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Arrows
The exhibition of paintings by Simonida Rajčević presents a unified nonlinear narrative flow, through which the artist presents the diversion created due to the dispersive construct of power relations. The position of perceiving the broader picture of the Arrows project could be read through fragments from popular culture, but at the same time understood as a reference system that unites and opposes the norms established in culture and society. By staging events, that, at the moment of their escalation, become frozen in time, the artist indicates the importance of the positions of aggressor and victim, who, under certain circumstances, fight for authority over other(s).
In this way, the simulacra from the paintings become signifiers of the struggle, which, depending on the presentation of events, represent a kind of allusion to social discourses positioned in popular culture, and through the symbolic meaning - in everyday life.
The series of works marks the division into different defense systems that are symbolically manifested through utilitarian extensions of (super)power in the form of a pistol, knife, boxing gloves, and nunchucks, while the protagonists are conceived as representatives of various martial arts. The exhibited paintings may be interpreted through the characteristics typical of male and female representation in modern society. They represent the dissolution of the categorization of social norms and the establishment of an analogy between divergent cultural contents.
By positioning the figures in the paintings, the author achieves a symbiosis between the united Subjects - protagonists who become representations of power. In terms of phenomenology, the references in affect become aesthetic objects that represent idealized characters, whose characteristics could be read through the desire to stabilize the individual in everyday life. Thus, the corpus of signifiers positioned in art and pop culture becomes a metatext per se. The figures do not only represent the portraits of the protagonists, but they also incorporate the signifiers for the Other.
The figure of Bruce Lee in the moment of defense draws the observer’s attention to the action, more than to the interpretation of the character himself. For that reason, in the second image with the nunchucks, only a torso with the hands holding the weapon can be seen, which indicates the importance of the movement and the intention which may be seen through the position of the body.
On the other hand, the female figure in the paintings is placed in two different situations - independently and in direct interaction with the victim. In broader context, she can be interpreted through gender theory, but also through manifestation in art and culture. Independently framed the figure is placed in a dominant position, representing a reflection of struggle and/or defense, which is perceived through her posture, the surrounding environment, and the weapon with which she is associated. Presented as synonymous with the masculine physical expression, the female figure moves from the role of victim to that of aggressor, after which she retreats once again into the role of victim, which in terms of narration represents the transition of the protagonists from one position into another. Upon her returning to the initial position, the female protagonist, through constant change of identity, establishes a relationship with sociologically determined notions of the Other, emphasizing the relationship of the placement of gender constructs in the real (and fictional) world. Thus the author asks questions related to the cause and effect of an attack, which she demystifies through various frames, pointing to the shifts within the individual and collective need for absolute and continuous transgression.
The image, which is a direct reference to Caravaggio's painting "Judith Beheading Holofernes”, unlike those depicting protagonists with masculine-feminine expressiveness, retains its gender construct, while simultaneously shifting the time frame which confronts identities from the past and the present. Given the importance of Zeitgeist, the established Ggestus indicates the absence of a collective perception of signifiers for gender-constructed laws that integrate the interpretation of identity within the space between dual biological divisions. It is through this painting that the artist marked the field that exists on the borders of popular culture and art history.
In opposition to the female simulacrum, male signifiers of the fight are set, through the recreated figures of boxers Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. and Conor Anthony McGregor. With an artistic transcription of the spectacle in the form of a fight between Mayweather and McGregor, Simonida Rajčević shows the balance of power between the two equally dominant male figures, who build their references system within the mainstream. Further interpretation of this image points to the analysis of the actual performance, which suggests the physical and mental characteristics of the protagonists who directly fight for supremacy over their opponent. Their bodily positions are set through action - they suggest endurance and determination at a crucial moment of survival. By recreating the events, the actors in the images become subversive iconic signs, which, through visual description and imagination, become solipsistic depictions of an imagined reality.
Arrows, the exhibition of paintings, represents a narration that shows a unique moment through the medium of image, its plot being complemented through the conception of the content. In terms of dramaturgy, the compositions are excerpts from time, where the “before and after” content becomes a commonplace of individual interpretation of the content presented. Through her personal aesthetics, Simonida Rajčević strikes the balance between light and dark by means of colors, lines, and transparency/blank space, highlighting the authentic elements in her paintings, similar to David Hockney. By means of this technique, the author suggests the course of the narrative and emphasizes her initial thesis based on the intellectual reflection about social phenomena, from the second half of the XX century until today.
Jelena Pavićević
Translation:Nikola Rajačić
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Fake Pain SIMONIDA RAJČEVIĆ
Simonida Rajčević’s canvases have a way of pulling us into the antagonism of the meaning of the aesthetic as an operative but also unstable concept in today’s art, especially contemporary art. The state of human calmness and resignation, which informed the paintings from the previous cycle titled Strange Waves, evolves in the new exhibition, Fake Pain, into the state of vulnerability. In canonized artistic images of committed violence, which testify to the history of human brutality, archetypal pain persists with a view to moving the body that does not react and the victim who is giving up. Such distance from the usual manifestations of the affective experience in the world in which we live, or the suspension of one’s own sensory experience for the sake of experiencing what carries the potential of the general or common, is exactly what aesthesis refers to in its ancient meaning of the experience of humaneness. However, what prevents the fulfilment of one such aesthetic experience through a liberating common understanding of the world is precisely the lie which introduces antagonism into the contemporary meaning of the concept of the aesthetic.
What is in fact fake about the painful awakening of humaneness through the painted scenes of tortured human parts? Is individual, alienated experience of pain fake, or perhaps the collective notion of what this pain is? Or is perhaps fake what pain should bring forward through art? Can pain even offer us the satisfaction of liberation in tragedy, which is, as Aristotle claimed, the highest form of art which produces catharsis? Or has catharsis become an affective lie over time, one that does not speak of experiencing social and political reality, but of individual escapist discomfort within it?
We are faced with images in which the holy scenes of martyrdom from the past are implied, overlapping with the bright colours and immediate contours of human bodies of the present. Through the universal body of the white modern man, outlines emerge of El Greco’s fatally tortured bodies of Jesus (The Holy Trinity canvas) and St. Sebastian, and Caravaggio’s cut-off head of Goliath (David with the Head of Goliath) and St. Peter’s nailed hand (The Crucifixion of Saint Peter). Zurbarán’s representation of Jesus as God’s Lamb (Agnus Dei), which takes all the sins of mankind unto itself, appears on the canvas in which the universal male body – set in opposition to the zoomorphic, passively reclining body of Christ – is coded differently. In this painting, the last in the cycle, we can see arms ready to fight, to defend the victim; arms that in the very end lead us to Bruce Lee, the unbeatable icon of the 20th-century popular culture. The layers of meaning of these paintings live their own historicising through pain, which again and again resurfaces as palimpsest, transforming archetypal violence into the mechanisms of ruling the world.
The sights of universal anguish, suffering, and pain of mankind, which intermittently fade and then resurface from the past in times of crises, conflicts, and wars, appear in the paintings by Simonida Rajčević as fragments, metonymic images and relationships through which a logical connection is established with the anguish of the modern man in global neo-colonial capitalism. The body of the homo economicus of today, which systemically produces itself, is moved by bright fluorescent colours, historical narratives of suffering, and its own vulnerability in the world in which it lives alienated. Paused at the moment of twitch, this dominant body of today becomes an aggressive means manipulated and controlled by pain. What has also originated from this universal coding of pain is the global society of today, which exploits, punishes, and dehumanises, and also consistently performs violence over everything that deviates from its perfect and uniform image of the world. In other words, the disintegrated structure of the wakening and reassembling body also speaks of the fact that our global civilisation has always been and still is Eurocentric, white, Christian, and patriarchal. Built and disciplined through repeated renewal of violence, this civilisation indicates to us the impossibility of eliminating what is a basic, social and politically structured human affect – pain.
This exhibition also contains an oversized sculpture of Bruce Lee’s fists of fury, which point to the ambient transgression of the two-dimensional space of a painting, as well as to a push beyond its meaning through the fiction of ultimate strength and uncompromising fight. In a position somewhat different from the one in the painting, these arms are placed at zero degree of both attack and defence. Identification with these arms is possible from any position because victory over the ultimate evil is never brought into question, which makes both attack and defence allowed. Still, it is clear that this iconic figure of Bruce Lee was too created within a sphere of popular culture, built, like those before it, by the same structural mechanisms of the colonising, that is, globalising world.
Transferring or delegating one’s own satisfaction with victory over violence onto fiction, mass culture, or objects, speaks of the interpassive experience of freedom, which is in fact fake, as is the pain with which we identify before the very act of winning. Embodied sensuality, the state of vulnerability, and the feeling of pain are in this way prey to the interpassive experience of the world, which in this case is aware of its fakeness. In this awareness, however, there is the new aesthetic potential looming in the paintings which depict parts of the tortured human and animal bodies. If we can imagine this potential, following Rosi Braidotti, a hybrid figuration of a completely different monstrous body will appear before us, a body which in its continuous vulnerability, exhaustion, and oppression still gives resistance and fights for the birth of a new materialistic cartography of a better world. The question that this exhibition leaves us with is: Can we even imagine this world with a different and from the global man’s perspective “monstrous” body, which goes beyond the globally existing archetypes of today’s civilisation to offer us some other and perhaps real emotions?
Dr Jelena Petrovic
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Hi Peggy
Simonida Rajcevic (1974) is a Belgrade-based artist and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts. In the past two decades she has been an important voice in Serbian contemporary art. Her work will make you think and make you feel more than you expected, it’s the type of art you have to look at for a long time so that you can soak in all the layers, and you’ll come out with more questions than answers. Her range of references and a unique take she has on them is precisely what makes her art so appealing. It doesn’t matter if you respond to Giotto or Patti Smith, Simonida Rajcevic is both at the same time – a combination that’s hard to find, yet easy to appreciate.
