozajednice, porodice, intimnog i ličnog sveta pojedinca,
kakav je kvalitet međusobne komunikacije, koji su danas
preovlađujući vrednosni sistemi, koji su etički i estetski
kriterijumi prisutni, a koje bi trebalo valorizovati, kako se
suprotstaviti vladajućim stereotipima?
Na razuđenoj i dinamičnoj umetničkoj sceni prve decenije
21. Veka, u prividnom „neredu” i ukrštanju različitih
subjektivnih istraživanja, poetika, plastičkih koncepata,
umetničkog i neumetničkog materijala nije se lako
snalaziti, a posebno uočiti i izdvojiti značajne pojave i
ličnosti. „Više nema ni Velike umjetnosti ni velikih djela
i mi smo uistinu ušli u jednu novu ekonomiju, ekonomiju
potpune pobjede estetike. Ta pobjeda, koja odgovara
"isparivanju umjetnosti", dobiva svoj umjetnički smisao u
okviru susreta i miješanjа među kulturama.”1
U umetničkim konceptima mlađe generacije umetnika
može se uočiti proces ka uspostavljanju ravnoteže
između klasičnih likovnih disciplina i umetnosti novih
tehnologija. Slikarstvo kao jedna od vodećih klasičnih
likovnih disciplina, u devedesetim godinama prošlog
veka biva potisnuto od inovativnih i brojnih mogućnosti
koje su pružale nove tehnologije i eksperimenti sa i u
novim medijima (video, digitalna fotografija, animacija,
veb-umetnost..), da bi ponovo, u prvoj deceniji novog
milenijuma postalo predmet istraživanja i interesovanja pre
svih mlađe generacije umetnika. U okviru tog istraživanja
može se zapaziti izraženi tok ka figuraciji i vraćanju figure
u centar zbivanja. Tako portret i autoportret, koji su se
kao žanrovi skoro izgubili, ponovo za umetnike postaju
zanimljive teme.
Umetnike danas ne povezuje neki zajednički stil, tematika
ili ikonografija, oni dele nešto mnogo značajnije: zajednički
teorijski i praktični vidokrug u kome duluju, a to je sfera
međuljudskih odnosa. Zato su komunikacija, dijalog
i saradnja domaće likovne scene sa internacionalnom
ključni ne samo za afirmaciju savremene umetničke
prakse, već i za ispoljavanje onih elemenata umetničkog
rada koji bi svojim životom u zatvorenoj, lokalnoj sredini
ostao nevidljiv.
Danas je Srbija društvo koje, opterećeno s jedne strane
prošlošću i negativnim nasleđem, a sa druge novim
tranzicionim procesom koji je u toku, stvara uslove za
razvoj atmosfere neizvesnosti, nesigurnosti, depresivnosti,
razočaranosti, beznađa, apatičnosti, što još više otežava
realizaciju svake kreativne ideje, pozitivne akcije, pa
samim tim i umetničke prakse. Savremena umetnost od
devedesetih godina prošlog veka do danas nije uspela da se
izbori za vidno značajniju poziciju u sopstvenom društvu,
već i dalje deluje iz stanja prigušene egzistencije. Podrška,
razumevanje i priznanja stižu više sa međunarodne
umetničke scene, dok su u sopstvenom društvu njena
istraživanja i rezultati marginalizovani.
Umetnička scena Srbije danas predstavlja složeni sistem
koji na prvi pogled deluje rasplinuto i nepregledno, ali
je, zapravo, jedan živo pulsirajući organizam u kome se
prepliću uticaji tranzicionog, balkanskog, ali i uređenijeg,
srednjoevropskog umetničkog prostora. Teško je izdvojiti
glavne umetničke tokove i pravce i njihove najznačajnije
aktere jer istovremenost različitih umetničkih
istraživanja, njihovo dodirivanje i mešanje čine situaciju
na umetničkoj sceni zamršenijom i kompleksnijom.
Usvojivši internacionalni umetnički diskurs, obogativši
ga specifičnim duhom regiona iz koga potiču i u okviru
koga deluju i usvojivši nove tehnologije, umetnici se
1 Yves Michaud, Umjetnost u plinovitu stanju, esej o trijumfu estetike,
Zagreb, 2004.
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Cargo East – Prigušena egzistencija
Sanja Kojić Mladenov
prošlosti (iako različitih modela komunizma), te
raskidanje sa njenim idealima i vrednostima, težnja
ka ubrzanoj demokratizaciji društva i otvaranje ka
postliberalnom tržištu. Industrijski, tehničko-tehnološki
i ekonomski razvoj prisutan na Tajvanu, koji prati snažni
razvoj savremene umetničke i medijske prakse, izostao
je u Srbiji. Izgradnja i razvoj egzistentnih institucija
kulture posvećenih istraživanju, prezentaciji i čuvanju
savremene umetnosti, kao i podsticanje izlaska umetnosti
u javne prostore (stanice, ulice, trgovi, javni objekti i sl),
kod nas još uvek nisu naišli na adekvatnu finansijsku
podršku ili nisu smatrani prioritetnim usmerenjima
državne politike. Kultura je više ili manje skrajnuta,
pod izgovorom „elitizovane“, i zamenjena profitabilnom
zabavom primerenijom ukusu širokih narodnih masa.
Proces tranzicije, počet devedesetih godina 20. veka,
još uvek nije završen, te pravac razvoja ili ekonomskopolitički sistem još uvek zavisi od političkih previranja
i partijskih promena. Na snazi je korupcija državnih
institucija, politička i ekonomska nestabilnost, nizak
standard građana, kulturni diskontuitet, duboka
moralna kriza praćena osećanjem beskorisnosti, koji
podrivaju umetničku scenu Srbije. Stvaralački rad
umetnika i aktivista, prožet kontekstualizacijom
društvene stvarnosti, postaje iluzoran, njihov kritički
stav se uglavnom ne uzima ozbiljno, ne dobija potrebnu
institucionalnu i ekonomsku podršku ili vidljivost u masmedijima, te ostaje zatvoren unutar okvira umetničke
scene i prepoznat uglavnom samo od strane stručne
javnosti. Stanje savremene umetničke scene Srbije prožeto
je dubokom krizom svih segmenata, od institucionalne,
političke, ekonomske do socijalne, kulturne, etičke i
vrednosne. U takvom stanju gotovo konstantno prisutne
nevidljivosti i državne marginalizacije, umetnička
scena Srbije prigušeno egzistira razvijajući modele
kritike, preživljavanja, alternativnog saodržavanja i
samosnalaženja. Njena pritajenost je zato dvostruka,
zavisna od odnosa ka dominantnom kulturnom modelu
lokalne sredine i zavisna od podrške na internacionalnoj
umetničkoj sceni (iako pripada evropskoj, geografski
i prirodno). Izlazak van granica predstavlja izazov
mnogim umetnicima i kustosima, koji samoinicijativno
uspostavljaju saradnju i komunikaciju sa umetničkim
scenama Evrope i sveta, istovremeno proširujući svoje
polje istraživanja, metode i jezik umetničkog dela kroz
međusobne relacije. Traže saradnike u inostranstvu,
n Umetnici su danas kreativni putnici koji prelaze granice
različitih disciplina, formata i prostora, nomadi koji su u
stalnom kretanju, bilo realnom ili virtuelnom. Postali
su istraživači drugih kultura u koje odlaze, beležeći i
dokumentujući viđeno, a zatim obrađujući i reprodukujući
doživljeno. Donose nova znanja, razmišljanja i koncepte, i
zatim ih prenose u različite geopolitičke sredine. Putovanje
je danas postala neminovnost društvenog, ekonomskog i
kulturnog razvoja, a u umetnosti gotovo zaseban medij sa
temama kao što su migracija, raseljavanje, komunikacija
i prevođenje, dnevnički zapis, egzotizam događaja,
mapiranje terena, umetnički aktivizam u ugroženim
zemljama i slično. Umetnici sve češće odlaze na drugi kraj
sveta kako bi tamo pronašli materijal za svoj umetnički
rad (video-zapisi, fotografije, komercijalni proizvodi,
dokumentacija, lične priče lokalnog stanovništva, način
života i sl), naglašavajući subjektivni doživljaj viđenog.
Društveno-geografska arheologija, antropologija i bliski
susret sa drugim mogu postati primarni impuls za
nastanak dela, bilo da je u pitanju pojedinačni umetnički
rad ili kompleksni kolektivni projekat, dok lično
poznanstvo i direktna komunikacija otvaraju prostor
za neposredniju saradnju među protagonista globalne
savremene umetničke scene.
Uspostavljanje relacija između umetničke prakse Tajvana
i Srbije, omogućeno projektom Cargo East, osim što
predstavlja retkost, gotovo kuriozitet, postavlja i niz
pitanja o mogućim sličnostima i razlikama tih geografski
udaljenih teritorija. Dijalog dve umetničke prakse
locirane na istoku svojih kontinenata, Azije i Evrope,
poslužilo je kao osnova zajedničkog koncepta i podsticaj
za analiziranje značaja geografske pozicije i specifičnosti
mesta na razvoj umetničke scene. Za oba aktera se
postavljaju pitanja: da li postoji izvesna izolovanost tih
teritorija u odnosu na vodeću kulturnu politiku Evrope ili
Azije, da li je prisutna marginalizacija njihovih umetnika
i umetnica, kao i da li zbog geografske skrajnutosti
umetničke scene Tajvana i Srbije imaju specifičan razvoj
u odnosu na vodeće tendencije kontinenata na kojima
su locirane? Kolike su prednosti, a kolike mane takve
(istočne) geografske pozicije i da li one imaju veze sa
stereotipnim posmatranjem dominantnih delova sveta i
davanja prioriteta civilizaciji i kulturi zapada?
Osim geografske udaljenosti od političkih centara, za
Tajvan i Srbiju je blisko i zajedničko iskustvo socijalističke
8
Evrope, Severne i Južne Amerike, podstaknuti društvenopolitičkom i kulturnom krizom (naročito prisutnom
tokom devedesetih godina 20. veka). Biti izvan granica
ili ih ne prihvatati je, i pored svih povlastica višestrukih
hibridizacija takozvanog nomadskog subjekta, veoma
teška, nimalo romantična pozicija sa kojom se danas
susreće veliki broj savremenih umetnika i umetnica iz
Srbije. Oni egzistiraju na internacionalnim umetničkim
scenama, definišući sebe kroz različite društvene
kontekste, geografske odrednice i identitete, razbijajući
tako tradicionalne forme egzemplara nacionalne
umetnosti. Koncept Prigušene egzistencije formulisan je
tako da teži razbijanju tradicionalnog modela nacionalne
izložbene selekcije, te otvaranju mogućnosti za afirmaciju
mnogostrukih identiteta i pojava koje proširuju sliku
stereotipnih revijalnih prezentacija lokalne umetničke
scene.
istomišljenike ili entuzijaste, kojima saradnja sa
institucijama, udruženjima, umetnicima i umetnicama
iz Srbije proširuje poznata saznanja, omogućava sustret
sa drugačijim, socijalističko-demokratskim, kolektivnoindividualnim, istočnoevropskim ili srednjoevropskim,
možda i balkanski egzotičnim.
Na izložbi Prigušena egzistencija: savremena umetnička
scena Srbije, pripremljenoj i koncipiranoj za prezentaciju
u Nacionalnom muzeju likovnih umetnosti Tajvana
u Tajčungu (National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts)
učestvuju: Igor Antić, Breda Beban, Goran Despotovski,
diStruktura, Dragan Ilić, Jelena Jureša, Stevan Kojić, MP_
art, Muzej detinjstva, Andrea Palašti, Vesna Perunović,
Nataša Teofilović, Zoran Todorović, Miloš Tomić i Selman
Trtovac, autori i autorke čija je aktivnost na domaćoj i
međunarodnoj umetničkoj sceni poslednjih godina sve
upečatljivija. Izabrani umetnici, umetnice i umetničke
grupe savremenim medijskim jezikom istražuju različite
kontekste svog društvenog okruženja, naročito teme u
vezi sa ličnim odnosom ka društveno-političkoj tranziciji,
migraciji, egzilu, globalizaciji, problemima identiteta,
svakodnevice i odnosa ka savremenoj ekonomiji, kapitalu
i tehnologiji.
Izložbu čine oni autori i autorke koji svojim aktivnostima
nastoje da prevaziđu teret konzervativizma zatvorene
zajednice, koji se internacionalno kreću, sarađuju,
razmenjuju znanja i iskustva kroz mnoge multimedijske
projekte, festivale, radionice, seminare i rezidencije. Neki
su usmereni ka socijalno angažovanoj umetnosti koja
je prožeta kritičkom praksom radova koji ukazuju na
zatvorenost i ksenofobiju društva, na problem migracije,
ekologije i identiteta, kao i na postojanje socijalnih
stereotipa. Ispituju odnos pojedinca prema ličnoj i opštoj
istoriji ukazujući na probleme suočavanja sa težinom
prošlosti, uvodeći originalne zapise i artefakte. Mnogi
kritikuju društvo, ekonomske zakonitosti, politiku
rata, nacionalizma i diskriminacije, kao i aktuelnu
konzumersku potrošnju, često kroz jednostavne
niskobudžetne radove. Koriste predmete, materijale i
sprave iz svoje svakodnevice kroz mnogostruke principe,
među kojima je i uradi to sam (do it yourself – DIY),
prožete direktnim podrivanjem autonomnih društvenih
sistema. Iako nenametljivo, sve više učestvuju u različitim
društvenim pokretima koji se bore za prava pojedinaca,
marginalnih i ugroženih grupa – svojim stavovima,
radovima, predavanjima i komunikacijom na društvenim
mrežama. Takođe, analiziraju povezanost čoveka sa
prirodom, odnos prirode i tehnologije, istražuju drugačije
stilove života i lične navike. Koriste se humorom, ironijom
i apsurdom, kao bitnim elementima u prevazilaženju
nagomilanih društvenih problema.
Razmatranja odnosa lokalnog i globalnog, regionalnog
i univerzalnog, intimnog i javnog, ličnog i političkog
prisutna su unutar savremene umetničke scene Srbije od
početka procesa tranzicije. Koncept Prigušene egzistencije
nastavlja tu praksu i uključuje različite umetničke
pristupe koji istražuju relacije savremene umetničke
prakse sa naučnim, tehnološkim, prirodnim, društvenim
i ličnim okruženjem. Izabrani radovi su realizovani u
različitim medijima, među kojima su: crtež, digitalna
grafika, instalacija, video-instalacija, performans, akcija,
kratki film, video, fotografija, animacija i digitalni
mediji. Okupljeni na ovoj izložbi radovi teže proširivanju
sopstvenih medijskih ograničenja kroz istraživanje
međuodnosa umetnosti i drugih oblasti naučne i
društvene delatnosti. Karakteriše ih iskorenjivanje
granica i težnja ka uključivanju i asimilaciji pojava
drugih, tradicionalnih i neumetničkih diciplina, među
kojima su: sociologija, filozofija, psihologija, prirodne
nauke, tehnologija ili druge umetnosti: muzika, film i
igra. Disciplinarne, političke ili socijalne granice, kao i
prostor „između granica“ (limitativna zona) tradicionalno
su služile da bi konstruisale ono što je zajedničko kao
blisko i prihvatljivo, nasuprot onog što se osporava i ne
prihvata. Mnogi autori uključeni u taj koncept tematski
razmatraju probleme granica, migracija i egzila. Neki su
se svojim školovanjem i/ili životom opredelili za odlazak
iz Srbije, za život emigranata u zemljama Zapadne
9
Oslobađanje postojeće prigušenosti
Čen Jan-Huei
aktuelni trenutak. Na osnovu posmatranja, teme radova
na ovoj izložbi mogu grubo opisati na sledeći način:
n
Zašto je egizstencija prigušena? Zbog tuge i ratova
u istoriji? Društvenih potresa? Političkih i ekonomskih
tranzicija? Uticaja globalnog okruženja? Ili sumnji o
ličnom subjektivnom identitetu?