Hi Simonida! To start our conversation, how would you introduce your approach to painting for our readers? How did you find your way to painting as the main means of your artistic expression?
My first exhibition was an installation, only then I started painting. In the beginning it seemed like installation will be my domain. However, I soon realized that themes and circumstances will be the deciding factors for the medium I’ll use to create something. Painting is perhaps not my main form of expression but that’s something that I’ve been coming back to, time and time again, and something that I am doing right now. It’s something quite old-fashioned, in a way an antiquated representation of themes with color and drawing. Adding atmosphere and magic in that frozen space both calms us and fills us with joy.
Our journal is meant to bring contemporary art closer to consumers who are not necessarily art critics or experts. Many of them see contemporary art as either too political or too abstract, in both cases – not easily approachable. How do you want viewers to approach your art? What’s the “key” to unlock Simonida Rajcevic’s worldview?
The invitation to simply look silently already logically makes us think. It immediately introduces associations and comparisons with what is already known, it creates curiosity and parallels with reality. Paintings were always either mirrors of reality that they served, or they attempted to resist it and rebel against it. Contemporary art sometimes appears as less available or hermetic, but these are only new ways for artists to speak and say something about what preoccupies them, what interests or worries them, what they feel is of general importance, even when it seems to be quite intimate. (Personal is, as we know, political.)
I’m interested in opening other people’s perceptions on all possible levels – from personal to abstract. It’s something that gives us new possibilities to enjoy art but more than that, to think differently about different issues.
Your series of paintings Strange Waves (2016) is particularly interesting to me as a viewer/consumer. What immediately draws attention is the contrast between the well-defined human form and almost abstract landscapes they inhabit. There is something lonely and almost anxiety provoking in the way these bodies interact with their environment. Can you tell me about your choice to confront your protagonists with these strange spaces?
The whole idea of that exhibition is to explore the sense of passivity and helplessness of individuals in society, of bodies that are both exposed and sensitive, as well as the possibility to use those feelings to turn them into their opposites. Human transcendence and overcoming, being surrounded by abstract landscapes against which the body seems small and vulnerable, especially considering the format it’s set in. It’s an inclusive and safe space, but on the other hand it’s also no man’s land, a two-dimensional surface with limits and encounters of space and volume. We are not quite sure what to think about the uneasy and at the same time elevated position of the small human body. I am excited and attracted by this combination, especially the palette made for these images – earthy, cold and powder-like at the same time. It creates a sense of short-lasting tranquility.
Human body seems to be the source of endless fascination for much of contemporary art, and yours is no exception. Over the years, though, you seem to approach it from so many different perspectives that range from religious to sexual and almost anatomically objective, but never overtly political or vulgar. To paraphrase Kundera, your art, like a good novel, asks questions and doesn’t provide answers. You don’t seem to go for the shock value even when you depict explicitly sexual scenes and when shock would be an easy effect to achieve.
Art that shocks has about 50% chance of being good, like any other kind of art. Shock is only interesting because of the topic, the narrative and the questions that are sometimes more easily opened and communicated to audiences through shock. If this kind of art is multilayered and questions important to many, then it speaks our language. However, to create relevant art, shock is not necessary and the same way it can help ask questions more directly, it can also harm art, if it’s disconnected from authentic and real topics.
Shock is not easy to do nowadays because it’s assumed and expected, so producing shock can be contrary to the very intention to shock.
Visual language is quite different from text or music which also directly reach audiences and their intellect and/or emotions. Visual language requires several levels of understanding and also knowledge about art, it asks viewers to know the past and used references, it’s always contextual.
My nature and character are not prone to shock, so that was never my interest. I always thought that I have to create works that I can really connect to and be satisfied with, both aesthetically and ethically. Yes, you are completely right when you say that my art asks questions but doesn’t assume or tries to give answers.
As far as the body is concerned, it’s an eternal inspiration of so many artists. It’s not possible to avoid it, because in creating art we can’t avoid ourselves, both the human exterior as well as the interior. It’s equally an obsession of scientists and artists, it’s a question for every individual, every community. It’s a question of mental health, politics, association, power, powerlessness, subjection/oppression, exaltation and freedom. That’s what our bodies are: our presence, our beauty, the wonder, our mind, awareness, our progress as a species, convictions, religion, spirituality… our rises and falls, our hard-wired fear of death, disappearance and being forgotten. The body is both a mirror of all that and the conduit for all these topics.
In my view, you seem to build your work like a spiral that becomes more abstract as it unfolds. When we look at The First Cut (2014) it seems to be thematically related to your installation The Chain (2014), and both of these are similar to Strange Waves (2016) insofar as they explore a set of common contrasts, such as people and how they interact with their surroundings, nature vs society, man vs animals, etc. Do you see these works as connected and if so, was it a conscious decision to explore these topics in different mediums, at different levels of abstraction and from different aesthetic points of view?
This is such a comprehensive question and my honest answer to all of it is: yes.
I had the idea to connect all these themes and make a series of exhibitions using different mediums: digital sculpture, sound, paper drawings and paintings. The themes emerge from one another and they include all that you’ve mentioned. I tried to make my execution as direct as possible without creating artificial space between the audience and the work by creating art that is too abstract. Exhibitions we are talking about have powerful narratives and they are exactly what narratives speak of. Their abstract aspects that you talk about are there only to open the doors of perception to both the audiences and me, to convey something that’s not easy to put into words and to set the narrative free from becoming concrete and banal. They really are built as a spiral that always puts man in the center, and around the center there is a vortex from which inseparable parts of human existence emerge.
Contemporary art that doesn’t contain a performative element but merely uses materials and slightly old-fashioned forms seems hermetic, elitist and unapproachable. Even though I greatly admire performance art, my artistic interests weren’t expressible in that medium, so I had to look for different modes of expression with each new idea, so that I can communicate as directly as possible. Space and medium are always my starting points and parts of the language I speak. On the other hand, directness and even comprehensibility are only partially important in art. The most important part is transcendence, everything that’s on the other side, that goes beyond our ability to understand, that which brings us into the deep field of feeling and individualistic thinking – that’s what makes the artwork full and complete. The new world that it creates is precisely why we like art, why we are sometimes afraid of it and why it sometimes repels us. The point of misunderstanding and rejection is at the same time a possibly point of connection.
As is probably obvious by now, I see a lot of unity and thoughtfulness in your work, but that may be only in the eyes of this beholder. How do you typically start a painting or a series of paintings? Your works contain such a wealth of references and direct quotes from Sarah Kane to Patti Smith. Where do you find your topics and how do you make your aesthetic choices?
Other artists that I admire are often my inspiration and sources of themes in my art. I often use the method of appropriation, meaning that I use techniques or elements from already known works to create something new that refers to the original work but also offers other levels of understanding, connections and interpretations.
I also make works that take symbolic representations, objects or elements of my own private life to create new worlds and contexts that seemingly don’t refer to anything we’ve seen before. This game helps me to open new fields of my own thinking and creation, because it wipes boundaries and brings us all together in dialogue.
You also teach at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade. How do you approach teaching creative expression and how do you feel about directions young artists are taking?
I have amazing students who are trying and giving their best every day to create their own voices and space for their art. It’s the only thing that an art professor can try to provide: enough interest and investment in the other, willingness to fight fears and prejudice, support for whatever the student is doing to make his/her own space, and private support to these young people as they are growing up, form their worldviews, experience disappointments and go through difficult periods.
The truest way to describe what I do is to say that I provide support and gentle direction. I try use my experience to help them to jump over or avoid some unnecessary obstacles that our society and the world put in front of them. My students need to take space for themselves, but also time and attention, to be noticed and to speak what they feel the need to speak about.
They have to find new ways to think objectively about themselves and their position in society, to think about their career path after graduation, to perfect their craft, to travel to places they know little about. All their ideas need to find ways to externalize themselves and we work on finding these ways together. It’s the aspect of community, that we are not alone. I am there for them, but they are also there for me. Even if that’s not always visible. I think that still, after 20 years I most sincerely enjoy working as a professor.
Some of the most prominent and most original contemporary artistic voices in Serbia are female. Historically as well, some of the country’s most prominent artists were women, such as Katarina Ivanovic, Milena Pavlovic Barili, Olga Jevrić, and perhaps most famous of all Marina Abramović. In a country often seen as patriarchal this seems like an interesting phenomenon and even a departure from the “boys’ club” norm of the international art scene that is only now being seriously questioned. In your opinion, how important is gender as an issue on the Serbian cultural scene?
Artists in Serbia are pretty invisible because very little money is invested in arts. That makes female artists even more invisible. Other than the money provided by the government, the art market is almost nonexistent. Because of the wars in our recent past and different political upheavals over the years, standards have changed and fallen – what’s left is worry for mere existence. On the other hand, those that have gotten reach during the war years and after 2000 are still worried for their position in politics and society and aren’t ready to invest their money in something as vague and indeterminate, something that’s neither supported nor promoted.
Gender is secondary in this sense. It’s important to understand that there is very little visibility and serious promotion of contemporary artistic production in Serbia and it’s mainly based on efforts of individual artists without support from the state and without funds. Artists are their own managers and they are increasing their visibility and form their own prices on the so called market that has no clear shape that such a market would need to have so that buyers too understand what is it that they are buying when they are buying a work of art.
It’s quite possible that the “boy’s club” does this better through association with the state and politics, but I find this topic too boring to get into, because whatever they’re doing, they are doing it individually to promote and sell their work. Whatever the efforts may be, they are made by individuals and they are not systemic.
Because women artists are already insignificant in this entire sea of irrelevance, they are maybe freer to come forth and swim in these murky waters. The stakes for them are so low, failure is something they’re already contemplating, they are aware of their position in society and they know that they are unprotected - from the basic things like family violence and murder, all the way to their professional lives. Being aware of this makes you braver, having in mind Nietzsche’s quote that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Women in arts are now strong, the time of horror and insecurity is their time, it’s what they’ve been living with their whole lives, since the first time they’re coming home after dark, on foot, penniless from their first youthful going out.