Prvo, kroz rekonstrukciju tekstova i sećanja, i promenu
diskursa istorije i kulture. Mnoge političke promene u
Istočnoj Evropi su se desile oko 1990. godine, uključujući
i pad Berlinskog zida, kao i kraj komunističke vladavine
u mnogim zemljama. U međuvremenu, Srbija je takođe
doživela drastične političke, ekonomske i društvene
promene, koje su posledica raspada bivše Jugoslavije i pada
komunističkog režima. Umetnici rekonstruišu narativ
prošlosti kroz njihove radove, i time formiraju vertikalnu
nit na vremenskoj osi; rekonstrukcija materijalne kulture,
objekata i dokumenata, kao i simulacije koje predstavljaju
slične scene u drugačijem vremenu i prostoru, generišu
različite interpretacije i implikacije, stvarajući mnoštvo
opcija u istorijskom čitanju. Na primer, kao što se vidi u
delima Muzeja detinjstva, Brede Beban, Andree Palašti, i
Selmana Trtovca, umetnici se usmeravaju na regionalnu
istoriju i kulturu, kroz sprovođenje kreativnih procesa
metodama rekonstrukciie ili simulacije da bi obezbedili
publici otvoren prostor za razmišljanje.
Umetnička praksa istražuje i razmišlja o neopipljivoj
prigušenosti, koja se, pošto je umetnici konkretizuju,
istovremeno oslobađa u tom procesu...
Prigušena egzistencija: savremena umetnost Srbije fokusira
se na najnovije umetničke pojave u Srbiji, predstavljajući
različite aspekte savremene umetnosti od 1990. godine
do danas. Istovremeno, ona takođe prikazuje kako, u
savremenom svetu, sa čestim međunarodnim razmenema
i većim slobodama, umetnici Srbije kombinuju lokalnu
kulturu i međunarodne trendove u rešavanju lokalnih
problema, razmišljajući o sebi, svojoj okolini, i vode
diskusije o svom okruženju, društvu, i istoriji na delikatan
i detaljan način.
Prigušena egzistencija zapravo opisuje stanje opstanka;
ono potiče od različitih faktora, uključujući istoriju,
politiku, kulturu i društveno okruženje, i utiče na
savremenu umetnost. Za razliku od Tajvana, koji je
ostrvo okruženo morima, teritorija Srbije se pretežno
nalazi na Balkanskom poluostrvu. Kao kontinentalna
zemlja, okružena mnogim susedima, Srbija se često
nalazi u interakciji sa susednim zemljama i različitim
etničkim grupama; etnička raznolikost je jedinstvena
osobina srpske kulture, ali i uzrok mnogih previranja. Od
Prvog svetskog rata do kraja 20. veka, brojni građanski
ratovi i sukobi sa drugim zemljama, kao i društvene i
političke tranzicije, doprineli su kompleksnosti srpskog
kulturnog okruženja; faktori kao što su autoritarni režim
i vihor rata tokom devedesetih godina 20. veka ponovo
su uticali na opstanak Srbije i njenu kreativnu sredinu. U
to vreme, sa ograničenom međunarodnom razmenom i
umetničkom praksom, stanje prigušenosti se nastavilo;
razvoj savremene srpske umetnosti zavisio je od toga kako
se prema njoj odnosila domaća politika i lokalna kultura,
kao i od priznanja međunarodnih umetničkih krugova.
Kroz pomenutu prošlost i u sadašnjim uslovima, sadržaji i
status kvo savremene srpske umetnosti su se akumulirali.
Drugo, ispitivanje društvenih odnosa i pojava. Društvo,
okruženje formirano radi opstanka, od strane čoveka,
jedna je od glavnih tema istraživanja i diskusije u oblasti
savremene umetnosti. Na ovoj izložbi svedoci smo široke
diskusije o ovoj vrsti tema, koje uključuju međusobne
odnose koje ljudi formiraju među grupama - u zemlji,
društvu, religiji, u porodici; umetnici izražavaju svoju
zabrinutost zbog različitih dešavanja i ideologija među
zemaljama, kritikuju socijalna pitanja i fenomene,
posmatraju društvenu zastupljenost i otuđenje među
grupama, i ispituju lične subjektivne identitete. U
radovima Igora Antića, Gorana Despotovskog, MP_arta,
Zoran Todorovića, Jelene Jureše, i Vesne Perunović,
umetnici i umetničke grupe ispituju i istražuju različite
društvene dimenzije i prigušene odnose među njima kroz
sopstvene perspektive, pružajući publici mogućnost da
spozna gde leže pravi problemi.
Treće, razmišljanje o međusobnom uticaju ljudskog
opstanka i prirodnog okruženja. Sa razvojem moderne
tehnologije, postalo je sve teže održavati ravnotežu između
prirodnog i ljudskog okruženja. U poslednje vreme, uz
rastuću ekološku svest, ljudi su počeli da razmišljaju o
šteti koju civilizacija i razvoj nanose prirodi. Na primer,
Njihova sopstvena okolina i iskustvo su postali kreativni
okvir i podsticaj za srpske savremene umetnike; njihovi
radovi u potpunosti odražavaju njihove reakcije na
10
Stevan Kojić usmerava svoju pažnju na suživot tehnologije,
prirode, pojedinca i životne sredine; umetnička grupa
diStruktura poredi i suprotstavlja urbani pejzaž i prirodno
okruženje u svom pokušaju da ponovo uspostavi veze
između čoveka i prirode.
“povratku potisnutog” Herberta Markuzea, on smatra da
je “umetnost opozicija,” i da ljudska “umetnička mašta”
može biti izraz prevazilaženja stvarnosti i eliminacije
represje.1 Ova ideja se ogleda u različitim kreativnim
radovima o “granicama” na ovoj izložbi, koji ispituju
prevazilaženje ograničenja i slobode, realnog i virtuelnog,
umetničkog dela i stvarnog života, veštačkog i prirodnog,
muzike i zvuka. Ideja prelaska granice nastaje zato što
se mi nalazimo sa jedne strane granice, i nesigurni smo,
nezadovoljni, ili čežnemo za begom iz trenutnog stanja;
nadamo se da ćemo preći preko postojeće granice radi
ostvarenja našeg traganja za nečim drugačijim nego što
smo već, promenâ koje želimo, i mnogih očekivanja i
maštanja u vezi sa stvarima izvan te granice. Ovo takođe
podseća na društvene uslove koje je navela Sanja Kojić
Mladenov, jedan od kustosa, u svojoj kustoskoj izjavi; zbog
tog osećaja svođenja na preživljavanje kao posledice ratova
i politike, mnogi Srbi i umetnici Srbije su devedesetih
godina dvadesetog veka i emigrirali. Nacionalna granica,
ta linija u stvarnosti, predstavljala je barijeru za mnoge
ljude u to vreme: ostati? Ili poći i “preći” u druge zemlje?
Ovde, kroz kreativni proces, granica je eliminisana. ili je
pređena, kao projekcija sopstvenih želja, što istovremeno
oslobađa od osećaja represije.
Konačno, razgovore o svakodnevnom životu i sopstvu,
i istraživanje mogućnosti prevazilaženja postojećih
koncepata. Društvo u kome živimo sadrži mnoge
utvrđene koncepte, navike i pravila koja koegzistiraju sa
nama, iz dana u dan. Umetnici, kroz blisku posmatranje
svakodnevnog života, preispituju detalje koje mi uzimamo
zdravo za gotovo ili ih često zanemarujemo, i predlažu
različite stavove u vezi sa ovim utvrđenim shvatanjima.
Na primer, Nataša Teofilović se bavi konverzijom i
transcendencijom između virtuelnog i realnog, tako
što omogućava virtuelnom svetu i publici da se vide i
razgovaraju jedni sa drugima; Dragan Ilić se fokusira
na sondiranje odnosa manipulacije i izmanipulisanosti
između čoveka i njegovih alata i mašina; Miloš Tomić
uveličava trivijalne događaje i objekte u životu i uključuje
muziku u svojim delima, koristeći zvukove i objekte za
stvaranje melodije koji se lako pronalaze, ne ograničavajući
se postojećim načinima reprodukcije muzike, da bi istražio
nove mogućnosti u muzici.
Kroz ove teme, možemo grubo oceniti aspekte na koje
se srpska savremena umetnost fokusira. Umetnici žustro
diskutuju o područjima u kojima žive, uključujući
njihovu istoriju, kulturu, društvo, prirodno okruženje,
i svakodnevni život. Oni posmatraju, vide, i razmatraju
različite društvene predstave, institucije, i identitete, i
postavljaju pitanja i predlažu ideje kroz svoje umetničke
kreacije. Možda je to zato što je njihova okolina u periodu
tranzicije, što podiže svest o sopstvenoj društvenoj
odgovornosti, tako da oni podržavaju njen opstanak kroz
aktivno angažovanje u umetničkoj praksi. Kroz radove na
ovoj izložbi, možemo videti kako umetnici svojim delima
prikazuju promene u društvu u kome žive. Sa racionalnim,
ali i osetljivim stavom (neki uključuju i tugu i kritike),
oni pripovedaju o sećanju, istorijskom okviru, političkim
previranjima, međunarodnim odnosima i represiji
vrednosti iz prošlosti, kao i o teretima i pritiscima koji
su rezultat napretka ljudske civilizacije. Na ovoj izložbi,
umetnici ili otkrivaju nelagodu sputanosti i ograničenja
kroz forme njihovih dela, ili razmišljaju o prošlim tugama
kroz svoje teme, kao odgovor na uticaje okoline na sebe i
druge.
Ova izložba sakuplja kreativna gledišta srpskih umetnika
različitih generacija da bi predstavila trenutni odraz društva
u Srbiji kroz raznovrsne kreativne forme. Lokalna istorija
i kulturni kontekst se pripoveda, rekonstruiše, ili prolazi
dalja tumačenja u ovim radovima, predstavljajući situacije
i spoznaje sa kojima se suočavaju oni koji žive u okruženju
“prigušene egzistencije” i savremene umetnosti. Iako su u
stanju prigušenosti, stvari koje umetnici pokušavaju da
izraze se u potpunosti ispoljavaju u njihovim radovima;
represija je transformisana u radove koji mogu jasnije
iskazati sve tenzije i implikacije, predstavljajući i deleći
ideje sa publikom različitog porekla. Možda se “prigušena
egzistencija” prikazana na ovoj izložbi može definisati
i kao: postojeća “prigušenost,” i u procesu kreiranja u
okvirima umetničkih dela, i u trenutku izlaganja, može
biti postepeno oslobođena.
U svojim delima, umetnici pripovedaju o toj prigušenosti
kroz forme, koncepte, ili teme; i transformišu osećaj
represije kroz kreativni proces. U sličnim diskusijama o
1 Herbert Marcuse, Eros and Civilization: A Philosophical Inquiry into
Freud, Boston: Beacon Press, 1966.
11
12
13
In the State of Subdued Existence
Svetlana Mladenov
environment, family, friends and like-minded individuals.
n
The achieved results in the release of Serbian art
from the influence of a communist party-directed and
controlled realism and later a party-tolerated socialist
modernism of a post-war (World War II) bureaucratized
and technocratic society of socialist self-management,
through new artistic practice and waves of conceptual
research in the late 1960s, throughout the 1970s and
the pluralistic, dynamic, subversive, eclectic, citationist
postmodernist atmosphere of the 1980s, imbued with
deconstructionist tactics, all faded before the chaos of
war and destruction in the 1990s on the territory of exYugoslavia and the terror of Milošević’s regime in Serbia.
Artistic freedoms, at the end of the 20th century, had to be
conquered again.
Dialogues and relationships within the art scene of Serbia
in the 1990s were established in a thus complicated
and inconvenient context. The feature of the scene was
vastness, a multitude of individual, personal poetics,
among which it was hard to determine the mainstream,
but it was possible to determine the existence of multiple
parallel trends which were not contradictory. Quite the
opposite, they complemented each other.
The beginning of the 1990s was marked by the emergence
of “new sculpture,” which brought a new spirit to the then
current scene in Serbia and pushed the limits of the medium,
itself. Using a more rational procedure, it turned to reduced
forms, geometrism, minimalism, neoconstructivism....
More appropriate terms for the artistic practice of the 1990s
were ones previously adopted for contemporary sculpture:
art object, object, installation, fragment, and environment,
and the way of work would more appropriately be labeled
as construction, fabrication, assembling... The attitude
towards the material has also changed. In addition to
the classic ones, plenty of non-sculptural materials (felt,
leather, nylon, mesh, glass, polyester, vinyl, rubber..) were
introduced. Everything could be used and the options of
various combinations of completely different materials
were quite a challenge for young artists who experimented
freely and very authoritatively. An impression of
temporality and incompleteness of their sculptures speaks
of the importance artists attribute to the process of work,
itself, which was very often more important to them than
the final art form.
For many artists, covert activities, a subdued existence,
was the only possible solution, as well as for the 1990s art
scene in Serbia, itself.
A surprisingly rich artistic potential was hiding in the
discouraging atmosphere of the 1990s, inclined neither
towards new artistic research and experiments nor to
individual, personal poetics which tended towards the
adoption of a universal language of art. The ontological
need of an artist to design, create, build, establish
relationships and search for his own identity within the
global art scene had been more powerful than the hostile
environment. It was particularly expressed during the
second half of the 1990s. This period was marked by the
individual efforts of professionals and artists to integrate
their own narrow cultural space within the international
art scene and to begin an ongoing dialogue with it. In a
society of a disturbed system of values, numerous questions
have been raised about art, its role, social status, its impact
on the environment, the value of its ideas and messages, its
power to channel changes and affect the consciousness and
conscience of its contemporaries. At the very end of the 20th
century, emerging from the period of isolation, pervaded
by the chaos of war, bans, terror, ghettoization, divisions,
Serbia entered a period of a still ongoing transition.
The process of breakthrough of image into space, initiated
in the 1980s, and the creation of the painting-object and
installations with specific effects continued in the 1990s,
especially in the second half of the decade, through
research in the field of entirely different installations
and work in situ, albeit now in a different atmosphere of
relations, based on theory of art inspired by relational
aesthetics whose founder was Nicolas Bourriaud. The
authors of these works were not only sculptors, but more
often - painters.
The social engagement of artistic practice and individual
artistic efforts in opposition to tragic events in this region
was neither dramatic nor violent. On the contrary, it was
quiet, subdued, and discreet. It was reflected in nonaction, ignoring, exclusivity, elitism and commitment
to autonomous artistic values, and a universal artistic
discourse, often seeking refuge in the narrowest
The work in situ caused a shift of the artists’ focus of
interest, regarding the implementing of their concepts of
plasticity, from the gallery space to alternative and available
urban spaces, which, with their architecture, historical
memory, patina and urban features provide rich material
14
for research on a socio-historical and aesthetic level. The
second half of the 1990s, and the years that followed, were
marked by the emergence of a more intensive artistic
conquest of forgotten and abandoned urban spaces. By
moving in, with its interventions, actions, performances,
installations and facilities, and by attracting the public, art
was enabling an entirely direct communication between
context, work of art and the audience.
the field of new technologies and electronic disciplines.
An artist was free to move through a variety of media
spaces, overcoming their limits and classical divisions.
The possibilities for combining were numerous: image,
light, sound, movement, smell... Any provocation to the
observer’s senses was allowed. Finished or discarded
objects were often combined with light, sound, screen
image. Also, photos, posters, and anything else that
could be reproduced (multiplied infinitely many times)
could be in relation to video-art or the computer
image. The result was installations, video installations,
environments, performances, happenings, spectacles...
Art has increasingly less been trying to create a concrete
and lasting product. Its actions are often directed towards
providing answers to challenges of a certain space or an
architectural unit; these interventions have been carried
out on-site or interactively, via the computer image. They
can display the artist’s intention to provoke or shock the
audience... Sometimes photographs, videos and printed
material remain as the only documents of an art action, a
happening or an exhibition.
In the pluralistic atmosphere of the 1990s, one could
observe trends of renewal of modernism, already indicated
by “new sculpture,” which manifested in the mid-1990s
as geometrism and the need to restore the autonomy of
the artistic process through reduction, monochromy,
minimalism… whether it was regarding a pure surface of
a painting or an painting-object. Art critic Sava Stepanov
called this phenomenon in Vojvodina’s art production
“discrete modernism,” and art historian Ješa Denegri
pointed out that in the mid-1990s, within art criticism, the
use of terms such as reconstruction of the modern project,
modernism after postmodernism, neomodernism, the
second modernism, etc. was becoming more common.
The end of the 20th century had been a very complex and
complicated time for art. An overview of the artistic practice
of that period gives a picture of a vast, eclectic situation,
without a large, significant joint project, a defined style or
direction, strict concept, leading figure... Art at the end
of the millennium, exploring the past and its own being,
brought into suspicion some established facts and accepted
truths, critically referring to tradition and many seductive
illusions. There are no more grand truths or ideals, the
work of art, itself, the process, or the outcome, do not
matter so much anymore. Relationships between artistic
disciplines, the ability to set up new relations, as well as
their existence in a particular place and time, are more
important and more interesting. Free movement through
the wide field of art, with constant experimenting, and a
discourse of research, became very inspiring for artists.
The conquest of new media and the implementation of new
technologies expanded the expressive field of art in Serbia
and enabled more space for experimenting, the limits
of which are incalculable. Curiosity, an exploring spirit
and courage of art itself to get involved in the new and
unexplored, contributed to the emergence of numerous
different discourses, which opened up vast possibilities for
the new artistic practice in Serbia in the 1990s...
Contrary to this preference for abstract form, in the
beginning of the 1990s, another group of young artists
emerged insisting on the return of figuration and figure
in the center of events, which was accompanied by a more
realistic, imitative approach to art, referencing traditions
of pop art, new figurative art, hyperrealism, primitive
and naive art. Unlike the figuration from the period of
the early 1980s, which was all in an expressive spasm,
deformities, ugliness, the one from the beginning of the
1990s was reserved, apathetic, depressed. Strong emotions
were replaced with intellectual contemplation. Feelings of
existential vulnerability rendered the connection between
the artist and his work tighter, as the artist identified his
personal destiny with his own work, searching within
it and through it a confirmation of his own identity.
Representatives of this trend in the art of Serbia were
connected with similar feelings and the atmosphere
which their works invoke- alienation, loneliness, isolation,
melancholy, lack of communication, lack of interest,
indifference, sometimes mild irony or hints of humor.
The atmosphere of the art scene in Serbia during the 1990s
(mid and second half of the decade) was marked by the
emergence of neoconceptualist research, through the reactualization of the initiators of the “new artistic practice”
of the late 1960s and the 1970s, by their revalorization and
reaffirmation through numerous exhibitions and public
performances.
In the last decade of the 20th century, in which art was
becoming more internationalized, and artists were freely
moving through various cultural spaces, in which art
has been taking on an increasingly nomadic character,
Yugoslav artists and galleries made contacts only
sporadically and with difficulty, and when they succeeded,
The second half of the 1990s and the end of the century
opened up limitless opportunities for artistic research in
15
it was only due to personal efforts of individuals and their
earlier private contacts with artists and galleries in Europe
and worldwide.
make the situation on the art scene more complicated and
complex. By adopting an international artistic discourse,
enriching it with the specific spirit of the region they hail
from, within which they operate, and through adopting
new technologies, artists often submerge themselves in
multimedia and intermedial research.
By toppling Milošević’s ten-year regime, Serbia found itself,
between the two millenniums, in a position of a country in
transition, on its way towards democracy. The need of its
art scene for opening up and closer contacts with the world
was becoming more visible. There was a growing desire to
connect with the world’s current trends and also become
involved in them, the need to establish links with the
international cultural space and its protagonists - artists,
galleries, associations, major exhibitions, and art fairs,
critics, and theorists…
Today, more than ten years after a bleak period in national
history, political isolation, and during the slow process
of social recovery, artists and curators independently
establish cooperation and communication with the art
scenes of Europe and the world, while expanding their
field of research, methods and language of their artwork
through mutual relationships. Considering the local and
the global, the regional and the universal, intimate and
public, personal and political, remains a trend within the
contemporary art scene of Serbia, albeit now with less
insistence on the great, collective, macro-political issues,
and a pronounced shift towards individual, micro-political
concepts. Some of the questions proposed today are: how
significant is the importance of the micro-community,
family, the intimate and personal world of an individual,
what is the quality of mutual communication, what are the
dominant value systems today, which ethical and aesthetic
criteria are present, and which ones should be valorized,
how to oppose prevailing stereotypes?
It had not been easy to navigate the dispersed and dynamic
art scene of the first decade of the 21st century, amidst an
illusionary “disorder” and the intersection of different
subjective research, poetics, concepts of plasticity, artwork
and non-artistic materials, and particularly difficult
to spot and isolate significant events and personalities.
“There is no more Great Art or great works of art, and we
truly entered into a new economy, the economy of the total
victory of aesthetics. This victory, which corresponds to the
“vaporization of art,” receives its artistic meaning within
the framework of encounters and the mix of cultures.”1
A process of balancing between classic fine art disciplines
and the art of new technologies can be seen in the artistic
concepts of the younger generation of artists. In the 1990s,
painting, as one of the leading classical fine art disciplines,
was suppressed by innovative, numerous options provided
by new technologies and experiments with, and in, new
media (video, digital photos, animation, web art..), and
in the first decade of the new millennium it became yet
again the subject of research and interest, especially for
the younger generation of artists. Within this research, a
turn towards figuration could be recognized, as well as the
return of the figure at the center of events. Thus the portrait
and self-portrait, genres which had almost disappeared,
were again becoming interesting for artists.
Today, artists are not connected by any common style,
theme or iconography, they share something much more
important: a common theoretical and practical worldview
in which they act, and that is the sphere of human relations.
Therefore, communication, dialogue and cooperation
between the local fine art scene with the international one
are key not only for the promotion of contemporary art
practice, but also for the exhibiting of those elements of
their art work which would otherwise remain invisible
living in an isolated local environment.
Serbia today is a society burdened, on the one hand, with
the past and a negative legacy, and on the other, with a new
transition process that is underway, creating conditions
for the development of an atmosphere of uncertainty,
insecurity, depression, disappointment, hopelessness,
apathy, which further complicates the implementation of
any creative idea, positive action, and therefore artistic
practice, itself. Contemporary art, from the 1990s until
today, had not been able to establish a visibly significant
position in its own society, but still works from the state
of a subdued existence. Support, understanding and
recognition are coming from the international art scene,
while in its own society, its research and results have been
marginalized.
The Serbian art scene today represents a complex system,
which, at first glance, seems dispersed and vast, but it is
actually a living, pulsating organism in which the effects of
the transitional, the Balkan, as well the better organized,
Central European art space intertwine. It is difficult to
single out major artistic schools and trends and their
most important protagonists, since the simultaneity of
different artistic research, its intersection and mixing
1
Yves Michaud, Umjetnost u plinovitu stanju, esej o trijumfu estetike,
Zagreb, 2004.
16
Cargo East – Subdued Existence
Sanja Kojić Mladenov
of the world and the prioritizing of the civilization and
culture of the West?
n
Artists today are creative travelers crossing the
boundaries of different disciplines, formats, and spaces,
nomads in constant motion - either real, or virtual. They
have become explorers of other cultures to which they
venture, record and document the observed, and then
process and reproduce the experienced. They bring new
knowledge, thoughts and concepts, and then transfer
them into different geopolitical environments. Travel
today has become a necessity of social, economic and
cultural development, and, in art, almost a separate
medium with topics such as migration, displacement,
communication and translation, diary notes, exoticization
of events, mapping of the terrain, artistic activism in
countries in need, etc. Artists increasingly travel to the
other end of the world to find material for their art practice
(video recordings, photographs, commercial products,
documentation, personal stories of local people, way of life,
etc) emphasizing the subjective experience of the observed.
Socio-geographical archeology, anthropology and a close
encounter with the other can become the primary impetus
for the genesis of a work, whether in terms of individual
artwork or a complex collective project, while personal
acquaintances and direct communication open the field
for closer cooperation among the protagonists of the global
art scene.
In addition to the geographical distance from political
centers, both Taiwan - Republic of China and the Republic
of Serbia have a close and shared experience of a socialist
past (although with different models of communism)
and the break up with its ideals and values, a striving
for an accelerated democratization of society and an
opening up towards the post-liberal market. Industrial,
technical-technological and economic development
present in Taiwan, followed by the rapid development
of contemporary art and media practice, has been
absent in Serbia. The construction and development of
existent cultural institutions dedicated to the research,
presentation and preservation of contemporary art, as
well as stimulating the emergence of art in public places
(stations, streets, squares, public buildings, etc), have still
not received adequate financial support in our country
or have not been considered to be priority orientations of
state policy. Culture has been more or less sidelined under
the pretext of “elitism” and replaced with more profitable
entertainment, appropriate for the tastes of the masses. The
process of transition, which began during the 1990s, has
not yet been completed, and the direction of development
or the economic-political system still depends on political
turmoil and changes within parties. There is corruption of
state institutions, political and economic instability, low
standard of living for the citizens, a cultural discontinuity,
a deep moral crisis, accompanied by a feeling of futility,
which all undermine the art scene of Serbia. The
creative work of artists and activists, imbued with the
contextualization of social reality, becomes illusory, their
critical approach is generally not taken seriously, it does not
receive the necessary institutional and economic support
or visibility in the mass media, remains confined within
the framework of the art scene and is mostly recognized
only by experts. The state of the contemporary art scene
in Serbia is permeated by a deep crisis of all segments,
from the institutional, political, economic, to the social,
cultural, ethical and value-based. In this state of an almost
constantly present invisibility and marginalization, the art
scene of Serbia lives a subdued existence, developing models
of critique, survival, alternative self-sustainment and
resilience. Its subdued state is therefore twofold, dependent
on the relationship to the dominant cultural model of
the local environment and dependent on the support of
The establishing of relations between the artistic practice
of Taiwan – Republic of China and Serbia facilitated
by the Cargo East project, other than being a rarity,
almost a curiosity, also raises a number of questions on
the possible similarities and differences between these
geographically distant territories. The dialogue between
the two artistic practices both located on the eastern side
of their continents, Europe and Asia, has served as the
basis for a common concept and as an incentive for the
analysis of the importance of geographic location and its
specificity for the development of contemporary artistic
practice. Questions raised for both protagonists are: has
there been a certain isolation of these territories in relation
to the leading cultural policy of Europe or Asia, is the
marginalization of their artists present, and do the art
scenes of Taiwan and Serbia have specific development in
relation to the major tendencies of the continent on which
they are located, due to being geographically sidelined?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of such an
(eastern) geographical location and are they associated
with a stereotyped observation by the dominant parts
17
the international art scene (although geographically and
naturally it belongs to Europe). The crossing of borders
represents a challenge to many artists and curators, who, on
their own, establish cooperation and communication with
the art scenes of Europe and the world, while expanding
their field of research, methods and language of artwork
through mutual relations. Seeking collaborators abroad,
like-minded individuals or enthusiasts, for whom the
cooperation with institutions, associations, and artists from
Serbia facilitates extended knowledge, and enables meeting
the different, socialist-democratic, collective-individual,
East or Central European, Balkan, or perhaps exotic.
The participants of the exhibition Subdued Existence:
Serbian Contemporary Art Scene, prepared and conceived
for presentation in the National Taiwan Museum of Fine
Arts in Taichung, are: Igor Antić, Breda Beban, Goran
Despotovski, diStruktura, Dragan Ilić, Jelena Jureša,
Stevan Kojić, MP_art, Muzej detinjstva, Andrea Palašti,
Vesna Perunović, Nataša Teofilović, Zoran Todorović,
Miloš Tomić and Selman Trtovac, authors whose activities
at the national and international art scene in recent years
have become increasingly distinct. Selected artists and
artistic groups, through contemporary media language,
explore different contexts of their social environment,
especially topics related to the personal attitude towards
socio-political transition, migration, exile, globalization,
identity issues, daily life and the relationship towards the
modern economy, capital and technology.
Considerations of the relationships between local and
global, regional and universal, intimate and public,
personal and political are present within the contemporary
art scene of Serbia since the beginning of the transition
process. The concept of Subdued Existence continues this
practice and includes a variety of artistic approaches that
explore the relationships of contemporary artistic practice
with the scientific, technological, natural, social and
personal environment. The selected works were carried out
in a variety of media, including: drawing, digital graphics,
installations, video installations, performance, actions,
short film, video, photography, animation and digital
media. Gathered at this exhibition, the works tend towards
the expansion of their own media limitations, through the
study of the interrelationships of art and other fields of
scientific and social activities. They are characterized by the
elimination of boundaries and the pursuit of integration
and assimilation of phenomena from other, traditional and
non-artistic disciplines including: sociology, philosophy,
psychology, science, technology, or other arts: music, film
and dance. Disciplinary, political or social borders, as well
as the space “between borders” (the liminal zone) were used
traditionally to construct what is common as familiar and
18
acceptable, as opposed to what is disputed and rejected.
Many of the authors included in this concept thematically
consider the problem of borders, migration and exile.
Some, through their education and/or life, decided to leave
Serbia, and live an immigrant life in Western European
countries, North and South America, driven by the sociopolitical and cultural crisis (especially prevalent in the
1990s). Being beyond borders or not accepting them,
despite all the benefits of multiple hybridizations of the socalled nomadic subject, is a very tough, entirely unromantic
position faced today by a large number of contemporary
artists from Serbia. They exist on international art scenes,
defining themselves through different social contexts,
geographical settings and identities, thus breaking the
traditional form of exemplars of national art. The concept
of Subdued Existence has been formulated in a way that it
tends towards the breaking of the traditional model of a
national exhibition selection, thus creating an opportunity
for the recognition of multiple identities and phenomena
that extend the notion of stereotypical revue presentations
of the local art scene.
The exhibition consists of those authors who through their
activities strive to overcome the burden of conservatism
of a closed community, who are mobile internationally,
collaborate, share knowledge and experiences through
many multimedia projects, festivals, workshops, seminars
and residencies. Some are focused towards socially engaged
art that is imbued with the critical practice of works
which indicate the isolation and xenophobia of a society,
the problem of migration, environment and identity, as
well as the existence of social stereotypes. They examine
the relationship of the individual with the personal and
common history, pointing towards the problems of dealing
with the weight of the past, introducing original records and
artifacts. Many criticize society, economic laws, policies of
war, nationalism and discrimination, as well as the current
consumerist consumption, often through simple lowbudget works. They use objects, materials and equipment
from their everyday life through multiple principles,
including DIY (do it yourself ), infused with a direct
undermining of autonomous social systems. Although
discretely, they are becoming increasingly involved in
various social movements that fight for the rights of
individuals, marginalized and vulnerable groups, through
their attitudes, work, teaching and communications on
social networks. They also analyze the connection between
man and nature, the relationship between nature and
technology, explore different lifestyles and personal habits.
They use humor, irony and absurdity, as essential elements
in overcoming accumulated social problems.
Releasing the Existing Subduedness
CHEN Yan-Huei
observation, the themes of the works in this exhibition can
be roughly described below:
n
Existence, why is it subdued? For sorrows of wars
in its history? Social upheavals? Political and economic
transitions? Impact of global environment? Or doubts
about personal subjective identity?
First, reenacting texts and memories, and re-discoursing
history and culture. In Eastern Europe many political
changes happened around 1990, including the fall of
the Berlin Wall, as well as the end of communist rule in
many countries. In the meantime, Serbia also experienced
drastic political, economic, and social changes, which
were results of the breakup of ex-Yugoslavia and the fall of
communist regime. Past history was re-narrated by artists
through their works, forming a vertical connection on
the timeline; the reenactment of material culture, objects,
and documents, as well as simulations that present similar
scenes in a different time and space, generated different
interpretations and implications, creating multiplicity
in historical reading. For example, as seen in works by
Museum of Childhood, Breda Beban, Andrea Palašti, and
Selman Trtovac, the artists focus on regional history and
culture, conducting creative process through methods
of reenactment or simulation to provide viewers with an
open thinking space.
Artistic practice, contemplates on, and explores
intangible subduedness, which, as artists concretize it, is
simultaneously released in the process….
“Subdued Existence: Serbian Contemporary Art Scene”
focuses on Serbian art phenomena at the moment,
presenting the different facets of contemporary art from
the 1990s to modern day. At the same time, it also reflects
how, in today’s world that enjoys frequent international
exchanges and more freedom, Serbian artists combine
local culture and international trends to address local
issues and reflect on self and surrounding environment,
conducting discussions on their environment, society, and
history in a delicate and microscopic fashion.