Once all these above-mentioned collateral circumstances are changed, only then it will be clearer where women stand in the arts in Serbia. Until then, I have the impression that all Serbian artists, men and women alike, try to stick together around a kind of socialist utopia of equality and common fight.
Vladimir Miletic,HiPeggy.com
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Strange Waves: Actualizing and Politicizing Non-Participation
An interdisciplinary approach to fine arts, developed within cultural studies, privileges models of interpretation where the focus is not on the work of art itself, i.e. on its formal and stylistic features, but rather on the social functions it is likely to perform, on the lifestyle of its author and on his/her position in the art world. Nevertheless, when we talk about painting as an art form, it can still be said that the level of artistic achievement is directly proportional to the author’s capacity to create a link between the ontological characteristics of a painting (What? How?) and the phenomena the painting represents and questions (Why?).
The cycle of paintings Strange Waves by Simonida Rajčević can be described as a formal actualization of an internal questioning. It is a display of an intimate inventory performed and encapsulated by a vulnerable human being who is interacting with its environment. The surrounding environment is rendered as abstraction: there are no familiar and recognizable references to the real world. In the midst of abstract elements arises a lone figure of a conquered male nude. This composition, repeated more or less consistently in the whole cycle of large format paintings (200x150cm), brings about an atmosphere of strangeness and remoteness, as if the figure were disconnected from its own reality. Rather than representing the world as it is, the paintings express the artist’s personal point of view on the world dominated by alienation. By turning an abstract environment into an external mirror of her inner self, Simonida Rajčević gives in to the absence of reality.
The non-existence of any social context, replaced here by abstract elements and by the atmosphere they generate, can be understood as a way to politicize non-participation. It is precisely this atmosphere of voluntary non-participation that the author uses to define the canvas as our field of perception and to give us the measure of the world within our grasp. The paintings are not constructed around the interplay of the male nude with others, around socialization or mutual interaction; on the contrary, the others are conspicuous by their absence. The artist thus demonstrates her discontent with prevailing attitudes and practices. Instead of introducing other figures into her paintings, she uses color to infuse conceptual meaning into the cycle, enlarging or reducing our horizon of expectations from one painting to the next. Our fragmentary visual perception of colors and textures surrounding the lone figure enhances the feeling that his non-participation is a political act, a form of resistance to alienation. And, in the eyes of the artist, alienation is a condition reflected by a low degree of integration or common values: Strange Waves make it abundantly clear.
When compared to her previous work, this new cycle of paintings reaffirms Simonda Rajčević’s tendency towards the monumental (cf. her exhibition The First Cut at the Salon of the Serbian Museum of Contemporary Art, 2014) and her predilection for drawing (ch. her exhibition The Dark Star at the Zvono Gallery, 2014). The color palette, however, represents a novelty in her artistic practice: reduced mostly to cool and earthy shades, it relies on subtle variations of tone and hue to achieve visual differentiation. The color is used in such a way that it does not only create a distinct atmosphere; it also constitutes an object in itself or, rather, an element of the fragmented abstract environment.
The interplay of figurative and abstract features in each painting politicizes non-participation in an effort to avoid vulnerability. While the sole nude figure could be interpreted as a visual actualization of helplessness, rage and underlying fear, the artist resorts to abstraction in order to repudiate the world as it is and to offer her vision of hard-core resistance to alienation as an alternate possibility.
Maja Ciric, PhD, Independent Curator
Translation: Jelena Dobricic
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Art as Critical Process. Bodies Outside of Forest
Oppositions nature and culture, body and spirit, freedom (of choice) and necessity, life and death, carry one of the keys for understanding only some layers of meaning in the new works of Simonida Rajcevic. The new art project includes big format drawings put up in interaction with ambient-light-sound installation that, although executed in another medium, actually represents expansion of syntax and completes and concludes the whole conceptually. The very title "The First Cut" carries fascination and possibility of multiple interpretations , while in its basic meaning this expression stands in almost paradoxical contrast with the formal characteristics of the exhibition.
Nature / Culture
Thick, swampy, liana-covered impenetrable forests are the starting point for the journey of Jim White, who, in an old Chevrolet with a trunk from which protrudes a plaster statue of Christ, through a series of stories and testimonies, drives through the American South, in the documentary film Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus. Going through a forest can be seen here as the process of initiation, the site of passage, of symbolic abatement of distance between Nature and Culture.
It is preciselyforest the anticipation of Nature in the new project of Simonida Rajcevic, forest observed in the sense of figure, sense of nature, and not a physical given. Here forest is thought of as structure that represents a model constructed according to reality, but differs substantially from this reality.
In the frameworks of linguistic-philosophic-anthropological paradigm, according to Lvi-Strauss , structure has features of a system composed out of series of elements that are interactively connected, so that a change in any of the elements leads to modification of all others. This tendency towards systematization, classification and polarization of experiences into groups of opposites, is one of the characteristics of man's cognitive processes. Thus, in the capacity of methodological instrument, we introduce the notion of opposition into interpretations of structure, in order to signify two units that are mutually exclusive and at the same time complement, and as a basic example of this kind of theoretic discourse appear Nature and Culture. Jacques Lacan adopts this traditionally anthropological opposition, interpreting culture as symbolic order, as a network that structures our reality, a realm that divides the human being from other animals .
One of the major problem points in the artistic practice of Simonida Rajcevic presents a complex critical project of demystification, with the goal of asking questions and considering the elements that constitute models of fundamental natural, social and cultural relationships. Among other things, the author points to homology between social groups and natural species, as two systems of differences between which there exists formal analogy. Her works deal with what, as four fundamental items, is formulated by Dutch scientist Nikolaas Tinbergen: exploration of cause-and-effect relations, functions, development and evolution, in order to explain functioning models of different systems. In this sense, Simonida Rajcevic's project can be seen as a kind of ethological study; her work, from the positions of contemporary artistic-theoretical platform, treats the relationships between individuals and between species, deals with examination of influence mechanisms of external and internal factors, as well as examination of mutual connections between the behaviors of being and nature.
Walk through Fictional Forests
With her new cycle of works Simonida Rajcevic introduces the spectator into dwelling in forest, but only at first glance. Everything on these drawings is make-believe, fictional, false, the forest, the animals and the people alike. The reality is mediated through several layers of filtering, the artist uses the tactics of intervention, she produces a new reality by way of triple transfer procedure (figurine - photograph - drawing), and each new level reinterprets the status of the previous. In this new context, the imaginary order it creates, everything becomes subject to laws of entropy, it is not possible to tell the difference between fiction and reality, the both states are modified and mutually intertwined. In accordance with this, the category of time is also modified, it apparently does not have even flow any more, it accelerates and condenses more and more, so it is no longer possible to see the big picture, but a series of segments, and this through mediator, through a kind of membrane that changes and distorts the picture of the real. It is a strategy with which the author considers the reality indirectly, through the eye of the camera, and it is only on the basis of photography as transporter that we generate a notion of something. Produced mechanically, this portrayal is a modified, transposed picture of reality, different from what could have remained recorded in memory in the course of direct observation.
Men / Animals
The artist potentiates the possible forms of relations between individuals or groups by confronting two groups of works. The depictions are constructed in a unique way, in a specific setting, outside the forest a figure is placed in the central position, but in one whole animal appears as primary, while in another it is man. Putting them in separate spaces, but in a related context, the artist emphasizes the possible referential networks of relationships between subjects of nature and subjects of society. Animals are presented in diminutives (little sheep, little donkey, little pig), as small, they seem gentle, uncorrupted, as not yet mature, in the phase of the young, which arouse the desire in man to take care of them. On the other hand, the artist immerges these reinterpreted animals into a paradoxical situation, they have lost their identity, they remain disoriented. At first sight these images appear as idealized scenes, until as a complete antagonism we are met with the introduced notion of destruction, of meaningless, pointless subjugation, a feeling of anxiety, nausea, considering that we find these animals hanged in the forest. We can wonder whether the artist gives the animal an ambivalent role of mediating identity, whether the animal here is a field of reflection, a being like us.If these beings are a picture of us, are they punished for something, or is the violence over them merely an expression of power, an expression of aggression of superior beings.
Animate / Inanimate
Only when we approach the drawings, on second view, a multitude of signs, beings, letters that populate this world come into the field of vision from peripheral zones, as a series of codes that open multiple levels of possible interpretations. With this procedure, the author adds layers to her work, appending the image with sensory connotations, like the sense of smell, sound, temperature, while the next level of meaning is constituted out of variations of emotional states, like tranquility, dreams, love, pain, fear. Even the forest itself is no longer a representation, a depiction, a physical object that should remain neutral. In these works Simonida Rajcevic refers to animism, a term developed by Edward Tylor as an anthropological construct, according to which there is no division between the spiritual and the physical. This approach departs from the discourse of Cartesian dichotomy that spirit and matter, subject and object, culture and nature, are absolutely heterogeneous substances. With ironic detachment, the artist toys with the notion that forest, mountains, rivers, animals, wind, rain, the whole nature and all its numerous derivations, are perceived as spiritual entities. She reexamines the thesis of animism that instead of focusing on the individual, a being realizes its essence only in interaction with others, opens a question of entanglement of identities, of whether individual is formed by way of installation into appropriate social models, sexual, political, religious, aesthetic or any other, and whether derailments are possible after all.
Figure of Forest
Here forest is perceived in the sense of what Michel Foucault points to when he speaks of spaces outside of any concrete location, which represent the other in relation to what they reflect, made of "actual arrangements that are at the same time presented, challenged and reversed" . In the project "The First Cut", forest can be defined by Foucault's term of heterotopia, as a space present in reality, but outside of any concrete location, an anomaly in the dominant order. This is a real place in which several mutually non-connectible spaces are confronted, connected with segments of time, a system that can be both open and closed, isolated and traversable. (Heterotopias) have a role to create a space of illusion that disfigures anew all the illusoriness of the real world, all these displacements within which the human life is partitioned .
In Simonida Rajcevic's drawings, in this constructed reality, the other place, precise positioning in time and space is no longer possible, it is necessary to create new ways of accepting this kind of fictional reality. In the majority of works, we have presentation of forest/nature from which all traces of industrialization, urbanization and history have been carefully removed, but still we are aware that forest/nature here represents the field where Culture affects Nature. Here man is given in dichotomy, as a receiver and transmitter of natural forces, but also as a figure representative of symbolic order. Likewise, this is a place of social interspace, individual action, in which meanings are closely related to questions of identity, which is no longer a strictly defined or unrepeatable construction, but displaced from social-cultural stereotypes.
The author treats forest as the other, as something not belonging to society. If we have in mind that Lacan locates the female principle outside of symbolic order, that "woman does not exist", the artist creates analogy between the notions Forest and Woman, treating them as spaces of digression that function outside of common norms. The problematic starting point of Simonida Rajcevic's works is an assumption that the very minute a being sets foot in the Forest, it becomes a rebel, someone who opposes laws, an outcast, someone who leaves the boundaries of social and acceptable norms, and accedes into invisible space, a place outside of society, a field that society does not recognize.
Picture-Screen
The majority of scenes in Simonida Rajcevic's drawings take place on some kind of stage, with the forest in the background, against which are placed figures of (domestic) animals, which, by logic, shouldn't belong there, on the background like a plate of ice or glass in front of which the figures are placed, or we find human figures in calm, ascetic meditative positions. All scenes look like they are "arranged", the bodies are outside of the forest, they are here like they are posing, transposed into a constructed reality they inhabit the symbolic field.
This undefined space in front of the forest, functions as the border of the world, a space outside of known, an interspace. The representation is constituted as a screen, a circumscribed space, a reflecting surface, which on the other hand presupposes man standing outside of this space, the one who looks, the observer who at the same time becomes caught by the look of the figure from the representation. This look in which we are caught Lacan calls the screen, a place where two looks overlap becomes picture-screen. The relationship between the viewer and the scene, in the words of Jacqueline Rose conveyed by Tamar Garb, is always "a relationship of fracture, of partial identification, of pleasure and distrust" .
In these drawings there occurs a specific consideration of space, the angle of observation is placed low, from the view of man looking at them, so the tree tops are high, obstructed from view, they do not enter the field of vision. Also, the figure placed in the center dominates the space and by this it seems that it obstructs, hides and prohibits "entrance" into the forest. This subjective look and double obstruction can be observed in accordance to an interpretation of Branka Arsic, who in the chapter "Hidden Connections and Secrets", while discussing the oppositional metaphor that is always ambiguous, cites forest as a metaphor for multiplicity of natural things. "Forest is, likewise, a metaphor for darkness and delusion, because the trees in a huge forest hide the way towards truth, like each tree hides the whole of the forest; but forest is also a metaphor for light and truth. "
Tree / Rhizome
The project "The First Cut" can provisionally be divided into several wholes, and one of the groups is constituted out of the polyptych "The First Cut 5". In this work, which functions as an allegorical depiction, the same character is shown by the process of repetition, but in different activities, a young athletic man (mythical hero, with a sword/stick in his hand), whose phenomenal form is in total opposition with his activity. Like a reflection in a double mirror, the figure doubles and infinitely multiplies, and by this repetition of one and the same, like a pattern, the effect of aggression is intensified. When observed in a series, like on an antique frieze, these moving bodies live in virtual circular time, in some kind of circular stream of consciousness. Forest/nature is given as a place of production of tensions, with his activity, in the illusion of power, control, man becomes a matrix, a clone, which fades more and more through multiplication, vanishes, dematerializes. In an attempt to subjugate nature, he destroys entire systems, in fact destroying himself.
The works of Simonida Rajcevic point to possible aspects of development of interaction between the two systems. Today's society is, as Nikola Dedic interprets the theses of Slavoj Zizek, "society after Nature and Tradition: a postmodern system of neoliberal capitalism cannot any longer count on inexhaustibility of nature as the source of all human activities" . In this sense the artist poses a question whether the triad man-nature-economy is still possible, how much longer can last the appropriation of nature as a resource for the production of culture, and whether at some moment Nature will strike back. In the work "The First Cut 6", where an autobus stuck in the forest decays forgotten, is gradually being disintegrated, rendered senseless, the author directly emphasizes the binary system of opposites as a paradigm of possible projection of the future, of taking over Nature's primacy over Culture.
According to Jacques Derrida, the dualism Nature / Culture represents one of the fundamental philosophical categories, an interpretation according to which the world is organized on oppositions is a characteristic of Western theoretical discourse . In the introductory chapter of the book "A Thousand Plateaus", Gilles Deleuze and Flix Guattari give a critique of the binary model of thinking, and introduce a notion of rhizome that should signify an open, non-hierarchical structuring. Tree with its root, an example of dualistic system, tree as a picture of the world, a metaphor of knowledge in traditional Western civilization, is substituted by Deleuze and Guattari with the concept of rhizome, an underground trunk that produces numerous sprouts in unpredictable directions. Rhizome is a conceptual metaphor, a model that implies multiplicity, the principle of heterogeneousness, and is not subjected to centralized control or structure. According to Mikhail Epstein , Deleuze and Guattari talk about the post-historic landscape as of desolate nature without trees, with low, intertwined, rhizomatic vegetation. This is why Epstein, like he has in mind exactly the drawing "The First Cut 1", gives a suggestion of a third model that would unite the both previous philosophical concepts:
For example, without excluding trees from post-historic landscape, we can also imagine a possibility of liana-like structures, which encase the trees one by one, with lacelike, undulating, harmonious lines, diagonally cutting the vertical of trees and the horizontal of branches, both descending and ascending. Even observed aesthetically, tropical forest, enveloped in lines, seems like a model of "rich diversity" and some more complex affluence, than it is weeds .
The exhibition "The First Cut" follows and in a way ensues from the previous project, but it is realized in an entirely different manner. Shifts exist in the formal plan, but conceptual and methodological continuity can be perceived throughout the project. The new work is realized as a research and critical consideration of nature, borders, possibilities and results. We are dealing with subtle drawings, in which it seems that the line is merely emerging from the surface, one gets the impression that they are disappearing, they are almost completely filled, and yet transparent, fragile, almost translucent. This accomplishes a transition into space that does not belong either to the real or the truth, a passage into curved space (Baudrillard), in which occurs replacement of the real with its signifiers. Revealing, formalizing and strategic use of groups of codes create the semantic multilayerdness of these drawings. The work of Simonida Rajcevic exists exactly in this semantic interspace, asks questions, creates reflection on reality and fiction, truth and simulation.
Zaklina Ratkovic, curator of Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade
Translation: Marko Mladenovic
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Simonida Rajcevic, Chain
A JOURNEY INTO THE UNKNOWN
What is your first thought when you hear the word "chain"? Examples can range from everyday objects to abstract relationships in the living world as represented by symbols. Somewhere in the middle runs the narrative of the art exhibition Chain by Simonida Rajcevic, new works presented in the G12 HUB Gallery in Belgrade as part of the new Resonate media festival. Seeking to avoid hyperproduction and repetition, it seems that the artist was looking for challenge in this new undertaking, for a different way of expression and a well thought-out approach to engaging in new matter (conceptually and materially). Chain is that latest venture and experiment.
The exhibition consists of three sculptural installations that form a multimedia ambient ensemble. Three different animals - a bull, ravens and a horse - are executed in life size by 3-D printing technique and coated in shiny black. The sculptures imitate the animal figures, albeit deviating from naturalism through stylisation and a blurring of detail, which add to the impression that they are models. Each of the animals could be associated with a story, viewed as an element unto itself or in correlation with the others. Entering the gallery, the visitor comes across a bull on a spit. The bull is one of the oldest documented images in cave paintings, used mainly as a beast of burden, as food and for reproduction. The meat of the ox - the sterilised bull - is a staple in our cuisine where the meat of domestic animals (pork, lamb, calf, poultry and horse meat), game and, more recently, ostrich, is highly prized on the finest tables.
To the left and right of the bull are two groups of identical ravens (30), perched on scaffolding. This segment of the exhibition has a strong element of intertextuality, with animation and prose quotations. The raven, as one of the most intelligent birds, has a rich life in mythology, but occupies a sinister niche in popular imagination as a vulture and a herald of death. Projections in the form of video-mapping of the baby deer Bambi and the bird Woodstock across both flocks of ravens stand in sharp contrast, in a childishly macabre, morbidly surrealistic ensemble that emulates something like the Death Dance (Totentanz). They are rounded off by a form that most resembles video games for the 3rd generation consoles (8 bits). The entire composition is complemented with quotations from Knut Hamsun's novel Under The Autumn Star inscribed on the stands under each raven, describing wanderings across rural Norway, the delights of wildlife and searching for peace of mind in nature.
The last artefact is a recumbent horse on the floor of a separate room. The horse lies in a pose that is ambiguous: it could be sleeping, as horses can sleep both standing and lying down, or it could be dead. In the words of the artist herself, this work was inspired by Lars von Triers' film Melancholy, specifically the scene when John dies, as well as by numerous paintings of horses by Theodore Gericault. The whole space is enveloped in experimental ambient music written by Manja Ristic.