“Subdued existence” is actually describing a state of
survival; it originates from different factors including
history, politics, culture, and social environment, and
influences contemporary art. Unlike Taiwan, which
is an island surrounded by seas, Serbia’s territory is
predominantly located on the Balkan Peninsula. As a
landlocked country surrounded by many neighboring
countries, Serbia frequently interacts with its neighboring
countries and different ethnical groups; ethnical diversity
is a unique trait of Serbian culture, but it is also the cause of
much turmoil. From WWI to the end of the 20th century,
numerous civil wars and conflicts with other countries,
as well as social and political transitions, contributed the
complexity of Serbian cultural environment; factors such
as the authoritarian regime and chaos of war during the
1990s once again changed Serbia’s survival and creative
environment. At the time, with limited international
exchange and artistic practice, the subdued state continued
to exist; the development of Serbian contemporary art
depended on how it was regarded by domestic policies
and the local culture, as well as recognitions earned from
the international art circles. Through the aforementioned
past and current conditions, the contents and status
quo of Serbian contemporary art are accumulated.
Their very own surroundings and experience have
become the creative backdrop and aspiration for Serbian
contemporary artists; their works fully reflect how
they respond to the current moment. Based on my own
Second, examining social relations and phenomena.
Society, the environment of survival formed by human
being, is one of the main topics explored and discussed in
the realm of contemporary art. In this exhibition, we can see
the wide discussion on this kind of themes, which include
the inter-relationships among groups—country, society,
religion, and family—formed by people; the artists express
their concerns for the different situations and ideologies
between countries, criticize social issues and phenomena,
observe social representation and the alienation among
groups, and question personal subjective identities. In
the works of Igor Antić, Goran Despotovski, MP_art,
Zoran Todorović, Jelena Jureša, and Vessna Perunovich,
the artists and artistic group examine and probe different
social dimensions and the subdued relationship among
them via respective perspectives, allowing viewers to find
out where the real problems lie.
Third, reflecting on the mutual influence between
human survival and natural environment. With the
development of modern technology, it has become
increasingly difficult to maintain the balance between
natural and human environment. In recent years, with
growing environmental awareness, people have started
to reflect on the harms civilization and development have
19
related discussions on “return of the repressed” proposed
by Herbert Marcuse, he believes that “art was opposition”,
and human “artistic imagination” can express the
surpassing of reality and the elimination of repression.1
This idea is reflected by the different creative works on
“boundaries” in this exhibition that examine the crossover of restrictions and freedom, reality and virtuality,
artwork and real life, artificial and natural, and music
and sound. The idea of crossing over boundary emerges
because we are on one side of the boundary, and are
uncertain of, unsatisfied with, or longing for an escape
from the current status; we hope to cross over the existing
boundary in order to realize our pursuit for something
different than what we already are, changes that we desire,
and the many expectations and imaginations regarding the
things beyond the boundary. This also echoes the social
conditions mentioned by Sanja-Kojić Mladenov, one of the
curators, in the curatorial statement; because of that sense
of repression on survival resulted from wars and politics,
many Serbians and Serbian artists emigrated in the 1990s.
National boundary, this line in reality, posed as a barrier
for many people at the time: stay? Or move and “cross
over” to other countries? Here, through creative process,
the boundary is eliminated or crossed, like a projection of
own desires, which simultaneously releases this sense of
repression.
brought upon nature. For example, Stevan Kojić focuses
on the coexistence of technology, nature, individual, and
environment; artistic group diStruktura compares and
contrasts urban landscape and natural environment in
its attempt to reestablish ties between human being and
nature.
Lastly, conversing on daily life and self, and testing
the possibility to go beyond existing conceptions. The
society we live in contains many established concepts,
habits, and rules that coexist with us day after day. Artists,
through close observation on daily life, reexamine the
details we take for granted or often neglect, and propose
different views regarding these established conceptions.
For example, Natasa Teofilović addresses the conversion
and transcendence between virtuality and reality,
allowing the virtual world and viewers to see and converse
with one another; Dragan Ilić focuses on probing the
relationship of the manipulating and the manipulated
between men and the tools and machines used by them;
Miloš Tomić magnifies the trivial events and objects in life
and incorporates music in his works, using easily found
sounds and objects to create melody rather than limiting
himself to existing ways of playing music, to explore new
possibilities for music.
Through these themes, we can roughly see the aspects
that Serbian contemporary art focuses on. The artists
are passionate in discussing the regions in which they
live, including the history, culture, society, natural
environment, and daily life. They observe, perceive, and
reconsider different social representations, institutions, and
identities, and propose their questions and ideas through
artistic creations. Maybe it is because their surroundings
are in a transitional period, which elevates their awareness
of social responsibility, so that they speak up for survival
through actively engaging in artistic practice. From
the works in this exhibition, we can observe how artists
present the changes in the society they live in through their
works; with a rational yet sensitive attitude (some include
sorrows and criticism), they narrate the memory, historic
backdrop, political turmoil, international relations, and
repression of values from the past, as well as the burdens
and suppressions resulted from the progress of human
civilization along the way. In this exhibition, the artists
either reveal the uneasiness of being limited and restricted
through the forms of their works, or reflect on past sorrows
through the themes in response to the influences of the
surroundings on themselves and others.
This exhibition collects creative viewpoints of Serbian
artists of different generations to reflect Serbia’s society
at the moment via diverse creative forms. Local history
and cultural context are narrated, reenacted, or further
interpreted in the works, presenting the situations and
breakthroughs faced by those living in an environment
of “subdued existence” and contemporary art. Even
though they are in a subdued state, yet the things the
artists are trying to express are fully manifested in the
works; repression is transformed into works that can
better showcase the tensions and implications, conveying
and sharing the ideas to viewers of different regional
backgrounds. Maybe, the “subdued existence” featured
in this exhibition can be otherwise defined as: existing
“subduedness”, in the process of being created into
artworks and at the moment of being exhibited, has been
gradually released.
In their works, the artists narrate this subduedness
through forms, concepts, or topics; and transform this
sense of repression through creative process. Based on
1
Herbert Marcuse, Eros and Civilization: A Philosophical Inquiry into
Freud, Boston: Beacon Press, 1966.
20
Umetnici | Artists
21
Pravljeno po meri (2013)
Instalacija – 206 kutija od šibica i šibice
Dimenzije promenljive
Made to measure (2013)
Instalation – 206 matchboxes and maches
variable
Sami naspram stihije (2005-2010)
Instalacija – 100 crno-belih fotografija
Dimenzije promenljive
Igor Antić
Alone against the Elements (2005-2010)
Installation - set of 100 black & white
photographs
Variable
Igor Antić je francusko-srpski vizuelni umetnik,
rođen 1962. u Novom Sadu. Izlagao je svoje radove u
Remsu, Stokholmu, Moskvi, Parizu, Milanu, Berlinu,
Kvebeku, Osaki itd. Dobitnik je nekoliko nagrada,
među kojima je i The Pollock-Krasner Foundation’s
Grant u Njujorku (1999).
n
Dela Igora Antića istražuju ekonomske i političke sile
koje dejstvuju na određenom mestu. On stvara slike,
predmete i situacije kao vrstu „rešetke“ kroz koju
se tumače društveni i kulturni kontekst izabrane
lokacije i ujedno postavljaju pitanja o uslovima
produkcije umetničkog dela i o njegovoj upotrebi.
Igor Antić, born in 1962, in Novi Sad, is a
French-Serbian visual artist. He has exhibited his
work across Europe – in Reims, Stockholm, Moscow,
Paris, Milano, Québec, Berlin, Osaka, etc. He has
received several awards such as: The Pollock-Krasner
Foundation’s Grant, New York (1999).
n
The artworks of Igor Antić aim to explore and
highlight economic and political forces operating
within a given place. He creates images, objects
and situations as physical “grids” beyond which
emerges the social and cultural context of the chosen
site. Through them, different questions linked to
the conditions of the art production and its use in
general, are raised.
22
23
Umetanja #3 (2013)
Instalacija – fotografija 60x90cm i 1 zastava
Dimenzije promenljive
Insertions #3 (2013)
installation - photography 60 x 90 cm and 1 flag
variable
n Serija fotografija Sami naspram stihije inspirisana je
sinergologijom – metodom koja pokušava da dešifruje
kodove govora ljudskog tela. Ove fotografije istražuju
misteriozne relacije između političara i umetničkih
dela. Motivi fotografija su preuzeti iz medija i prikazuju
svetske lidere, njihovu gestikulaciju i poze u prisustvu
umetničkih dela. Fotografije su razvrstane u serije, po
žanrovskoj srodnosti. Tako razvrstane, one nude ključ
za razumevanje vlastite ideološke pozadine.
The series of photographs Sami naspram stihije
(Alone Against the Elements) was inspired by
synergology - a method that attempts to decipher the
codes of speech of the human body. These photographs
explore the mysterious relationships between politicians
and artworks. Motifs of the photographs are taken from
the media and present world leaders, their gestures and
postures in the presence of works of art. The photographs
are arranged in series, by genre kinship. Thus arranged,
they offer the key to understanding our own ideological
background.
n
Instalacija Umetanja #3 sadrži novčanicu od 500 evra
uvećanu i reprodukovanu na platnu kao zastava. Ta
zastava je sredinom 2013. pobodena na najviši planinski
vrh Evrope – Monblan i fotografisana. Fotografija i
zastava su artefakti, dokazi o izvedenoj akciji.
The installation Umetanja #3 (Insertions #3) contains
a 500 euro bill, enlarged and reproduced on canvas as
a flag. In mid-2013, this flag was placed on top of the
highest peak of Europe - Mont Blanc and photographed.
The photograph, as well as the flag, is an artefact,
evidence of the performed action.
Napravljeno po meri je instalacija napravljena po
statističkom principu. Svaka šibica predstavlja milion
stanovnika jedne zemlje. U jednoj kutiji ima onoliko
šibica koliko i miliona stanovnika. Na kutijama se nalaze
zastave svih zemalja sveta, pa je celina reprezentacija
sveta u minijaturi. Moglo bi se čak govoriti o maketi
monumentalnih razmera. Pojedine kutije su prepune,
do granice njihovih fizičkih mogućnosti… i do rizika
zapaljivosti.
Napravljeno po meri (Made To Measure) is an
installation created by statistical principle. Each
matchstick represents a million inhabitants of a country.
There are as many matches in a box as there are millions
of inhabitants. The flags of all the countries in the world
are on the boxes, so the totality represents the world
in miniature. One could even talk about a mock-up of
monumental proportions. Some of the boxes are packed,
up to the limits of endurance... and come close to the
risk of flammability.
24
25
Breda Beban
Arte Vivo, 2008-2011.
n Breda Beban je bila umetnica, rediteljka i kustoskinja
/ kreativni producent, čiji se rad bavio savremenim
pojmovima subjektivnosti i emocija koje se javljaju na
marginama velikih priča o geografiji, politici i ljubavi.
Filmovi i fotografije Brede Beban priznati su kao
jedinstveni izrazi intimnosti, ranjivosti i autentičnosti.
n Breda Beban was an artist, filmmaker and curator/
creative producer whose work deals with contemporary
notions of subjectivity and emotion that occur on the
margins of big stories about geography, politics and love.
Breda Beban’s films and photographs are recognized
as unique expressions of intimacy, vulnerability and
authenticity.
Rođena u Novom Sadu, u bivšoj Jugoslaviji, 1952.
godine, Breda Beban je odrastala u Makedoniji i
Hrvatskoj. Studirala je slikarstvo na Akademiji likovnih
umetnosti u Zagrebu. Počela je svoju karijeru kao
slikar i performans umetnik, a zatim je nastavila da
radi na filmu, videu i fotografiji nakon što je upoznala
svog budućeg partnera i saradnika Hrvoja Horvatića
sredinom osamdesetih. Zajedno su emigrirali 1991.
godine nakon izbijanja rata u bivšoj Jugoslaviji, putovali
su od mesta do mesta pre no što su se konačno nastanili
u Londonu, gde su nastavili saradnju sve do Horvatićeve
prerane smrti 1997. godine. Radeći nezavisno i/ili u
saradnji sa drugim umetnicima ili rediteljima, izvela
je niz produkcija koje su izložene u velikim muzejima
savremene umetnosti u Evropi i SAD.
Born in Novi Sad, ex-Yugoslavia in 1952, Breda Beban
was raised in Macedonia and Croatia. She studied
painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. Starting
her career as a painter and performance artist, she began
to work with film, video, and photography after meeting
her partner and collaborator Hrvoje
Horvatid in the mid-eighties. Exiled together in 1991
after outbreak of the war in former Yugoslavia, they
travelled from place to place before eventually settling
in London, where they continued their collaboration
until Horvatid’s untimely death in 1997. Working
independently and/or in collaboration with other
artists or filmmaker, she has fashioned a range of
productions that have been exhibited at major museums
of contemporary art in Europe and the U.S.
Breda Beban je živela u Londonu i Šefildu, gde je bila
profesor Umetnosti medija na Šefild Halam Univerzitetu.
Preminula je 2012. godine, ostavljajući za sobom razne
nedovršene projekte.
Breda Beban lived in London and Sheffield, where
she was Professor of Media Arts at Sheffield Hallam
University. She passed away in 2012, leaving various
projects uncompleted.
26
27
Čudo smrti (2000)
Miracle of Death (2000)
Najlepša žena u Guči (2006)
The most beautiful Woman in Gucha (2006)
Walk of Three Chairs (Šetnja od tri stolice) prikazuje
Bredu Beban kako pluta na splavu između dve obale
Dunava u Beogradu, za koje se veruje da su tačka na
kojoj Balkan završava a Evropa počinje. Jedna obala
otkriva industrijski pejzaž, dok stabla i vikendice od
drveta prekrivaju drugu obalu. Film je dobio naziv
po tradicionalnom balkanskom paganskom običaju
koga se umetnica seća kako ga je njen deda izveo posle
pobede na kocki. Neizvestan, ali slavljenički čin koji
Breda Beban izvodi naspram promenljivog pejzaža za
nju predstavlja izraz „složene vrste radosti, radosti koja
se meša sa tugom“. Ta ideja o slatko-gorkom sažeta je
u ljubavnoj pesmi koju Breda Beban pokušava da peva
dok putuje: Ko ne zna da pati, on ne zna da voli.
Walk of Three Chairs shows Breda Beban floating
on a raft between two banks of the Danube in Belgrade,
believed by some to be the point at which the Balkans
end and Europe begins. One bank reveals an industrial
landscape whilst trees and wooden dachas populate the
other. The movie takes its title from a traditional Balkan
pagan ritual, one that the artist recalls her grandfather
performing after winning at gambling. The precarious
yet celebratory act performed by Beban against the
shifting backdrop, is for her an expression of ‘a complex
kind of joy, joy informed by sadness’. This idea of bitter
sweet is encapsulated in the love song Beban attempts
to sing as she travels: Who Doesn’t Know How to Suffer
Doesn’t Know How to Love.
n
n
28
Šetnja od tri stolice (2003)
film za galerijsko izlaganje, 10’
Proizvodnja i režija: Breda Beban
Fotografija: Robi Miler
Montaža: Stiv Sprang
Zvuk: Dejan Pejović
Muzika: tradicionalna balkanska pesma
„Ko ne zna da pati, on ne zna da voli”
Uloge: „Jova“ bend, Beba Bredan
Snimano na lokaciji u Beogradu, Srbiji
U boji
Preporučena veličina projekcije:
400 x 225cm, minimum
Ponavljanje 10-minutnog segmenta
Naručilac: Film & Video Umbrella
Finansiranje: Umetnički savet Engleske
Edicije: 3 + 2 a.p.
*Ustupljeno ljubaznošću zaostavštine
umetnika i Kalfajan Galerija (Atina-Solun)
29
Walk of Three Chairs (2003)
movie for gallery staging , 10-minute
segment looped
Production & Direction: Breda Beban
Photography: Robby Muller
Editing: Steve Sprung
Sound: Dejan Pejovic
Music: traditional Balkan song ‘Who
Doesn’t Know How To Suffer Doesn’t
Know How to Love’
Cast: ‘Jova’ band, Breda Beban
Filmed on location in Belgrade, Serbia
Colour
Commissioned by: Film & Video
Umbrella
Funding: The Arts Council of England
Editions: 3 + 2 a.p.
*Courtesy of the artist's estate and
Kalfayan Galleries (Athens-Thessaloniki)
Goran Despotovski
Sako (2013)
Foto instalacija
Dimenzije promenljive
Coat (2013)
Foto installation
variable
Rad Coat (Sako) predstavlja sekvence snimaka
sakoa u raznim položajima. Sakoi, prikazani u celini,
oblikuju dramatičnu vantelesnu formu koja sugeriše
na prisutnost ili odsutnost ljudskog tela. Te sekvence
sakoa, zaustavljene u pokretu, prikazuju različite oblike
napetosti izazvane odnosom društva prema pojedincu.
Krpаrа sаkо prikаzаnа je u stаnju prostornog plutаnjа
sugerišući na potrošene izbledele predstave. Te forme
prikazuju ogoljenog čoveka, odnosno aspekte života
individue, usled društvenih uticaja. Stoga zatečeno
stanje ostavljenog govori o elementarnoj napuštenosti
i gubitku individualnosti. Unesene forme sakoa u
različitim amorfnim scenama iskazuju metafizičko
kretanje unutar samog prostora. Odеvni prеdmеt
simbolizuje stаnjе izmеđu živоtа i smrti u prоstоru koji
lеvitirа izmеđu оdbаčеnоg i izgublјеnоg.
n Rođen je 1972. Diplomirao je slikarstvo 1999. godine
n
na Akademiji umetnosti u Novom Sadu. Postdiplomske
studije je završio 2003. godine na istoj akademiji. Izlagao
je na trideset osam samostalnih i više kolektivnih izložbi
u zemlji i inostranstvu. Više puta je nagrađivan. Autor je
projekata Razlike, Slika i Knjiga Akademije umetnosti u
Novom Sadu. Od 2004. godine zaposlen je na Akademiji
umetnosti u Novom Sadu, a od 2009. godine radi kao
docent na Katedri za slikarstvo.
Born in 1972. He graduated in painting in 1999, and
completed his Master’s degree in 2003 at the Academy
of Arts in Novi Sad. He had more than thirty solo
exhibitions, as well as group exhibitions and projects,
both in Serbia and abroad. He received several awards.
Since 2004 he has been employed at the Academy
of Arts in Novi Sad, Department of Painting, in the
capacity of Assistant Professor (2009). He is the author
of the projects Differences and Painting at the Academy
of Arts, Novi Sad.
n
Rad Selection (Selekcija), predstavlja grupu ljudi u
masi. Lutke bez lica, obučene u svakodnevnu mušku
odeću, zaustavljene u konfuznom i dementnom stanju
30
u prekinutoj radnji i činu. To su figure ljudi koji više
nemaju identitet, specifičan lik i singularni karakter. Rad
Selekcija izražava vizuelnu i prostornu dramaturgiju
„tragične otuđenosti“ koja se pojačava neprisutnošću
života u polju vidljivog, telesnog i ljudskog. U radu
su ukorenjeni kriterijumi koegzistencije, pri čemu
pоstојi potreba za podsticanjem dijaloga i stvaranjem
mogućnosti da ih posmatrač upotpuni. Ljudi-figurelutke trеbа dа alegorijski i simbolički nagone gledaoca
da se s njima identifikuje i preispita sopstveno mesto
u društvu, koje je u permanentnoj krizi na globalnom
planu i čije vrednosti su često izopačene. Zvuk čine
sekvence svakodnevnih misli i u njemu se konstantno
iskazuje momenat dominantnog nesporazuma i lutanja.
Te oživlјene bestelesne forme, proizašle iz vremena u
kom smo živeli, predstavlјaju utvare generacijskih i
sudbinskih tokova života, prikazujući ogolјenog čoveka,
odnosno aspekte života individue usled društvenih
uticaja.
31
Stalno gledamo jedni druge
Umorni smo, stojimo i čekamo
Gledali smo jedni druge
Polako počinjemo da govorimo
Ako govorimo, ne slušaju
Ako slušaju, ne razumeju
Ne usuđujemo se da podignemo pogled
Tražimo prijateljsko lice
Lutamo među ljudima
Stotine jadnih lutaka
We constantly watch each other
We are tired, we stand and wait
We’ve been watching each other
We are slowly starting to speak
If we speak, they don’t listen
If they listen, they don’t understand
We do not dare to look up
We search for a friendly face
We wander among people
Hundreds of miserable dolls
state of a disrupted action and act. These are figures of
people who no longer have an identity, a specific persona
and a singular character. Selection expresses the visual
and spatial dramaturgy of “tragic alienation” which is
reinforced by the non-presence of life in the field of the
visible, physical and human. The criteria of coexistence
are deeply rooted in this work, as there is a need to incite
dialogue and create opportunities for the observer to
complete them. People-figures-dolls should allegorically
and symbolically urge the viewer to identify with
them and examine one’s own place in society that is in
permanent crisis on a global scale, and whose values are
often distorted. The sound consists of the sequences of
daily thoughts which constantly exhibit the moment
of dominant misunderstanding and wandering. These
revived bodiless forms, derived from the times in which
we lived in, present the ghosts of generational trends
and destinies, showing the naked man or aspects of an
individual’s life in the midst of social influences.
n The work Coat presents a sequence of photographs of
coats in various positions. Coats, shown in their entirety,
form dramatic bodiless shapes which suggest the
presence or absence of a human body. These sequences
of coats, frozen in motion, depict various forms of
tension caused by the attitude of society towards the
individual. The patchwork coat is shown in a state of
physical floating, suggesting spent faded images. These
forms depict the naked man i.e. aspects the individual’s
life, due to social influences, therefore the existing state
of the discarded speaks of an elementary abandonment
and the loss of individuality. The displayed shapes
of coats in different amorphous scenes, express
metaphysical movement within space itself. A piece of
clothing symbolizes a state between life and death in a
space that levitates between the abandoned and the lost.
The work Selection presents the depicted group of people
in a crowd. Dolls without faces, dressed in everyday
men’s clothing, halted in a confused and demented
32
Selekcija (2013)
Instalacija (šivene lutke, odela, tkanina)
Dimenzije promenljive
Selection (2013)
Installation (sewn dolls, clothing, fabric)
Variable
33
diStruktura
n
Milica Milićević i Milan Bosnić su diplomirali
i magistrirali na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti u
Beogradu, na Odseku za slikarstvo. Od 2005. rade
na zajedničkim projektima kao umetnički par pod
nazivom diSTRUKTURA. Mediji u kojima rade su
uglavnom fotografija, slika, crtež i video. Žive i rade u
Beogradu.
Razmatrajući proširene pojmove prirode danas,
bilo da se radi o prirodi, pseudoprirodi ili sintetički
stvorenoj prirodi, odnosno urbanim konstelacijama,
diSTRUKTURA u svojim radovima pokušava da
definiše odnose u novoformiranim strukturama koje
tvore realnost savremenog života u kojem umetnost ima
značajnu ulogu u ukazivanju i definisanju narastajuće
drame oko nas.
n
diSTRUKTURA je uzela učešća na preko 15
individualnih i više od 30 grupnih izložbi širom
Evrope - u Luxemburgu (2013), u Beču i Bratislavi
(2012), TINA B festival u Pragu (2012), u Bukureštu
(2010), Beogradu (2009), u Hoornu (Holandija) (2008),
Sent Etjenu (Saint Etienne) (2008), Gracu (2007), itd.
Ciklus fotografija Face to Face doslovno replicira
romantičarsku topografiju posmatrača neposredno
konfrontiranog sa uzvišenim i zadivljujućim prizorima
jednog postindustrijskog predela i primer je jedne nove
socijalne i mentalne ekologije. To je rad u nastajanju
(work in progress project) koji se izvodi na svakom
mestu koje posete i sastoji se od radova u različitim
medijima, mada je najzastupljeniji medij fotografije.
Tako su motivi pejsaža i gradova širom sveta postali
objekt njihove izolovane kontemplacije pozivajući i
posmatrača da se toj kontemplaciji pridruži.
Milica Milićević and Milan Bosnić - both graduated
and completed an MA at the Department of Painting,
Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Arts in Belgrade,
Serbia. Although in diverse individual artistic ventures
in group and solo exhibitions, they have been working
on joint projects for the past eight years, under name
diSTRUKTURA. Their ideas are expressed in different
media, mostly photography, painting, drawing and
video. They live and work in Belgrade.
n
Umetnici predlažu nove metafore koje uzimaju u obzir
kompleksne aspekte prirodnog, biološkog, tehnološkog
i socijalnog bića i grade novu, modernu i širu ideju
Prirode koja odgovara trenutnom, savremenom životu.
diSTRUKTURA took part in over 15 individual and
more that 30 group exhibitions across Europe - in
Luxembourg (2013), in Vienna and Bratislava (2012),
Prague (2012), Bucharest (2010), Belgrade (2009), in
Hoorn (Netherlands) (2008), Saint Etienne (2008), Graz
(2007), etc.
34
Face to Face
Print montiran na alubond
(80x120cm) x12 komada
Face to Face (in progress)
Print installed on dibond
(80x120cm) x12 pieces
35
In their efforts they are trying to build on an
extended view of Nature - as sublime, pseudo, or
synthetic nature in urban constellations - aiming to
define the various relationships, both real and virtual,
that create the realities of modern-day life in which
art has a significant function of pointing towards and
defining, without any utilitarian means, the evolving
drama around us.
n
world became the object of their isolated contemplation,
inviting the observer to join that contemplation.
Artists are proposing new metaphors that would reflect
the complexities of biological, technical and social being
and form a new, modern and wider idea of Nature which
reflects on the actual moment and modern day life.
The series of photographs Face to Face literally replicates
the romanticized topography of the spectator who is
directly confronted with the sublime and amazing
scenes of a post-industrial landscape and is, in fact, an
example of a new Social and Mental Ecology. It is a
work in progress project that they intend to carry out
in every place they visit, and it is comprised of works in
different media, but mostly photographic works. This
is how the motifs of landscapes and cities all over the
36
37
Robo Akcija #10 (2013)
video instalacija 2’
printovi (100x70cm) x 4 komada
Robo Action #10 (2013)
video installation 2’
prints 100x70cm x 4 pieces
Dragan Ilić
Rođen u Beogradu, 1948. godine. Srpskoaustralijsko-američki umetnik, živi i radi u Njujorku i
Beogradu. Obrazovanje: ANU (Australijski nacionalni
univerzitet), Škola umetnosti u Kanberi, BFA, 1974-75.,
Filmski program Dov S-S Simensa, Milenijum filmska
laboratorija, Njujork, 1986.
n
Održao je veliki broj samostalnih izložbi, kao što su
izložbe u Beogradu (Srbija), Njujorku (SAD), Tokiju
(Japan), Kelnu (Nemačka), Amsterdamu (Holandija),
Briselu (Belgija), Parizu (Francuska), Melburnu
(Australija ), Sidneju (Australija), Kanberi (Australija),
itd.
Born in Belgrade, 1948. Serbian-AustralianAmerican artist, living and working in New York and
Belgrade.
n
Education: ANU (Australian National University)
School of Art Canberra, BFA, 1974-75. Dov S-S Simens’
Film Program, Millenium Film Lab, New York, 1986.
He had many solo exibitions, such as exhibitions in
Belgrade (Serbia), New York (NY), Tokyo (Japan),
Koln (Germany), Amsterdam (Netherland), Brussels
(Belgium), Paris (France), Melbourne (Australia),
Sydney (Australia), Canberra (Australia), etc.
38
39
Fizika i matematika informišu moj rad. Istražujem u
vizuelnom i auralnom smislu moć tehnologije – i ručne
i robotike - u saradnji sa ljudskom voljom i intuicijom.
Moj rad proučava prelaz između našeg kvazi-androidnog
odnosa sa alatima danas i robotike sutrašnjice.
The process of creation that comes from human
interaction with machines fascinates me. It is the
primary theme in my work. Much of my practice focuses
around the tools of artistic production. I have created
numerous installations and performances wherein, with
my entire body, I set in motion individually-fabricated
drawing devices that I have produced. My devices are
comprised of sets of graphite or colored pencils, pastels,
or brushes that are clamped together in a straight,
parallel line of two to five hundred pieces. The works
created through the convergence of the artist’s body,
tools, and participating audiences, produces an event,
an experience of energy, sound, and imagery.” The key
or the starting point in my work is conceptual analysis
and de/reconstruction of the process of drawing as
inscription of bodily and machine-based activities on
paper and other drawing materials and opening the
space for communication of ideas or realization of
specific artistic intentions.
n
Proces stvaranja koji proizilazi iz ljudske interakcije
sa mašinama me fascinira. To je vodeća tema mog
rada. Veći deo moje prakse fokusiran je na alate
umetničke produkcije. Autor sam brojnih instalacija
i performansa u kojima sam, sa svojim celim telom,
pokretao pojedinačno izrađene uređaje za crtanje koje
sam sâm proizveo. Moji uređaji se sastoje od kompleta
grafitnih ili olovaka u boji, pastela, ili četki stegnutih u
gomilu, u pravoj paralelnoj liniji, od dve do pet stotina
komada. Radovi nastali usled spajanja tela umetnika,
alata i publike koja učestvuje, proizvodi događaj,
doživljaj energije, zvuka i slike. Ključ ili polazna tačka
u mom radu je konceptualna analiza i de/rekonstrukcija
procesa crtanja kao traga telesnih i mašinskih aktivnosti
na papiru i drugim materijalima za crtanje, i otvaranje
prostora za komunikaciju ideja ili realizaciju konkretnih
umetničkih namera.
n
Physics and mathematics inform my work. I explore in
visual and aural terms the power of technology - manual
and robotic – in collaboration with human volition and
intuition. My work considers the threshold between
our quasi-android relationship with tools today and the
robotics of tomorrow.
40
41
Jelena Jureša
n Jelena Jureša (1974, Novi Sad, Serbia) is a visual artist
Mira, skica za portret (2010-2013)
Video instalacija, obuhvata 2 video zapisa:
HD Video, u boji, zvuk, 42’ (svaki)
working primarily with photography and video. Her
visual research is based on testing the representational
limits of the “image”: the focus of her work is the
portrait through which she explores the relationship
between the observer and the observed via the given
possibility of understanding the portrayed subject and
the problematized issue of what the “image” does or does
not convey. The photographic image is the starting point
of her creative consideration of the portrait, irrespective
of the medium – photography, video or an audio-visual
installation. Her artistic sensitivity directs the focus of
her artistic concept towards the issues of gender and/or
cultural identity, memory and history.
Mira, Study for a Portrait (2010-2013)
Video installation, consists of two videos: HD
Video, colour, sound, 42 min (each)
Jelena Jureša (1974, Novi Sad, Srbija) je vizuelna
umetnica koja se izražava u mediju fotografije i videa.
Njeno vizuelno istraživanje oslonjeno je na propitivanje
reprezentacijskih granica „slike“: njen fokus je portret
kroz koji istražuje odnos između posmatrača i
posmatranog kroz ponuđenu mogućnost razumevanja
portretisanog subjekta i problematizovanja pitanja
šta „slika“ predstavlja, a šta ne. Fotografska slika je
polazište njenog kreativnog promišljanja portreta, bilo
da je reč o medijumu fotografije, videa ili audio-video
instalacije. Njen umetnički senzibilitet određuje fokus
njenog umetničkog koncepta prema pitanjima rodnog,
odnosno kulturnog identiteta, sećanja i istorije.
n
42
43
Mira, skica za portret je rad o nedostajanju koji kroz
formu portreta istražuje krhkost sećanja, kao i odnos
fotografskog medijuma i percepcije. To je višegodišnji
projekat, u kom se kroz nekoliko medija umetnica bavila
istorijom jedne zemlje, jedne porodice i jedne žene.
Sastoji se od video instalacije, fotografija, 12 litografija
i knjige.
n
Mira, Study for a Portrait is a work on absence which
uses the form of the portrait to explore the fragility
of memory as well as the relationship between the
photographic medium and perception. It is a long-term
and multi-layered project in which the artist dealt with
the history of one country, one family and one woman.
It comprises of a video installation, set of photographs,
12 lithographs and the book.
n
Kroz dva četrdesetominutna videa, posmatrač ima
priliku za novim čitanjem fotografske i pokretne slike,
šifrirajući mesto kao medijsku odrednicu u koju se
upisuju i brišu različita značenja. Iako prvi deo rada
čini istorijsko vreme sa svojim objektivnim delovanjem,
baziranim na poznatim događajima, oni se lome kroz
lične istorije koje umetnica stavlja u prvi plan. U isto
vreme, indirektno, kroz intiman monolog naratora, rad
propituje različite ženske uloge: majke, supruge, deteta.