The arrangement of the exhibition and the works themselves provide an immediate insight into all the three entities, whose combinatorics and interpretation could take us in several directions. The name of the exhibition - Chain - can make us think of the physical object and its wide use, but also its figurative meanings - from unity and force to the deprivation of freedom. As an object, it can be associated with two of the animals represented - the bull and the horse - with their millennia-long history of domestication by man. The chain is here an important link in the handling and use of both animals, a tool for their subjugation. It can also be understood as a kind of dependence on man who, while physically absent, remains an intrinsic notional element of the exhibition. Playing on the term food chain, and considering that all the three animals depend on or are largely under the influence (both direct and indirect) of the all-present Man, one could even say it is a chain of relations. Reflecting on relations between humans and non-human animals gives food for thought and clues for understanding this exhibition.
CONTINUITY
Drawing some parallels with other contemporary artists can shed some light on the use of animals through the media of sculpture. In her installations and sculpture, Jane Alexander combines likenesses of animals and humans, unequivocally speaking about the concepts "animal" and "human" in post-colonial African societies. Cai Guo-Qiang (Heritage, The Allegory of 99 Wolves) and Karen Knorr, on the other hand, use sculptures that are literal replicas of the animals whose arrangement and presence transform space, removing it from the commonplace. Katharina Fritsch, with her monochrome sculptures of animals (Elephant, Rat King, Cock) plays with their appearance, making them either natural in size or larger-than-life, and using a wealth of iconography and even the expectations of viewers as component parts of her works. Compared with these examples, the works of Simonida Rajcevic rely on monochromatics, on the use of "original" models close to the nature, stressing their value as artefacts, rather than reproductions. Also, through intertextuality and the absence of man in the content, she opens up room for the viewer's own reflections.
Bearing in mind the black colour of the sculptures and the tridimensional medium of the installation, it is possible to draw another comparison - with the artist's own first solo exhibition, The Last Survivor of the Nostromo (1995), and her sculpture The Alien. If we try to find similarities between The Alien and the three animals, we will come back to ourselves as a point of reference. In relation to the subject (non-human in this case), through the mental process of searching for similarities and differences, we develop an awareness of ourselves and our apartness, of individuality and the distinctive features of our own species. Through a process of differentiation, we establish a relationship that can range from the general to the specific, from We-Them to a more personal I-You. This approach could be equally important to establishing a relation not only to the animal world, but also to very different ("exotic" and "remote") cultures and peoples, and even to creatures from the worlds of fantasy and science fiction.
THE QUESTION OF ANIMALS
Self-critical science recognised long ago that we are anthropocentric in our treatment of the world we live in. The shift of focus from God (out of this world) to Man from the times of the Renaissance in the Western world, and the flourishing of mainly natural sciences over the past two centuries have also strengthened our awareness of the biosphere, i.e. the space of the Earth that is inhabited by all living creatures. There are ever more voices advocating biocentrism - a more ecologically aware centrism that upsets man's privileged role. However, it also places on humans a greater responsibility for the chain of relations, the causes and effects, and leads to reflection on other forms of life with which we share our living space. Viewed through this prism, it appears that the sculptures of the bull, the ravens and the horse at the Chain exhibition go beyond the visual and direct us to a factor that is not embodied - Man.
Human perception of animals may take a panoply of forms and the artist herself emphasises that a major inspiration for these works was Vanessa Lem's book "Nietzsche and The Philosophy of Animality". A mighty part of the Western philosophical and religious tradition considered man as a "rational animal" whose reason and soul distinguished him from other animals. This created a yawning gap between Us and Them. Nietzche's view in the aforesaid book was that this rift related in fact to a confrontation between civilisation and culture, wherein he believed culture to be an agent establishing a link with nature and animals, i.e. the world of the "unaware". Consequently, this psychological connection stretches to the nature around us and inside us, through the animality that is a counterbalance to reason. It also criticises man for believing himself to be far above animals, ever so civilised, whatever he might be doing in the name of reason and progress, while failing to accept a part of his own nature. Nietzsche's example is just one of many attempts to decentralise Man and reconcile him with the animal world.
The shaping of knowledge about and attitude to animals is dictated by our socio-historical context and the prevailing paradigm, i.e. the premises and rules we take for granted. What is frequently overlooked is that paradigms are subject to constant change. History also shows that one and the same animal may be accepted by humans or not, with a defined role in mythology, daily life, worldview and attributes (even a character) in various eras, cultures, time and communities. Consequently, the same species may have a different - even the opposite - status: from sacred animal and partner to a "tool" or vermin. In fact, we cannot avoid viewing animals through the prism of deep-rooted beliefs: as metaphors, (status) symbols, protagonists in stories, superstition, myths, etc., which is widely reflected in all the arts. Adding to this is the massive contemporary production of fairy tales and children's books drawing their roots from Aesop's fables, along with the animation movies and series, mascots and toys, all with animals in prominent roles. Here we should be cautious, because animals undergo a major transformation from their natural state. First of all, through numerous narratives, we face the fact that man talks about his own society through animals that resemble humans and imitate them (in speech, behaviour, habits, appearance, etc.) - this is called anthropomorphism. The opposite procedure, called zoomorphism, is to describe human behaviour using "animal" epithets. In both cases, there is a departure from "real" animals, and they both involve interpretation and judgement.
The sculptures in Chain are no slave to either of the said morphisms, but they do adopt something that is characteristic of generalisation found in visual arts. To facilitate empathy and rapport with the viewer, they often resort to stylisation and a generalisation of the protagonists. A detailed depiction promotes the perception that this someone is unique and special, and the viewer reacts as to a photograph; with characters whose facial features are simplified we get only a framework - they do not resemble us, but are simple enough for us to accept them as imaginary vehicles of the story. Bambi, as a popular character of a story and the equally popular Walt Disney production, and Woodstock, a character from a comic strip and the animated series Peanuts /The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show are additionally simplified through a pixelation of the original characters. They are projected across both flocks of ravens, adding a new layer of narrative. The horse, the bull and the ravens have a certain stylisation that follows the underlying naturalism, but avoids detail. They are thus immediately recognisable while giving the impression that they depict species, rather than individual animals. In a way, they represent models, as toy animals do. The artifice is emphasised by the fact that the ravens have no feet, but a stand underneath them, and that all 30 were cast in the same mould.
REFLECTION
An important view of this exhibition is the reflection of the public. For instance, looking at the sculpture of the recumbent horse, we could easily believe, even if only for a moment, the deception of the artistic transformation and accept that we are not looking at an artefact, but at real matter; in other words, establish a relationship with the object of representation. Thus, the very "reading" of the exhibition becomes different in relation to the viewer, which raises the question: what kind of contact do we have with each of these three animals in our life? Whether we rely on the indirect kind of contact, through documentaries and TV series, news articles, comics, stories, myths, animation, etc, or direct, personal contact, our predetermined knowledge places these animals in certain roles. Will we have more empathy for the animal that is the most downtrodden? Or the most useful one? The one most present in our environment? Maybe the one of which we know the least? Or the one that is the closest to us, the one that actually tells us the most about ourselves?
Srdjan Tunic
Art historian, independent custodian
March 2014
Translation by Simonida Stosic
Chain _irons_ .....
From dynamic works filled with gesture and quotes which, whether they compel us to stamp on the pictures or prepare a stand, suck the viewer into the urban world of intense experience, Simonida Rajcevic, with the exhibition Lanac (Chain), makes an excursion into a new artistic experiment.
The world of immobile animals, made to perfection in modelled and processed forms, imposes distance. It compels us to move away and think, and even lash out, making our reception move in the opposite direction to the normal process of the artist. The Chain exhibition has no gestures of random motifs. It establishes cold control over its symbols, form and means of expression.
The whole concept of the exhibition testifies that this is about the need to establish control over our own experience, about the subtle inner game of the artist within the framework of which various artistic principles struggle for supremacy. At the very entrance to the gallery we are faced with the mastered power of a bull. Lust, passion, pain, power, conflict and struggle are tamed in the computer algorithm of CNC machines for precision molding forms. The bull is sacrificed. The volume of the body is highlighted, coated with a coating of high black gloss, skewered, but with almost grotesque dignity, as though surrendering without a fight rose it to a mythical symbol whose only purpose is to bear witness to the conquered beauty and power of another world.
And there, at the border of our world and hers, the world of the viewer and the artist, stands a flock of identical ravens. Precisely programmed to ideal proportions, and then serially replicated, the raven introduces us to a world of Baudrillar's domain of hyperreality. And right there on the bird, like a messenger of the death of the real bird, play digital images of Bambi and Snoopy's companion, the little bird called Woodstock.
When Jannis Kounellis, one of the prominent representatives of the Arte Povera movement, strapped 12 live horses to the walls of a gallery in Rome in 1969, it was a radical act of redefining the notion of the object of art that forms the assumption of intuition. So although our artist, at the very end of the exhibition, faces the perfect form of the mythical Arion, her artistic process is stubbornly instinctive. With suggestive symbolic sculptures , seductive digital interventions and specially composed sound, Manje Ristic deliberately directs the instincts of the viewer and provokes conflict reality and hyper-reality, animal and human, live and inanimate, history and myth. Even when using a mimetic process of the work of a machine, when formally investigating contemporary digital phenomena, when the viewer does not pull in her own image but pushes it into herself, Simonida Rajcevic, remains true to her artistic temperament. With her own resources, reduced forms but also the actual content of the exhibition, she provides a unique and totally authentic contribution to the consideration of topics that launch festivals like Resonate .
By Milica Pekic
Translation by Mark Pullen
Human activities: Helpless
More than half a century ago, American pop artist Robert Rauschenberg presented one of his first works in the mode of combines: a life-size bed compressed into a work of art ("The Bed", 1955). In what can be described as his reaction to the then prevailing abstract expressionism, Rauschenberg adopted a twofold approach: on the one hand, he started integrating objects from everyday life into works of art, i.e. installations (a procd soon to become a major characteristic of pop art); on the other hand, he confronted the intimate world of the artist's personal space head on, without any attempt at abstraction or mystification.