Through a more than an hour long video, the viewer is
given a new way to read the photographic and moving
image, encrypting the place as a medium for recording
and erasing new meanings. Although the first part of the
work is historical time with its objective duration, based
on well known historical events, these are refracted
through a personal history which Jureša puts in the
foreground. At the same time, indirectly, in the form of
the narrator’s intimate monologue, the work questions
the theme of various female roles: mother, wife, child.
44
45
Stevan Kojić
Stevan Kojić (1973, Kikinda) je diplomirao i
magistrirao na vajarskom odseku Fakulteta likovnih
umetnosti u Beogradu. Vanredni je profesor na katedri
za Nove likovne medije Akademije umetnosti u Novom
Sadu i na Akademiji likovnih umjetnosti u Trebinju.
Izlagao je u: Japanu, Južnoj Koreji, Kanadi, Nemačkoj,
Austriji, Francuskoj, Švajcarskoj, Rumuniji, Sloveniji,
Hrvatskoj i Srbiji.
n
Poslednjih godina istražujem odnose pojedinacdruštvo-tehnologija-priroda u okviru laboratorije
Samoodrživi sistemi apsurda (Self-Sustaining Systems
of Absurdity) koja je bila sastavljena od nekoliko
međusobno povezanih i uzajamno zavisnih „biotehnoloških” segmenata. To su u početku bile
jednostavne strukture (povezane na neuobicajen nacin)
u kojima su biljke uticale na elektroniku i obrnuto bez
bilo kakvog određenog, utilitarnog cilja. Vremenom
su se te strukture umnožavale i njihovi odnosi su se
komplikovali, ali je rezultat uvek bio krajnje beskoristan.
Kao neki živi organizam čija je jedina svrha njegovo
samo postojanje i održavanje u životu (kao virus koji se
širi kroz prostor). Možda je interesantno da napomenem
da sam sve ove strukture testirao i povezivao u kućnim
uslovima često koristeci delove (tehniku i biljke) kojima
sam inače okruzen. Tako objekti iz privatnog okruženja
prvo postaju deo ovih apsurdnih instalacija a kasnije
se vraćaju u privatni prostor menjajući ga u neku vrstu
alternativnog staništa. Naziv „Samoodrživi sistemi
apsurda” sam posle menjao u zavisnosti od elemenata
instalacije i teme izložbe iako je suštinski koncept ostao
blizak prvobitnom.
n
Njegova osnovna interesovanja se kreću u polju
istraživanja relacija između umetnosti, društva, nauke i
tehnologije kroz odnose: analogno/digitalno, biologija/
tehnologija, ekologija/ekonomija, low-tech/hi-tech,
otvoreni/zatvoreni sistemi, vreme/prostor, virtualno/
realno i dr.
Stevan Kojić (1973, Kikinda) completed his BA and
MA at the Department of Sculpture, Faculty of Fine
Arts in Belgrade. He is an Associate Professor at the
Department of New Art Media at the Academy of Arts
in Novi Sad and the Academy of Fine Arts in Trebinje.
He exhibited in Japan, South Korea, Canada, Germany,
Austria, France, Switzerland, Romania, Slovenia,
Croatia and Serbia.
n
U parazitskoj simbiozi predmeta iz mog svakodnevnog
okruženja, elektronskog otpada i živih organizama
nastaje svojevrsno alternativno bio-socijalno stanište sa
potencijalom daljeg širenja i transformacije.
His main interest is research of the relationship between
art, society, science and technology through the analog/
digital, biology/technology, ecology/economy, lowtech/hi-tech, open/closed systems, time/space, virtual/
realistic, etc.
46
Samoodrživi sistemi apsurda (2014)
Multimedijalna instalacija
Dimenzije promenljive
Self-sustaining Systems of the Absurdity (2014)
Multimedium Installation
variable
n In recent years, I have explored the relationships
interesting to note that I have tested and connected all of
these structures at home, often using parts (technology
and plants) that I am otherwise surrounded by. Thus
objects from the private environment first become a
part of these absurd installations, and later return to the
private space by changing it into a kind of an alternative
habitat. I later changed the title Self-Sustaining Systems
of Absurdity depending on the installed elements and
the theme of the exhibition, although the core concept
had remained close to the original one.
between individuals-society-technology-nature within
the laboratory Samoodrživi sistemi apsurda (SelfSustaining Systems of Absurdity), which has been
composed of several interconnected and interdependent
“bio-technology” segments. These were initially simple
structures (linked in unusual ways) in which plants
influenced the electronics and vice versa, without
any particular, utilitarian purpose. Over time, these
structures have multiplied and their relationships
became more complicated, but the result was always
utterly useless. Like a living organism whose sole
purpose is its very existence and maintenance of life
(like a virus spreading through space). It is perhaps
In the parasitic symbiosis of objects from my everyday
environment, electronic waste and living organisms, a
kind of alternative bio-social habitat is created, with the
potential of further expansion and transformation.
47
48
49
MP_art
n MP_art je akronim umetničkog para [Maja Budžarov
MP_art is an acronym of the artistic couple [Maja
Budžarov and Predrag Šiđanin] who regard their
joint work as more important than collecting artistic
biographies – “art consists of art alone, not artists.”
Starting to live and work together in January 2003,
they decided to reject their previously earned personal
histories, the work under their own personal names,
as well as also reducing the mediums of their previous
research. They focus on exploring mutual emotions and
intimacy through a primarily physical (performance art)
and meditative (painting/text/color) expression. In their
work they equally use their bodies, photography, text,
video, the Internet, and occasionally combinations of
new media with different classical materials (paintings,
ceramics and glass). Their works usually have a strong
reference to the place, time and physical/meditative
context in which a personal experience of intimacy and
privacy reflects upon the universally recognized and
accepted phenomena. Their artistic practice/strategy is
based on closeness and directness, on interaction and
liberation from ideological restraints imposed by mass
communication, on the aesthetics of a personal attitude
towards the world, post avant-garde and conceptual art
experiences in the social context of the current moment,
which they are openly critical of.
n
i Predrag Šiđanin] koji smatraju njihov zajednički
rad važnijim od prikupljanja sopstvenih umetničkih
biografija - „umetnost se sastoji od same umetnosti, a ne
od umetnika.” Počevši da žive i rade zajedno u januaru
2003., oni su odlučili da odbace svoje ranije zarađene
lične istorije, rad pod svojim ličnim imenima, kao što
su smanjili medijume njihovog prethodnog istraživanja.
Oni se fokusiraju na istraživanje međusobnih emocija
i bliskost kroz prvenstveno fizičko (performans) i
meditativno (slika/tekst/kolor) izražavanje . U svom
radu podjednako koriste svoja tela, fotografiju, tekst,
video, internet i povremeno kombinacije novih medija
sa različitim klasičnim materijalima (slika, keramika i
staklo). Njihovi radovi obično imaju jaku referencu na
mesto, vreme i fizičko/meditativni kontekst u kome
se lično iskustvo intimnosti i privatnosti odražava
na univerzalno priznate i prihvaćene pojave. Njihova
umetnička praksa/strategija se zasniva na bliskosti
i neposrednosti, na interakciji i oslobađanju od
ideoloških stega koje nameću masovne komunikacije,
na estetici ličnog odnosa prema svetu, post-avangardnog
i konceptualno-umetnickog iskustva u društvenom
kontekstu datog momenta, koji otvoreno kritikuju.
50
Serbian Contemporary (2014)
Interaktivni performans
Serbian Contemporary (2014)
Interaction performance
ratovima, zloupotrebama moći. U veku transparentnosti
komunikacija i globalnog umrežavanja, negativne
posledice verovanja su svakodnevno vidljive i meta
su medijskih informacija, ali često i manipulacija.
Dostupnost informacijama je takva da nas
bombardovanje negativnim aspektima vere dovode u
poziciju kritičnosti, osvešćavanja, ličnih ne slaganja,
protesta, izlazaka na ulice, sukoba sa vlastima i
ustaljenim dogmama. Živimo u svetu, s jedne strane
fanatično radikalizovanih religijskih ubeđenje, a s druge
strane u svetu otpora svakolikom nasilju, netoleranciji,
nepojmljivom bogaćenju malog broja korporacijskih
kapitalista… Živimo u trenutku „pred eksploziju”
sve svesnijih i ugnjetenih pojedinaca i grupa. Ovaj
video rad ukazuje samo na neke od segmenata ovakve
situacije: eksploataciju dece, kako fizičkim radom tako
i seksualnu, religijski fundamentalizam, siromaštvo,
decu ratnike, sveštenike pedofile i homoseksualce,
fanatizam i terorizam ma koje boje bio, masovna
religijska i genocidna žrtvovanja, mirne proteste i
proteste sa sukobljavanjima, dakle svet koji nas okružuje
i kome, na žalost ne možemo uvek pomoći, a nespremni
u njega možemo biti uvučeni, najčešće kao žrtve. Ovaj
rad je ujedno i „savest” autora i njihova potreba za
sopstveno „iskupljenje” zbog nemoći da nešto drugo,
osim umetnosti, preduzmu.
Serbian Contemporary je interaktivni performans u
kome je učešće publike neminovno i bez čije pomoći se on
ne može realizovati. Autori iniciraju akciju publike, za to
pripremljenim razglednicama sa kratkim instrukcionim
tekstom. Uključivanje publike je dobrovoljno a rezultat
performansa je kolektivni rad, akt. Performans ukazuje
na nastojanje autora da ukažu na neminosvnost akcije
svakog pojedinca u kreiranju savremenog, kako, u ovom
slučaju umetničkog dela, tako i kolektivne svesti vezane
za politiku, kulturu, ekonomiju. Akcija svakog pojedinca
je doprinos celokupnom društvu, što ne znači da autori
zastupaju tezu „kolektivne krivice” kroz koju je srpski
narod neosnovano u svojoj najskorijoj istoriji prolazio…
Serbian Contemporary takođe otvara široko polje
kritičnosti spram svakodnevice u kojoj autori žive, od
krize morala, pada svakolikih vrednosti, do siromaštva,
od materijalnog do duhovnog. Ovo je prvi performans
iz serije koju će autori realizovati u različitim sredinama
i na različitim jezicima.
n
Faith je jednokanalna video projekcija čiji je osnovni
moto višemilenijumsko ljudsko verovanje u različita
božanstva, versku različitost koja često dovodi do
netolerancije i agresije, jednoumlja koja su rezultitrala
milionskim žrtavama, samokažnjavanjem, verskim
51
Serbian Contemporary is an interactive performance in
which audience participation is inevitable and without whose
help it cannot be implemented. The authors initiate action from
the audience with postcards, prepared for this occasion, with
a brief instructional text. Audience involvement is voluntary
and the result of the performance is a collective work, act. The
performance expresses the intention of the authors to indicate
the inevitability of action of every individual in the creation of
the contemporary, in this case, the artwork, as well as collective
consciousness related to politics, culture and the economy. The
action of each individual is a contribution to the entire society,
which does not mean that the authors represent the argument
of “collective guilt,” which the Serbian people wrongfully went
through in their recent history... Serbian Contemporary also
opens up a wide field of critical thought towards everyday life in
which the authors live in, from the crisis of morality, the decay of
all values, to poverty, from the material to the spiritual. This is the
first performance of the series which the authors will implement
in different environments and in different languages.
n
Faith is a single-channel video projection with the main motto
being the millennial human belief in different deities, religious
diversity, which often leads to a lack of tolerance and aggression,
a single-mindedness that results in millions of victims, selfflagellation, religious wars, the abuse of power. In the age of
transparency of communications and global networks, the
negative consequences of faith are visible every day and are the
target of media information, and often, manipulation. Access to
information is such that this carpet-bombing with the negative
aspects of faith puts us in the position of critical thought,
awareness, personal disagreement, protest, gatherings on the
streets, conflicts with authority and established dogmas. We
live in a world of fanatically radicalized religious belief, on one
side, and on the other, in a world of resistance to any violence,
non-tolerance, the inconceivable enrichment of a small number
of corporate capitalists… We live in a time “just before the
explosion” of increasingly aware and oppressed individuals
and groups. This video work points towards just some of the
segments of this situation: the exploitation of children, by both
physical labour and sexual abuse, religious fundamentalism,
poverty, children warriors, paedophile priests, priests that are
homosexual, fanaticism and terrorism, no matter of what brand,
mass religious and genocidal sacrifices, peaceful protests and
protests with clashes, hence, the world that surrounds us, and
which, unfortunately, we cannot always help out, rather can be
sucked into it unprepared, usually as victims. This work is at the
same time “the conscience” of the authors and their need for their
own “redemption” because of their powerlessness to do anything,
other than make art.
52
Faith (2014)
Video
Faith (2014)
video
53
Museum of Childhood
Muzej detinjstva čine Vladimir Perić i Milica Stojanov. Muzej detinjstva započet je 2006. godine, najpre kao samostalni projekat multumedijalnog umetnika i kolekcionara Vladimira Perića, kome se potom
pridružila istoričarka umetnosti Milica Stojanov. Osnovnu komponentu projekta u početku zamišljenog kao
desetogodišnjeg angažmana (2006-2016), čini kolekcija
svedočanstava različitih aspekata detinjstva. Ovaj projekat/muzej predstavio se publici kroz niz grupnih, ali i
samostalnih izlozbi, od kojih je najznačajnije predstavljanje Srbije na 55. Venecijanskom bijenalu.
Prvobitno su predmeti Muzeja detinjstva,
prepoznati kao materijal za umetnički proces, a
potom je otkriven njihov svedočanstveni potencijal,
vrednost dokumenta koji ilustruje detinjstvo i niz
ličnih, intimnih narativa vezanih za privatni život,
najvećim delom sociokulturnog prostora nekadašnje
države Jugoslavije. Većina predmeta pronađena je
na zemunskoj i novobeogradskoj „buvljoj pijaci“, a
pronalazak ovih predmeta a često i priča koje idu uz
njih, za autore predstavlja ujedno i proces meditatacije,
promišljanja, samospoznaje u relaciji sa prošlošću,
istorijom, identitetom. Ideja je potom nastavila da se
razvija u smeru objedinjavanja svedočanstava kategorije
detinjstva, složenog fenomena sa stalno pomerajućim
granicama tumačenja, a predmeti i priče počeli su da
grade uvek otvorenu i rastuću celinu nasleđa, identiteta,
memorija, kako individualnih tako i kolektivnih okvira.
n
n
Vladimir Perić and Milica Stojanov constitute
Muzej detinjstva (Museum of Childhood). Museum of
Childhood started in 2006, first as a solo project of the
multimedia artist and collector Vladimir Perić, who
was then joined by art historian Milica Stojanov. The
basic component of the project, initially conceived as a
ten-year commitment (2006-2016), has been a collection
of testimonies regarding different aspects of childhood.
This project/museum presented itself to the audience
through a series of group, as well as solo exhibitions,
most notably the one representing Serbia at the 55th
Venice Biennale.
n
Od predmeta koji su oblikovali naše detinjstvo, iskustvo,
sećanje, predmeta koji materijalizuju niz akumuliranih
narativa, ideja, znanja, emocija na individualnom i
kolektivnom nivou, Muzej detinjstva stvara kolekciju ali
i umetničku fikciju, konstrukt zasnovan na predmetima
pozajmljenim iz istorijske realnosti, koji transponovani
u umetnički kontekst dobijaju posve nove uloge i
značenja.
54
Oštećena lica (2013)
Foto-reprodukcije na plastici
(20x30cm) x 21 komad
Damaged faces (2013)
Photo-reproduction on plastic
20x30cm x 21 pieces
Initially, the objects of the Museum of Childhood were
identified as material for an artistic process, and then their
testimonial potential had been discovered, the value of
the document which illustrates childhood and a range of
personal, intimate narratives related to private life, mainly
the socio-cultural space of the former Yugoslavia. Most of
the objects were found at the Zemun and New Belgrade
“flea markets,” and finding these items, and often the stories
that go with them, also became a process of meditation
for the authors, of reflection, self-knowledge in relation
to past, history and identity. The idea then continued
to evolve in the direction of unifying the testimonies of
the category of childhood, a complex phenomenon with
constantly shifting limits of interpretation, and the objects
and stories began to build a perpetually open and growing
totality of heritage, identity, memory, both in an individual
and collective framework.
n
The Museum of Childhood creates a collection from objects
that have shaped our childhood, experiences, memories,
items that materialize a range of accumulated narratives,
ideas, knowledge, emotions, at an individual and collective
level, as well as creating an artistic fiction, a construct
based on objects borrowed from historical reality, which,
transposed into an artistic context acquire entirely new
roles and meanings.