With her new cycle of drawings (2010-2012), executed on white bed linen sheets, Simonida Rajcevic also distances herself from expressionism. In her case, the departure is made from what used to be a recognizable feature of her own individual style rather than a general artistic trend. The cycle Human activities: Helpless is realistic in form, with some drawings even leaning towards photographic hyperrealism. Accessibility thus takes precedence over expressiveness in Rajcevic's work. In presenting her subject matter, the artist gives priority to clarity and intelligibility. When considered in isolation, the form of the drawings has no purpose other than to serve as a simple means to convey a narrative. This, at least, is what the shift in style towards (hyper)realism seems to suggest.
What, then, is the narrative laid out before us? Face to face with Human activities: Helpless, we are drawn into a world of intense intimacy and high-voltage emotional charge. When we realize that the white bed sheets had been slept on before they were handed over to the artist to serve as a surface for her drawings, the poignant privacy of the themes represented strikes an even deeper chord.
While used in one context only to be relocated into a different one, in the process of artistic creation the sheets do not become dissociated from their original purpose. Unlike Rauschenberg's combines, Rajcevic's drawings are not framed and hung on a wall. They form an integral part of an installation, operating in a self-created environment of their own. Spread across a mattress, laid against a wall, the bedding remains firmly associated with the bed, both literally and metaphorically. The twin bed - a place of intimacy, comfort, love, dreams and vulnerability - thus becomes a palpable incarnation of mental images projected by the people who slept in it. The artist combines drawing, text and music to materialize their dreams, stories and fears. References to film, painting, literary narratives, abstract concepts, personal homages and family pictures all intervene to recreate the intimate experience of everyday life as reflected on the white bed linen sheets.
Thematically, Rajcevic's representations of intimacy inevitably revolve around two centers of emotional refuge: the family in childhood and the couple in adulthood. However, the relative simplicity of this premise is not left unquestioned. A homage to the British artist Richard Billingham - a drawing depicting his parents - brings ambiguity to the very notion of intimacy, forcing us to ponder on the scope of human relationships and the borderline between the public and the private. The concept of the bed as a personal refuge is further compromised by looming conflicts. Guerilla fighters from the film Apocalypse now point their guns at the spectator as a living menace (and perhaps as a symbol of our contemporary obsession with terrorism?). Whether imaginary or real, they threaten to breach the inviolable privacy of the bed as a personal space and undermine the sense of soothing security associated with it.
The past intertwines with the present as old narratives demonstrate their vitality by reappearing in new shapes and forms. The Medea we know from Antiquity is reinterpreted in modern terms with references to Lars von Trier's and Paolo Pasolini's films, while Jason and the Argonauts seem to have transformed into Marvel superheroes: Silver Surfer, Superman and Batman. Similarly, Aesop's fable about the "boy who cried wolf" reemerges through the verses of Patti Smith's eponymous song dedicated to Kurt Cobain.
Animals are yet another theme frequently touched upon within the installation. Their presence is partly inspired by Dante's Hell and Milton's Paradise Lost. Within this referential framework, iconic animals operate as mirror images of men. Sinners must confront their crimes when making their descent into Hell; so must we confront our bestiality when put face to face with Ancient and Christian allegories of the lion, the panther and the she-wolf. But, in the privacy of the twin bed, the animal side of men is not reduced to bestiality and primal instincts alone. The allegorical images of the horse, man's oldest companion, are reminiscent of a life in harmony with nature. This intimate dream of paradise lost stands in stark contrast to the accompanying "soundtrack" drawings. Niko's Behind the Iron Curtain and Patti Smith's Radio Ethiopia are there to remind us of the social realities intruding once again into the private world of the people dreaming in their bed.
Regardless of the shift from expressionism to (hyper)realism, there is a formal continuity in Simonida Rajcevic's work. The white marker coloring set against the background of black garbage bags in her previous installation, The Dark Star, finds its negative in Human Activities: Helpless with its predominantly dark grey coloring executed on white bed linen sheets in graphite pencil, marker and fabric paint. There is a parallel to be drawn with the visual identity of the English band Bauhaus (black) and its successors, Tones on Tail/Love and Rockets (white). The artist uses the two contrasting colors - or, rather, the two non-colors - to set off an interplay of opposites with its timeless symbolic value.
Another point of continuity in Simonida Rajcevic's work is the blending of visual elements - image and text - with music: this is a constant and recognizable feature of all her installations. Here, the visual representation of the childhood family portrait is textually accompanied by Milena Markovic's poem "The Lullaby", complemented in turn by a "mute" soundtrack, i.e. a reproduction of the LP cover for David Bowie's album Aladdin Sane. With the installation Human Activities: Helpless, the Romantic idea - and the Romantic ideal - of synesthesia are reinterpreted with both subtlety and vigor. The artist's subjective experience of intimacy finds its palpable and poignant materialization in twin bed sheets infused with pictures, words and music, all intertwined in a symbolic embrace of art and everyday life.
Srdan Tunic
Art historian and Curator
Translated and adapted by Jelena Dobricic
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Jun 2010, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
A JOURNY THROUH THE NIGHT
Pictures on Bin Liners: Simonida Rajčević in the Gallery Perpétuel
Not exactly the shabbiest company that came together here: John Keats, for example, Lord Byron or William Blake, Rimbaud, Sylvia Plath or Dylan Thomas, with their seductive, glowingly gloomy verses, songs by Kurt Cobain, Nick Cave and Depeche Mode, over and over again, and here and there Sarah Kane, too: "No one can know what the night is like." Dark Star, as is the title of Simonida Rajcevics installation that fills the whole exhibition space with drawings, represents nothing less than a journey through the centuries to the romantic, sometimes somberly romantic, nocturnal side of modernity. It is being shown in the Gallery Perptuel in Frankfurt (Oppenheimestrae 39).
The Belgrade-born artist (1974) treats the genuine inner attitude with the same earnestness as she does the vain pose. In her drawings, made with oil markers on dark grey bin liners, she blends existing pictures and her own, along with relevant textual fragments: she fuses pop and poetry, sex and drugs and rock'n'roll and iconic works from art history. A reminiscence of Duchamp's Fountain next to a portrait of Michael Jackson, an allusion to Blake's Demiurge, as well as pictures from porn magazines. One may call it daring, bold or even, polemically, name it a pose in itself, one that likes to use clichs. But it works anyway.
Not so much because all the talk of juvenile romanticism is immediately cast into doubt by the fact that quite a few of the poets, painters and musicians depicted here are stars on the artistic firmament who burnt out too early. Also not only because the more one progresses on this journey through the night, the harder it is to get out of ones head Rilke's verses that resonate in this space. As if they had been written for this room, for the souls redeemed as well as for the souls lost: "They chose florescency, / and flowers are beautiful; / we chose maturing, / and that means effort and obscurity."
It is mostly because Rajcevic, with these hundred or so swiftly sketched pieces, mostly done in white on a dark grey surface, with occasional spells of glowing red, presents herself as a supreme draughtswoman who skilfully plays with texts and images, genres and styles and is in full command of her tools. Never mind that not every single one of these "feuilles" could exist for itself alone: it is as a space in which the trivial stands next to Rilke's or Rimbaud's verses, Cortney Love next to Gottfried Benn, landscapes next to portraits, graffiti next to still life-like arrangements that this Dark Star, dense, drowned in gloomy light and glittering from there all the more seductively, exerts its astonishingly suggestive power.
Christoph Schtte
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Juni 2010, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
REISE DURCH DIE NACHT
MLLTTENBILDER : SIMONIDA RAJCEVIC BEI PERPTUEL
Es sind nicht die Schlechtesten, die sich hier ein Stelldichein geben. Jonh Keats etwa, Lord Byron oder William Blake, Rimbaud, Sylvia Plath oder auch Dylan Thomas mit ihren so verfhrerischen, glhend dunklen Versen. Songs von Kurt Cobain, Nick Cave und immer wieder Depeche Mode und ein uns andere Mal auch Sarah Cane : No one can know what the night is like. Dunkler Stern, so der Titel der installativen, den ganzen Raum mit ihren Zeichnungen fllenden Arbeit Simonida Rajcevics, ist den auch genau das : eine Jahrhunderte durchmessende Reise auf die romantisehe, mitunter Schwarz-romantische Nachtseite der Moderne. Zu sehen ist die Sehau derzeit in der Frankfurter Galerie Perpetuel (Oppenheimer Strase 39).
Dabei nimmt die 1974 in Belgrad geborene Knstlerin die innere Haltung geradeso ernst vie die eitle Pose und mixt in ihren mit lstift auf dunkelgrauen Mllscken entstandenen Zeichnungen vorgefundene mit eigenen Bildern und einschlgigen Textfragmenten, Pop mit Lyrik, Sex und Drugs und Rock`n` Roll mit ikonographischen Bildern der Kunstgeschichte. Eine Reminiszenz an Duchamps Fontaine findet sich ebenso wie ein Portrt von Michael Jackson, eine Paraphrase auf Blakes Schpfergott geradeso wie Abbildungen aus Pornomagazinen. Das knnte man abenteuerlich, verwegen oder gleich selbst polemisch eine Pose nennen, die sich bevorzugt des Klischees bedient. Und doch, es funktioniert.
Weniger, weil das Wissen darum, das eine ganze Reihe der hier auftretenden Dichter, Maler, Musiker zu den frh verglhten Sternen am Knstlerfirmament gehrt, die Rede von einer habituellen juvenilen Romantik sogleich erheblich relativiert. Nicht allein auch, weil einem, je weiter man vorankommt auf dieser Reise durch die Nacht, Rilkes Verse einfach nicht mehr aus dem Kopf gehen, die hier einen Resonanzraum finden. Beinahe, als seien sie fur diesen Ort, fr die geretteten gerade vie fr die verlorenen Seelen dieses Pantheons geschrieben :Sie woltten blhn, / und blhn ist schn sein, / doch wir wollen reifen / und das heit dunkel sein / und sich bemhn.