55
56
57
Andrea Palašti
Balkan Disco predstavlja uvođenje ambijenta
diskoteke u profesionalni umetnički prostor. Sam naziv
rada preuzet je od diskoteka koje nose naziv sa prefiksom
Balkan (Balkan Disco, Vićenza; Balkan Disco Express,
Beč; Balkan Night, Hamburg), i kao takav, predstavlja
igru značenja - parodično citiranje bihejvioralnih klišea
koji pripadaju društvenom životu klubova po Zapadnoj
Evropi sa autentičnim `turbo-folk provodom` sa Balkana.
Devedesetih je turbo-folk muzika imala ključnu ulogu u
definisanju srpskog socijalnog i nacionalnog identiteta,
promovisala je ideologiju i način života kriminalne elite.
Rekontekstualizacijom diskoteke unutar umetničkog
prostora, rad postaje svojevrsni ready-made, preispitujući
tako granice estetike i etike, geografije i geopolitike,
kao i svakodnevice i artificijelnog umetničkog dela. U
tom svetlu, Balkan prestaje biti geografska odrednica te
postaje kulturološka: Balkan danas postaje stereotipni
označitelj mesta dobrog provoda.
Osnovne i master studije završila na Akademiji
umetnosti u Novom Sadu na odseku Fotografija.
Od 2006. godine izlaže i sarađuje sa umetnicima,
umetničkim kolektivima/inicijativama. Do sada je svoje
radove predstavila na više samostalnih i grupnih izložbi
u zemlji i inostranstvu. Bavi se istraživanjima u oblasti
(nove) kulturne geografije, kritičke topografije i istorije.
Koristi simbolički jezik u okviru „dokumentarnih
praksi,” te postavlja konceptualni okvir za ponovno
razumevanje aspekata našeg savremenog života. Kao
stipendista Ministarstva nauke za mlade doktorante,
trenutno pohađa Interdisciplinarne doktorske studije
Univerziteta umetnosti u Beogradu, na odseku za
Teoriju umetnosti i medija.
n
n
Graduated from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad
at the Department of Photography. Since 2006, exhibits
and collaborates with artists, art collectives/initiatives.
Works across artistic and curatorial boundaries,
with attention to issues of cultural geography, critical
topography and everyday life. In her work, she investigates
the cultural, social and/or political circumstances in her
country and the region, often with a playful, ironic and
humorous attitude. She uses symbolic language, putting
forward a conceptual framework for (re)understanding
the aspects of our contemporary life. As a stipendist of
the Ministry of Science, she is currently a PhD fellow at
the University of Arts, at the department for Theory of
Art and Media in Belgrade.
n
Fotografije su nastale u diskoteci Balkan u Vićenci (Italija) 2010.
godine.
58
59
Balkan Disco, is a disco-like installation, conceived as a spectacular
incorporation of a nightclub in the exhibition concept. Its title was
borrowed from several nightclubs throughout Europe that bear the
name Balkan (e.g. Balkan Disco, Vicenza; Balkan Disco Express,
Vienna; Balkan Night, Hamburg) and as such, is a double entendre –
a parodic citation of the behavioral clichés that belong to the social
lives of these clubs in Western Europe which offer authentic `turbo-folk
entertainment` from the Balkans. In the 1990s, turbo folk had a key
role in defining Serbian social and national identity, it promoted the
ideology and lifestyle of the new criminal elite. By recontextualising
the space of a nightclub inside a gallery/museum, the work becomes
a readymade, questioning the borders between aesthetics and
ethics, geography and geopolitics, as well as the distinction between
everyday life and artificial artwork. In this light, Balkan is no longer
a geographical but a cultural determinant: today, Balkan became a
stereotypical signifier of a place for having a good time.
n
The photos were made at the Balkan Disco in Vicenza (Italy) in 2010
60
Balkan Disco (2010-2012)
Multimedijalna instalacija
Dimenzije promenljive
Balkan Disco (2010-2012)
Multimedium installation
Variable
61
Sve, kuća egzila (2002-2010)
Video-skulpturalna instalacija
edicija od pet video radova
(W)hole, House of Exile (2002-2010)
Video and Sculptural Installation
edition of five
Vessna Perunovich
n
Rođena u Srbiji, Vesna Perunović je kanadska
umetnica koja živi i radi u Torontu, Kanadi. Iako je
napustila svoj dom u Beogradu (bivšoj Jugoslaviji) pre
više od 20 godina, teme egzila i čežnje i dalje odlikuju
njene radove. Od trenutka kada je započela svoju karijeru
u Torontu, Kanadi, 1988. godine, do danas, delovala je
u širokom rasponu medija, uključujući slikarstvo, crtež,
instalaciju, skulpturu, video i performans. Osobeni, a
ipak međusobno povezani, ovi aspekti se kombinuju
u praksu koja se stalno razvija i opire se jednostavnoj
kategorizaciji.
n
Vessna Perunovich is Serbian born, Canadian artist
who lives and works in Toronto Canada. Although
she departed from her home in Belgrade (Former
Yugoslavia) more than 20 years ago the themes of exile
and longing still echo in her work. From the time she
started her career in Toronto, Canada in 1988 until
today, she has worked in a diverse range of media
including painting, drawing, installation, sculpture,
video and performance. Individual yet inter-related,
these aspects combine into an ever-evolving practice
that defines simple categorization.
Izlagala je u mnogim galerijama i muzejima širom sveta
i učestvovala u brojnim međunarodnim izložbama na
Kubi, u Albaniji, Engleskoj, Portugaliji, Srbiji, Grčkoj,
Kini, Kanadi, SAD, itd.
Perunovich has exhibited in many galleries and
museums around the world, and took part in a number
of international exhibitions in Cuba, Albania, England,
Portugal, Serbia, Greece, China, Canada, USA, etc.
Vesna Perunović je dobitnik nekoliko nagrada,
uključujući T.F.V.A (Toronto Friends of Visual Arts)
nagrade u 2005. godini.
Vessna Perunovich is the recipient of several awards,
including T.F.V.A. (Toronto Friends of Visual Arts)
award in 2005.
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63
Pronalaženje ljubavi (2012)
Video, edicija od deset video radova
3’
Finding Love (2012)
Video, edition of ten
3’
i samostalnim izložbama i čini deo muzejskih zbirki
Berardo muzeja moderne umetnosti u Portugalu i
Nacionalne galerije umetnosti u Tirani, u Albaniji.
(W)hole, House of Exile (2002-2010), Sve, Kuća
egzila, istražuje ideju „doma” kao najvažnijeg i
osnovnog koncepta urođenog ljudima - kuće kao
skloništa. Podrazumevajući istovremeno i pojam
zavičaja i pojam identiteta, jednostavna struktura
nalik na kavez, sa bazičnim krovom i četiri zida koja se
mogu videti na crtežima kuće iz najranijeg detinjstva,
podsećaju posmatrača na primarni simbol kuće,
ujedno otkrivajući urođenu krhkost takavog simbola.
Iako namenjen otelotvorenju osećaja sigurnosti i
pripadanja, posmatrač dela je suočen sa pojmom doma
kao promenljivog, ranjivog konstrukta. Video prirode i
uništenja, prikazanih kao beskrajan ciklus, projektovan
je na strukturu kuće i inspiriše gledaoca na doživljaj
bezbroj različitih emocija i reakcija, odražavajući na
taj način emocionalni nemir koji mnogi od nas osećaju
tokom prelaska granica i odbacivanja ograničenja – bila
ona fizička, društvena ili fiziološka. (W)hole, House of
Exile je izvedena za IV Cetinjsko bijenale u Crnoj Gori
i od tada je prikazana na brojnim bijenalima, grupnim
n
Finding Love (2012), Pronalaženje ljubavi, proučava još
jednu od najosnovnijih potreba čoveka: potrebu da voli
i bude voljen. Ovaj video rad, sačinjen tokom studijskog
boravka u ISCP u Bruklinu, Njujorku, prikazuje prozor
umetničkog ateljea kao mesto sećanja: prigušenog
tonaliteta koji vodi u prošlost, njegova obličja su i
nejasna i poznata. Prikazom prozora sa zavesom u
sred prelepog letnjeg dana, snimljenog u nostalgičnim
crno-belim tonovima i obloženog izjavama ljubavi
umetnika, Pronalaženje ljubavi istražuje pojam žudnje
kao tačke mogućeg prevazilaženja ličnih granica i
mesta pripadanja koje se otvara ka neograničenim
mogućnostima. Pronalaženje ljubavi je deo stalne
zbirke Mekdonald Stjuart centra za umetnost u Guelfu,
Kanadi.
64
biennials, group and solo exhibitions and it is part of
museum collections of the Berardo Museum of Modern
Art in Portugal and of the National Gallery of Art in
Tirana, Albania.
(W)hole, House of Exile (2002-2010), explores the
idea of ‘home’ as the most important and fundamental
concept inherent in human condition – a house as
a shelter. By implying simultaneously the notion of
homeland and identity, the simple cage-like structure,
with the basic roof and four walls seen in the earliest
childhood drawings of a house, remind the viewer of the
primary symbol of home, while revealing the inherent
fragility of such a symbol. Meant to embody security and
belonging, the viewer is faced with the notion of home as
a shifting, vulnerable construct. The video of nature and
destruction shown as an endless cycle projected onto
the house structure takes the viewer into experiencing
a myriad of different emotions and reactions, mirroring
thus the emotional turmoil that many of us feel in
crossing borders and breaking out limitations-weather
they be physical, social or physiological. (W)hole, House
of Exile has been created for the IV Cetinje Biennial in
Montenegro and has since been shown at a number of
n
Finding Love (2012), looks at yet another of most
fundamental needs in human condition: a need to love
and be loved. A video work, created while attending
the ISCP residency in Brooklyn, New York, portrays
an artist studio window as a place of memory: muted
tonality relegating to the past, its imagery both indistinct
and familiar. Depicting a curtained window on a fine
summer day, captured in nostalgic tones of black and
white and overlaid with the artists professions of love,
Finding Love explores the notion of longing as a place
where personal boundaries can be broken and a place
of belonging opens itself up for unlimited possibilities.
Finding Love is part of the permanent collection of
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre in Guelph, Canada.
65
Nataša Teofilović
n
Animacija a|symmetry je nastala iz jednog pokreta
virtuelne ruke koja čulno i ispitijuće dodiruje prazninu
(void) virtuelnog prostora. Ovaj izolovani pokret,
nakon višestrukog umnožavanja se više ne prepoznaje
kao pojedinačni element već formira jedinstvenu sliku.
Rotacija, simetrija i sukcesivno kašnjenje pokreta
generišu apstraktnu formu koja asocira na organsku
strukturu i poprima kvalitete simbola poput mandale
ili neke vrste oživljenog pulsirajućeg univerzuma.
Multiplikacijom, svaki najmanji trzaj prsta u finalnoj
kompozitnoj formi dobija dramatični impuls i ubrzanje.
Pojedinačno jedno postaje Jedno. Metod ovakvog
generisanja metaforički simulira ideju stvaranja sistema
značenja. Svaka pojedinačna i izolovana pojava, nakon
višestrukih opservacija, prelamanja, „ogledanja” kao
u kaleidoskopu, formira centričnu i stabilnu sliku.
Beznačajno pojedinačno dobija značenje. Rezultujuća
„velika slika” nastala od pojedičnog nepretencioznog
ljudskog pokreta upućuje na poruku o jedinstvu,
nežnosti, ljubavi, ljudskoj senzualnosti i nesavršenosti
(a-symmetry) koje nas čine jedinstvenim. Zvuk u radu
su generičko čelo i moj glas.
n
Nataša Teofilović radi dela digitalne umetnosti
koja spajaju umetnost, nauku i tehnologiju. Tehnički
posmatrano, ona istražuje različite medije, od
eksperimentalnog videa preko 3D karakter animacije
i digitalnih ambijenata. Konceptualno, ovi radovi
objedinjuju teme identiteta u praznom (void) virtuelnom
prostoru, percepcije virtuelnih bića i ispitivanje granica
između virtuelnog i stvarnog prostora. Od dobijenih
priznanja izdvajaju se Honorary mention at the first Prix
Ars Electronica Collide@CERN, i selekcija žirija na 15th
Japan Media Arts Festival, Tokyo.
Nataša Teofilović works in digital art, which merges
art, science and technology. Technically speaking, she
works in diverse media including experimental video,
3D animation performance and digital ambiances.
Conceptually, these works are connected with topics of
identity in the void of virtual space, the perception of
virtual beings and the boundaries between virtual and
real spaces. She won an honorary award at the first Prix
Ars Electronica Collide@CERN competition for digital
art and her work was in the Jury Selection Award at 15th
Japan Media Arts Festival, Tokyo, Japan 2011.
n
Rad s.h.e. se poigrava sa pojmovima virtuenog i stvarnog.
Ovu 3D karakter animaciju grade dva elementa virtuelni prostor i virtuelni akter. Virtuelni prostor je
„ispražnjen,” ne sadži elemente scenografije, njegovu
prostornost jedino definišu virtuelna bića kretanjem i
gestom. Virtuelna priroda 3D glumica je prikazana kroz
njihovu materijalzaciju i animaciju. Digitalni modeli su
virtuelne membrane, telo bez organa koje mimikom,
gestom i zvukom (kucanjem sa unutrašnje strane
66
a│symmetry (2013)
3d and 2d karakter animacija, 7:57’
a│symmetry (2013)
3d and 2d character animation, 7:57’
ekrana) komuniciraju uzajamno i/ili sa posmatračem. U
praznini virtuelnog prostora, virtuelna bića su ostavljena
da istražuju svoj virtuelni identitet. Iz tog razloga one
dodiruju ivicu (granicu) virtuelne slike i ulaze u svoja
vlastita virtuelna tela. Elementi ličnog, privatnog i
autoportreta su prisutni u svakom segmentu ovog rada.
Portreti virtuelnih glumica se u osnovi zasnivaju na mom
licu. Digitalno osvetljenje modela je kepčerovano (HDR
IBL) iz ambijenta u kome živim. Zvuk - ritam udara o
ekran je kucanje po staklenoj površini monitora na kom
je ovaj rad nastao. Mimika, pokret i gest su lično moji.
The work s.h.e. plays with virtuality and reality. The
3D character animation has two basic elements: virtual
space and the virtual actor. Virtual space is “emptied”,
it has no elements of scenography, and its spatiality has
been defined by 3D virtual creatures in virtual space
by their movements and acting. The virtual nature of
the actresses has been stressed by their animation and
materialization. Digital models in fact present a virtual
membrane, a body without organs, which by mimics,
gestures and sound (knocking from the other side of the
screen) communicate mutually and/or with an observer.
In the void of virtual-space, the virtuals are left to explore
their own virtual identities. That’s why they touch the
boundary (the edge) of the picture and enter their own
virtual bodies. The elements of the personal, the private
and the self-portrait are present throughout all the
segments of the piece. The virtual actresses’ portraits
have been derived from my own. The digital lighting
was captured (HDR IBL) from the ambient I live in. The
sound - the rhythm of the beating on the screen, is the
knocking on the glass surface of the screen on which the
s.h.e.(s) were created. Mimics, movements and gestures
are privately mine.
The a|symmetry animation is composed out of
the same singular arm movement. The virtual arm
touches the void of virtual space. This is a wondering
and sensual touch. The isolated movement, when it
is multiplied, starts to lose particularity and forms
one picture. Rotation, symmetry, mirroring and time
delay produce abstract form. This form associates a
living structure and begets qualities of symbols like
the mandala or some kind of living pulsating universe.
Every small and slow single finger movement in the final
composition received dramatic impulse and velocity due
to multiplication. A particular one becomes the One.