Vor allem aber prsentiert sich Rajcevic mit diesen vielleicht 100 schnell hingeworfenen, meist in Wei auf dunklem Grau mit gelegentlichen, rot glhenden Akzenten ausgefhrten Arbeiten jenseits aller romantischen Implikationen als souverne, mit Text und Bild, Genres und Stilen spielende Zeichnerin, die ihre Mittel virtuos beherrseht. Dass nicht jedes dieser Bltter fr sich allein bestehen knntesei`s drum. Als Raum aber, vo Triviales neben Rilkes oder Rimbauds Verse zu stehen kommt, Courtney Love neben Gottfried Benn, Landschaften neben Portrts, Graffiti und stillebenartige Kompositionen, als Raum verfgt dieser dichte, in dsteres Licht getauchte und dort um sehr viel mehr verfhrerisch funkelnde Dunkle Stern ber eine erstaunlich suggestive Kraft.
CHRISTOPH SCHTTE
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Simonida Rajcevic is an artist from Belgrade her show, the Dark Star, is on at the Zvono Gallery, closing on April 25th
THE POWER AND WARMTH OF AN ARTIST'S DEVOTION
Interview by Zorica Kojic
Because of her show currently on at the Zvono gallery, the Dark Star, the world of Rock 'n Roll is in debt to Simonida Rajcevic. So is the city of Belgrade, as her show has lured to Belgrade an entire constellation of stars of the popular culture, scattered across the world and across epochs, such as Miss Patti Smith, who also happens to be one of the artist's major sources of inspiration.Let there be no mistake about it: Patti Smith put in an appearance for the show's opening night on Monday 5 April on Visnjic Street. Their meeting seems to have resembled that between Patti Smith herself and her own idol Bob Dylan, described in her by now famous 1976 Rolling Stone interview. Miracles do happen every now and then.
The people portrayed in the show are a mixture of persons important to me in my private life, those I admire although I see them every day, as well as a number of Rock 'n Roll icons and well-known artists. Assembled here are portraits of River Phoenix, Olivera Katarina, Dash Snow, Milena Markovic, Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, Traci Emin, Oleg Novkovic, Karl Marx, Gilles Deleuze, Sonja Vukicevic, Courtney Love, and Sarah Kane. Also featured are quotes by Hole, Rimbaud, Byron, the Streets, Patti Smith, Walt Whitman, Alan Ginsberg, Bukowsky, William Blake, Sinnead o'Connor, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams...
Surely, just as special are the way in which you made your drawings, the materials you used, the multiplicity of possible viewing angles and the way the show can be perceived by the public using their sensory apparatus (not limited to its optical aspect)?
This work is an installation that creates an environment. It comprises a large number of drawings in oil marker pen on plastic and rubber. These are hardly textbook drawing materials, so perhaps the public will find it more interesting to go and experience it for themselves, rather than for me to describe it.
The show has a kind of soundtrack too, right?
That's right. It is an audio work by Minja Ristic and Ivana Kadelburg specially made for this show. It is 57 minutes long and features quotations in four different languages, as well as original music by some of Europe's most talented bands doing experimental and improvisational musical performance and musical quotes from Rock 'n Roll classics.
Patti Smith came to see your show, this is already a well-known fact. I suppose that must be quite a unique experience for an artist like you, particularly if one bears in mind the fact that her image appears in your show at least twice. What was it like when you met? Did she perhaps give you any piece of advice regarding art or life generally during the show's opening last Monday?
My friends had been busy for days trying to keep me from finding out that Patti Smith would be coming to my opening night. She had seen my work before and liked it. I spent an hour doing my best not to feel dizzy and trying to pull myself together enough to at least articulate properly. That is more or less what our meeting was like. The advice I got is quite private, so I would prefer to keep it to myself, but it is so valuable to me that I think I'll use it as a mantra each night before I fall asleep. What is fit for public use is that the great lady of Rock n' Roll told me she was happy to be there, not only because she liked the installation and praised Minja Ristic's audio in particular, but also because she felt a special atmosphere, something she called a mixture of power, warmth, artistic devotion, and family closeness, all things which, as she said, make a work like this successful, visible, and powerful. Credit for this goes to my friends, the team that helped with the technical aspects of the installation, my gallerists, and the people who attended the opening. To paraphrase briefly: This powerful community of people that you have created allows the power and sound of this work to emerge and reach out to other people.
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Quelle: Serbische Tageszeitung Danas, Kulturrubrik
Kraft und Wrme knstlerischer Hingabe
Die Ausstellung "Dunkler Stern" der belgrader Knstlerin Simonida Rajcevic luft in der Galerie Zvono bis zum 25. April
Simonida Rajcevic verpflichtete den Welt-RocknRoll mit ihrer aktuellen Ausstellung "Dunkler Stern" in der Galerie Zvono, und dann verpflichtete sie auch Belgrad, indem sie ganze Sterngalaxien der Populrkultur dorthin angezogen hat, die weltweit und in allen lngst verwehten und modernsten Zeiten zerstreut sind, unter ihnen auch Patti Smith als eine ihrer grundlegenden Inspirationen. Um Missverstndnisse zu vermeiden, Smith war wirklich bei der Ausstellungserffnung am Montag, den 5. April, in der Vinjiceva Strae anwesend. Ihre Begegnung scheint durchaus derjenigen von Patti Smith und ihrem groen Idol Bob Dylan hnlich gewesen zu sein, die im Interview fr die bekannte Zeitschrift Rolling Stone 1976 verffentlicht wurde. Wunder passieren nun eben manchmal.
- Die ausgesuchten Persnlichkeiten sind eine Mischung von Portraits der Personen aus meinem Privatleben, die ich bewundere, obwohl ich sie jeden Tag zu Gesicht bekomme, sowie auch RocknRoll Ikonen und bekannten Knstlern. Folgende Portraits sind vorzufinden: River Phoenix, Olivera Katarina, Desh Snow, Milena Markovic, Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, Tracey Emin, Oleg Novakovic, Karl Marx, Gill Deles, Sonja Vukicevic, Courtney Love, Sarah Kane, wie auch Zitate von der Band Hole, Rimbaud, Byron, The Streets, Patti Smith, Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsberg, Bukowski, William Blake, Sinead O`Connor, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams...
Die Art und Weise auf die Sie ihre Zeichnungen angefertigt haben, die ausgesuchten Materialien und eine besondere Qualitt der mglichen Beobachtungsperspektiven von seitens des Publikums mit ihren Sinnen - nicht nur optischen - sind auch zweifellos besonders?
Die Arbeit ist eine Rauminstallation, die aus einer groen Anzahl von Zeichnungen besteht, die mit Permanentmarkern auf Plastik und Gummi angefertigt wurden. Abgesehen davon, dass es sich um kein klassisches Zeichenmaterial handelt, wre es vielleicht fr das Publikum interessanter, es sich selbst anzuschauen und zu erleben als meine eigene Beschreibung.
Die Ausstellung hat auch ihr eigenes eigenartiges Soundtrack?
Das stimmt, das ist die Audioarbeit von Manja Ristic und Ivan Kadelburg, die speziell fr diese Ausstellung gemacht wurde. Die Arbeit dauert 57 Minuten und besteht aus Textzitaten in vier Sprachen, sowie der Autormusik von so mancher der begabtesten europischen Bands, die sich mit experimentellem und improvisatorischem Musikperforming befassen und aus Zitaten von Songtexten bekannter RocknRoll Songs.
Es ist nun schon allgemein bekannt, dass ihre Ausstellung auch Patti Smith besucht hat, was fr eine Knstlerin wie sie es sind, vermute ich, eine einmalige Erfahrung ist, vor allem wenn man daran denkt, dass man ihrem Gesicht bei dieser Gelegenheit mindestens zwei Mal begegnet - wie sah eure Begegnung aus und was fr Lebens- und Knstlertipps hat sie Ihnen bei der Erffnung am Montag mitgegeben?
Meine Freunde haben Tage lang daran gearbeitet vor mir zu verheimlichen, dass Patti Smith meine Ausstellung besuchen wird, da sie meine Arbeiten schon gesehen hatte und diese ihr gefallen haben. Ich habe eine Stunde lang versucht, das Gleichgewicht zu halten und mir Mhe gegeben mich soweit zusammenzureissen, um artikuliert reden zu knnen. So sah mehr oder weniger unsere Begegnung aus. Die Ratschlge, die ich von ihr bekam sind ziemlich privat, deswegen mchte ich jetzt nicht darber reden, aber ich denke, dass ich sie immer vor dem Schlafengehen wiederholen muss, sie sind fr mich von groer Bedeutung. Fr die ffentlichkeit wre z.B., dass mir die groe RocknRoll-Lady gesagt hat, dass es sie freut diese Ausstellung zu besuchen, sowohl weil ihr die Installation und die Audioarbeit von Manja Ristic die sie besonders lobte, gefallen haben, als auch deswegen weil sie die auerordentlich besondere Stimmung sprte, die sie als Mischung von Kraft, Wrme, knstlerischer Widmung und familirer Gemeinsamkeit bezeichnete, und welche ihren Worten nach eben das gewisse Etwas ist, was eine Arbeit erfolgreich, offensichtlich und kraftvoll erscheinen lsst. All das habe ich meinen Freunden, dem Team welches allein an der technischen Realisierung dieser Ausstellung arbeitete, meinen Galeristen, und den Menschen, die sich bei der Erffnung versammelt haben, zu verdanken. Kurz gesagt, ich paraphrasiere: " Diese kraftvolle Gemeinschaft von Leuten, die ihr versammelt habt, fhren dazu, dass die Kraft und der Klang der Arbeit viele andere Menschen berhrt.