The compositing method is chosen following the idea
(metaphor) of creation of the systems of meaning. Each
particular and isolated artifact, when passed through
many observations, “mirroring,” forms a centric, stable,
reliable picture. Like a kaleidoscope. The insignificant
singular receives a meaning. The resulting “big picture,”
produced with ordinary human-like elements, speaks
of unity, gentleness, love, human sensuality and
imperfection (a-symmetry) that make us unique. The
sound is virtually generated cello and my voice.
n
67
s.h.e. (2006)
3d karakter animacija, 6:52’
s.h.e. (2006)
3d character animation, 6:52’
68
69
Zoran Todorović
Umetnički video rad The Noise (Buka) snimljen
je sa posebno dizajniranim uređajem za registrovanje
video poruka, koji je poslužio kao neka vrsta otvorene
kamere, automata, koji snima izjave, priče i predstave
ljudi koji su spremni da ga koriste. Sam rad se sastoji
od tri slike, koje su snimljene istim uređajem na tri
različite lokacije: na ulici, u zatvoru, i u psihijatrijskoj
klinici. Moglo bi se reći da je ovo delo stvorila mašina
kojoj je „javnost” iznosila svoje izjave, sklonosti, ideje,
predrasude, strahove, verovanja, itd. Ove tri pozicije su
stoga uzete kao granične situacije ili tačke orijentacije
kojima celo društveno polje može biti obuhvaćeno.
Istovremeno, ovaj film ne pretenduje da predstavlja glas
različitih društvenih grupa, izbegavajući da se nađe u
samom položaju koji kritikuje. Ovu činjenicu je važno
razumeti, jer predstavlja samu suštinu ovog rada,
problem socijalne reprezentacije, ili, tačnije, sistem
socijalne reprezentacije je spoljna motivacija, podsticaj
i tema ovog rada.
Zoran Todorović (rođen 1965. godine, živi
u Beogradu, Srbiji) predstavnik je biopolitičkog
performansa, radikalnog bodi arta, međuljudskog
performansa i politizovane postmedijske umetnosti.
Radi sa afektivnim individualnim i kolektivnim
situacijama i predstavama granica „ljudskih stanja.” Bio
je predstavnik Srbije na 53. Bijenalu u Veneciji (2009).
Docent je na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu,
u Srbiji.
n
n
n
Zoran Todorović (born 1965, lives in Belgrade,
Serbia) is a representative of biopolitical performance,
radical body art, interhuman performance art and
politicised postmedia art. He works with affective
individual and collective situations and representations
of the borders of “human conditions”. He was the
representative of Serbia at the 53rd Biennale di Venezia
(2009). He is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Fine
Arts, Belgrade, Serbia.
70
Šum (1999)
Trokanalna video instalacija
Noise (1999)
3 channel video installation
taken as borderline situations or points of orientation
in which the entire social field can be marked off. At the
same time, this film does not pretend to represent the
speech of different social groups, avoiding to find itself
in the very position it is criticizing. This is an important
point to understand, as it constitutes the very mobile of
this work, which is the problem of social representation,
or, more precisely, the system of social representation
was the external motivation, incitement and theme of
this work.
n Video artwork The Noise was shot by an especially
designed device for recording of video messages, that
functioned as some kind of open camera, an automaton,
which records statements, stories and representations of
people that were willing to use it. The work itself consists
of three images, taken with the same device on three
different locations: in the street, in the prison, and in
the psychiatric clinic. It might be said that this work was
made by the machine to which “the public” announced
its statements, inclinations, ideas, prejudices, anxieties,
beliefs, etc. These three positions are therefore only
71
72
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Miloš Tomić
Rođen 05.02.1976. u Beogradu. Krajem osnovne
škole počinje da crtka, boji, skuplja predmete sa ulice,
fotografiše, malo svira... U srednjoj školi prolazi kroz
kurseve filmske škole „Kvadrat” kod Zorana i Svetlane
Popović. 1993 - 2002. saradnik u emisiji „Lepi ritam
srca.“ Svršeni polaznik kursa okretnih igara u Domu
ruske culture, 2000.
n
2001. diplomira na filmskoj režiji na Akademiji
umetnosti u klasi Miše Radivojevića. Magistarske
studije na animaciji završava u Pragu, na Famu u klasi
Petra Skale. Bio gost student u Madridu i Berlinu.
Doktorirao u Pragu kao specijalista đubrolog na temu
„Dragocenost odbačenih predmeta, tj. đubreta kao
materijala za film, fotografiju...” Učestvovao na mnogo
grupnih i desetak samostalnih izložbi, prikazivao
svoje filmove sa nebrojenim filmskim festivalima sa
promenjljivim uspehom. Ako se i to računa, 2014.
zajedno sa Vladimirom Perićem, predstavljao Srbiju na
Venecijanskom Bijenalu u Veneciji.
Born 5 February 1976, in Belgrade. At the end
of elementary school he started doodling, coloring,
collecting objects from the street, photographing, playing
a bit of music... During high school he went to “Kvadrat”
film school run by Zoran and Svetlana Popović. 1993
- 2002. contributor of the “Beautiful Rhythm of the
Heart” radio show. Successfully completed a partner
dance course at the Russian Culture Home, 2000.
n
2001. Graduated at the Academy of Arts (Directing)
in the class of Miša Radivojević. Completed graduate
studies in Animation at Famu, in Prague, in the class of
Petar Skala. Was a guest student in Madrid and Berlin.
Just finished his doctoral studies, thesis on “Preciousness
of discarded objects, i.e. trash as the material for film,
photography...” Lives in Belgrade, again, since 2009, as
a family man, with not so frequent, planned travels.
Teaches short video forms at Singidunum University.
74
Muzički dnevnici 1-3 (2012-2013)
Video, 3’+5’+8’
Musical Diary 1-3 (2012-2013)
Video, 3’+5’+8’
Kese (2007)
video , 5’
Plastic Bags (2007)
video , 5’
Kao lični psihijatar, prepisao sam sebi dnevnu
lekovitu dozu muziciranja. Nikada nisam išao u
muzičku školu, ne umem da čitam note ali često čujem
melodiju u šumi zvukova oko sebe i od detinjstva sam
bubnjao ritmove prstima po stolu, tokom porodičnih
ručkova, uvek ućutkivan od roditelja.
n As my own personal psychiatrist, I prescribed myself
n
a daily curative dose of musicianship. I never went to
music school, I cannot read music, but I often hear a
melody in the forest of sounds around me and since
childhood I have drummed rhythms with my fingers on
the table, during family dinners, always silenced by my
parents.
Dnevnik ovde znači da se svakog dana igram,
improvizujem na nekom muzičkom instrument ili
predmetu koji koristim ili nabasam na njega a odjednom
mi „zazvuči.” Kao in a telu – svom ili onom koje se nađe
pri ruci.
Here, a diary means that I play around every day,
improvise on a musical instrument or an object I use, or
come across, and suddenly, it “reverberates” to me. As
well as on a body - my own or one that is at hand.
Improvisation here means to get into grips with the
selected instrument or object and squeeze everything
out of it - from noise to melody. All the while one is
constantly listening to its every audio response and
turning one’s every mistake into a possible motif.
Although, I do not know if I am permitted to do this, the
music teacher at my elementary school “Braća Baruh”
would throw chalk at us, or a heavy key ring, whenever
we would make any such “musical mistakes.”
Improvizacija ovde znači, uhvatiti se u koštac sa
izabranim instrumentom ili predmetom i iscediti iz njega
sve – od buke do melodije. Pri tom stalno osluškujući
svaku njegovu zvučnu reakciju i pretvarajući u mogući
motiv svaku svoju grešku. Iako, ja ne znam da li smem
to da radim, nastavnik muzičkog vaspitanja u mojoj
osnovnoj školi „Braća Baruh,” gađao bi nas kredom ili
teškom svežnjem ključeva kad god bi napravili neku
takvu „muzičku grešku.”
Maybe this is why I still play using keys, taps, trainers,
broken glass from bottles... as well as out-of-tune guitars,
saxophones, harmonicas, pianos, give me anything, I’ll
play!
Možda baš zato ja danas sviram na ključevima,
česmama, čičkovima patika, razbijenim staklićima
flaša… kao in a raštimovanoj gitari, saksofonu, usnoj
harmonici, klaviru, dajte mi bilo šta, sviraću!
Very quickly, my son, at three years of age, saw in these
sessions a chance to destroy many house rules. To go
wild, smash things, yell and jump around, and if it
passes as music - it goes unpunished. So he immediately
became part of the musical diaries that have thus
become (perhaps a bit romanticized) chronicle of our
relationship: of him growing-up and my childlike
behaviour.
Vrlo brzo, moj sin sa svoje 3 godine video je u ovim
seansama šansu da poruši mnoga kućna pravila. Da
luduje, razbija, dere se i skače pa, ako to prođe kao
muzika – on prođe nekažnjen. Tako da je odmah
uskočio u muzikalne dnevnike koji su tako postali
(možda malo romantizovana) zabeleška našeg odnosa:
njegovog odrastanja i mog podetinjavanja.
75
Dlake (2007)
video 3’
Hair (2007)
video 3’
76
Glineni golub (2005)
Video 7’
Clay pigeon (2005)
Video 7’
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Selman Trtovac
Rođen 1970. u Zadru, SFR Jugoslavija. Od 1990.
do 1993. studirao je na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti u
Beogradu. 1993. prešao na Kunstakademie u Dizeldorfu,
u klasu prof. Klausa Rinkea, gdje je 1997. godine proglašen
za majstora umetnosti. Član IKG-a (Internacionalni
umetnički gremijum) postao 2003. godine. Kreator,
inicijator i suosnivač Nezavisne umetničke asocijacije
Treći Beograd (www.trecibeograd.com). Doktorirao
2012. godine na odseku za skulpturu Fakulteta likovnih
umetnosti u Beogradu. Živi i radi u Beogradu.
n
Umetnost crtanja se nalazi u osnovi svakog drugog
vizuelnog mišljenja, u bilo kom drugom vizuelnom
mediju i ne samo tu, umetnost crtanja se nalazi i u
evoluciji ljudske vrste uopšte! Crtanje je, dakle, sredstvo
primarnog mišljenja u kome se ogleda razvoj neke ideje.
n
Born 14 August 1970, in Zadar, Yugoslavia. From
1990 until 1993 he studied at the Faculty of Fine
Arts, Belgrade. In 1993 he moved to Kunstakademie
Düsseldorf, in the art class of Professor Klaus Rinke,
where he was declared a Master of Art in 1997. In
2003 he became a member of IKG (International Arts
Committee). He is the initiator and co-founder of
Independent Artistic Association Third Belgrade (www.
trecibeograd.com). In 1993 he was declared a Doctor of
Fine Arts at the Academy of Arts in Belgrade. Lives and
works in Belgrade.
n
Slobodna umetnička zadruga Treći Beograd je,
povodom izložbe Josipa Vanište, putovala u Zagreb
u maju mesecu 2013. godine. U prenesenom smislu
to je predstavljalo povlačenje linije između Beograda
i Zagreba, odnosno umetnički akt cele grupe. Motiv
za to, naročito putovanje, jeste volja grupe umetnika
3BGD-a da „vide” Vaništininu liniju. Taj događaj je na
sve umetnike koji su tada bili u Zagrebu ostavio moćan
trag.
Linija za Savamalu je naslov crteža umetnika Selmana
Trtovca i umetnički dijalog dva umetnika - Veljka
Pavlovića i Selmana Trtovca, koji se može razumeti i
kao jedna od refleksija na susret sa Vaništinom linijom i
prazninom koju on pominje u pismu Selmanu Trtovcu.
78
Linija za Savamalu (2013)
crtež (grafit na papiru, 110x400cm
video 3:12’
Line for Savamala (2013)
Drawing (graphit on paper, 110x400cm
video 3:12’
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The art of drawing is the basis of every other visual thinking, in any other
visual medium and not only that, the art of drawing is part of the evolution
of the human species in general! Drawing, then, represents the means of
primary thinking that reflects the development of an idea.
n
Free art cooperative Treći Beograd (Third Belgrade) travelled to Zagreb in
May 2013 for the exhibition of Josip Vaništa. In a metaphorical sense, this
became the drawing of a line between Belgrade and Zagreb, an artistic act of
the whole group. The motivation for this particular journey was the will of
the 3BGD group of artists to “view” Vaništa’s line. This event left a powerful
impression on all artists who were in Zagreb at the time.
Linija za Savamalu (The Line for Savamala) is the title of the drawing of the
artist Selman Trtovac and represents an artistic dialogue between two artists
- Veljko Pavlović and Selman Trtovac, which can be understood as one of the
reflections on the encounter with Vaništa’s line and the emptiness that he
mentions in the letter to Selman Trtovac.
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MUZEJ
SAVREMENE
UMETNOSTI
VOJVODINE
Naziv izložbe | Title of the Exhibition :
Prigušena egzistencija- Savremena umetnička scena Srbije | Subdued Existence - Serbian Contemporary Art Scene
30.04.2015–30.05.2015.
Muzej savremene umjetnosti Republike Srpske | Museum of Contemporary Art of Republika Sprska
Banja Luka, Trg Srpskih junaka 2, Republika Srpska, Bosna i Hercegovina | Bosnia and Herzegovina
Direktorka | Director: Sarita Vujković
Kustoskinja | Curator: Žana Vukičević
26.11.2015–07.02.2016.
Kunsthalle Košice
Košice, Republika Slovačka | Republic of Slovakia
Organizacija | Organization: Asocijacija Bela Noć, Republika Slovačka | White Night Association, Košice, Slovakia
Umetnički direktor i kustos | Art Director and Curator: Zuzana Pacáková
Partner: Kulturni centar Košice, Republika Slovačka | Košické kultúrne centrá, Republic of Slovakia
Producent i izdavač | Producer and Publisher:
Muzej savremene umetnosti Vojvodine | Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina
Dunavska 37, Novi Sad
www.msuv.org
Direktorka | Director: Sanja Kojić Mladenov
Za izdavača | Executive Publisher: Sanja Kojić Mladenov
Kustoskinje | Curators: Sanja Kojić Mladenov, Svetlana Mladenov
Glavna urednica | Editor-in-Chief: Sanja Kojić Mladenov
Urednica | Editor: Svetlana Mladenov
Autori tekstova | Writers: Svetlana Mladenov, Sanja Kojić Mladenov, Yan-Huei –Chen
Dizajn | Design: Mirjana Dušić-Lazić
Rad korišćen za dizajn korica | Artwork used for cover design: diSTRUKTURA, Not so far away 4.
Prevod | Translator: Milana Vujkov
Lektura | Proofreading: Katja Juršić-Huzjan, Predrag Rajić
Koncept postavke | Exhibition Concept: Sanja Kojić Mladenov, Svetlana Mladenov
Organizacija | Organization: Jovan Jakšić, Tijana Filipov
Montaža | Video editing: io.MEDIA, agencija za audio vizuelnu produkciju-Aleksandar Ramadanović; Marko Ercegović
Štampa | Printed by: Službeni glasnik, Beograd
Projekat podržali | Supported by:
Pokrajinski sekretarijat za kulturu i javno informisanje AP Vojvodine
Provincial Secretariat for Culture and Public Information, AP Vojvodina
Ministarstvo kulture i informisanja Republike Srbije
Ministry of Culture and Information, Republic of Serbia
Ministarstvo prosvjete i kulture Republike Srpske
Ministry of Education and Culture of Republika Sprska
Ministarstvo kulture Republike Slovačke
Ministry of Culture, Republic of Slovakia
Zahvaljujemo | Thanks:
Zadužbini umetnice Brede Beban I “Kalfayan” galerije (Atina-Solun)
Artist’s estate and Kalfayan Galleries (Athens – Thessaloniki)
CIP - Каталогизација у публикацији
Библиотека Матице српске, Нови Сад
73/76(497.1)"20"(083.824)
PRIGUŠENA egzistencija : savremena umetnička scena
Srbije = Subdued existence : Serbian contemporary art scene
: Muzej savremene umetnosti Republike Srpske, Banjaluka,
30.04 - 30.05 2015. / [autori tekstova Svetlana Mladenov,
Sanja Kojić Mladenov, Yan-Huel Chen ; prevod Milana Vujkov].
- Novi Sad : Muzej savremene umetnosti Vojvodine, 2015
(Beograd : Službeni glasnik). - [80] str. : ilustr. ; 21 x
26 cm
Biografski podaci o umetnicima. - Tiraž 400.
ISBN 978-86-6333-018-4
1. Уп. ств. насл.
a) Ликовна уметност - Србија - 21. в. - Изложбени каталози
COBISS.SR-ID 295724295
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