Zorica Kojic im Gesprch mit Simonida Rajcevic
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DON'T GIVE UP, PATTI SMITH TOLD ME
Famous American singer Patti Smith turned up at Simonida Rajcevic's exhibition. What she didn't know was that she would find her portrait there, as well as quotes from her own songs.
I did not know the famous Patti Smith would come to the opening night of my show. It was a surprise organised by my friends Milena Markovic, Oleg Novkovic, Ljuba Bozovic, and others. Patti Smith spent some days in Belgrade for private reasons, as Ralph Fiennes happens to be shooting a movie here just now, and she is friends with his wife. - says Simonida Rajcevic, the artists behind the Dark Star, a show that opened at Belgrade's Zvono Gallery on 4 April.
The surprise had been days in the making. Simonida's friends, one of whom work on the set of Ralph Fiennes' film Coriolanus, decided to send the famous American singer some catalogues of Simonida's previous exhibitions, hoping that that might prompt her to go and see the new show.
They were keeping me in the dark for days. Whenever I was at the gallery, someone would stay back with me to stall me, while someone else just nipped over to my place to get something. What they really did was to get all of my old catalogues and take them to the movie set. They say it was touch-and-go, all done in a hurry, and my friend Ljuba, who works on the set, had to come down from a scaffold to take delivery.
When I saw Patti at the opening, at first I was paralysed, but then I felt an enormous excitement.- says Rajcevic.
As some of the drawing feature Patti Smith and quotes from her songs, Simonida thoughts her friends were the ones in store for a surprise, whereas it turned out exactly the other way around. The interesting thing is, prior to the opening night, no one really knew what exactly the exhibited works would be about.
Patti Smith spent about an hour viewing the show. She closely studied the drawings in white marker pen on black bin liners covering the gallery walls from floor to ceiling.
Once she had seen everything, she pulled the artists to one side and told her what she liked best.
Simonida says she mentioned three specific drawings, but she cannot remember which ones because she was simply too excited.
At one point, people started vying for her attention, having their photo taken, while I tried to apologise to her for all the brouhaha. I was awfully confused, and I think I started stammering. Patti Smith told me she was used to situations like those: they are part and parcel of her work. She told me that had to be my work too and proposed that we have our picture taken. She gave me several pieces of advice about my art which I would prefer to keep to myself. What I can say is she told me to persist, to never give up, because life is long. She also said she felt an atmosphere of unity at the Zvono show. She particularly liked Minja Ristic's audio work which could be heard in the background throughout. - Simonida points out.
Her drawings feature portraits of people from her intimate circle, famous persons, and Rock stars who in different ways marked her teenage, her early adulthood, and her art. The left wall features a portrait of Patti Smith, and the ceiling another of the rock star and her close friend, the famous photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, when they were young. Mapplethorpe died of AIDS.
She was really moved when she saw that drawing. - adds Simonida Rajcevic (born 1974), who teaches at Belgrade's Visual Arts Faculty.
The portrait of our well-known playwright Milena Markovic sports a quotation from the well-known song Gloria.
Milena and I had been singing and reinventing that song in both English and Serbian in hundreds of different ways for days before the show. It was as if we had somehow conjured up what eventually happened. - says the artist.
One of the groups of drawings is dedicated to works by other artists across the ages such as Marcel Duchamp's pissoir, and toilet bowl, as well as similar works by Sarah Lucas. They are joined by Frances Bacon who puts in an appearance with another work featuring the toilet bowl: the one on which his friend died the night before one of Bacon's openings. Also shown are details from the movie I Even Met Happy Gypsies which Simonida claims played an important role in her life.
Simonida Rajcevic's Dark Star is a gloomy universe peopled by persons, art, literature and music icons, whose lives were marked by tragedy.
Patti Smith is one of those too, as she saw her husband, brother, and best friend all die within a year. Keeping her company at the show are Dash Snow, as well as Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain while they were still in love.
Once the curtain falls on the Zvono Gallery exhibition, the Dark Star will be shown to German audiences.
Marija Djordjevic
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Gib nicht auf, sagte mir Patti Smith
Bei der Ausstellungserffnung von Simonida Rajcevic erschien die bekannte Sngerin Patti Smith persnlich, ohne zu wissen, dass sie in der Galerie ihr Portrait und Zitate aus ihren Songtexten vorfinden wird.
Ich hatte keine Ahnung, dass auch die berhmte Patti Smith zu meiner Ausstellungserffnung kommen wird. Das war eine berraschng, die meine Freunde Milena Markovic, Oleg Novkovic, Ljuba Boovic und andere vorbereitet haben. Patti Smith war ein paar Tage privat in Belgrad, weil sie mit der Frau von Ralf Feins, der hier einen Film dreht, befreundet ist - sagt die Knstlerin Simonida Rajcevic, Autorin der Ausstellung "Dunkler Stern", die am 4. April in der belgrader Galerie Zvono erffnet wurde.
Die berraschung wurde tagelang vorbereitet. Simonidas Freunde, von den einer mit dem Team aus Feinses Film "Coriolan" zusammenarbeitet, beschlossen der berhmten amerikanischen Sngerin, Patti Smith, Simonidas Kataloge der frheren Ausstellungen mitzubringen, um sie zu motivieren die Ausstellung zu besuchen.
- Sie haben mich die ganze Zeit abgelenkt. Whrend ich in der Galerie war, blieb immer jemand mit mir da, um mich aufzuhalten, der andere ging dann zu mir nach Hause, um angeblich etwas zu holen. Dabei haben sie mir alle Kataloge genommen und sie zu den Filmaufnahmen gebracht. Sie sagen, dass die Luft dort ziemlich dick war, und hektisch war es wohl auch, so dass mein Freund Ljuba, der am Film mitarbeitet, die Aufnahmen verlie, um die Kataloge zu bernehmen. Als ich bei der Erffnung dann Patti pltzlich sah, dachte ich, mich trifft der Schlag, dann aber war ich so aufgeregt - sagt Simonida Rajcevic.
Abgesehen davon, dass auf ein paar Zeichnungen gerade Patti Smith erscheint sowie auch Teile aus ihren Songtexten, war Simonidas Absicht ihre Freunde zu berraschen, dabei wurde es nun anders herum. Ebenfalls interessant ist, dass vor der Ausstellung keiner genau wusste, was die Thematik der ausgestellten Arbeiten sein wird. Patti Smith hielt sich ungefhr eine Stunde in der Ausstellung auf. Sie schaute sich die Zeichnungen an, die mit weiem Permanentmarker auf schwarzen Nylontten realisiert wurden, und mit den der ganze Raum der Galerie beklebt war. Als sie die Arbeiten gesehen hatte, nahm sie unsere Knstlerin zur Seite und sagte ihr, was ihr am besten gefalle.
Simonida sagt, dass sie 3 Arbeiten erwhnt hatte, aber dass sie sich vor lauter Aufregung nicht merken konnte, welche es waren.
- Danach haben die Leute angefangen sie hin und her zu ziehen, um Fotos mit ihr zu machen, und ich habe mich bei ihr deswegen die ganze Zeit entschuldigt. Ich war ziemlich durcheinander, ich glaube sogar gestottert zu haben. Patti Smith sagte mir hingegen, dass sie solche Situationen gewohnt ist, und dies auch ein Teil ihrer Arbeit ist. Sie sagte mir, dass das auch meine Arbeit sein soll, und schlug vor, uns fotografieren zu lassen. Sie gab mir ein paar Tipps bezglich meiner Kunst, ich wrde jetzt ungern ffentlich darber reden. Aber ich kann sagen, dass sie mir riet, am Ball zu bleiben, nicht aufzugeben, weil das Leben lang ist. Sie sagte ebenfalls, dass sie bei der Ausstellungserffnung in der Galerie Zvono die Atmosphre der Gemeinsamkeit sprte. Vor allem gefiel ihr die Audioarbeit von Manja Ristic, die die ganze Zeit im Hintergrund lief - betont Simonida.
Auf den Zeichnungen unserer Knstlerin befinden sich Portraits aus ihrer intimen Umgebung, dann bekannte Persnlichkeiten, Rockstars, die auf mehrere Weisen ihr Erwachsenwerden, ihr Reifen und ihre Kunst gekennzeichnet haben. Auf der linken Wand befinden sich die Portraits von Patti Smith, und auf der Decke ist die Abbildung der Rocksngerin mit ihrem Busenfreund, dem berhmten Robert Mapplethorpe als sie noch jung waren. Mapplethorpe starb an den Folgen der Aids-Krankheit.
- Patti Smith war sehr berhrt als sie diese Zeichnung sah - fgt Simonida Rajcevic (1974) hinzu, die als Dozentin an der Akademie fr bildende Kunst in Belgrad arbeitet.
Ein Zitat aus dem bekannten Lied "Gloria" ist auf dem Portrait unserer bekannten Theaterschriftstellerin Milena Markovic ausgeschrieben.
- Als ob wir dieses Ereignis herbeirufen wollten, haben Milena und ich Wochen lang vor der Ausstellung "Gloria" auf verschiedene Weisen gesungen - sagt die Knstlerin.
Eine Gruppe der Zeichnugen sind den Arbeiten aus der Kunstgeschichte gewidmet worden, wie z.B. Duchamps Pisoir und seine Toilettenschssel, sowie auch hnliche Arbeiten von Sarah Lucas. Zu finden ist auch Francis Bacon mit einer Arbeit auf der ebenfalls das Motiv der Toilettenschssel erscheint, auf der sein Freund kurz vor seiner Ausstellungserffung starb. Gezeigt wurden auch Details aus dem Film I even met happy gypsies (Ich traf sogar glckliche Zigeuner), der 1967 den Groen Preis der Jury beim Filmfestival in Cannes erhielt. Der Film, so Simonida Rajcevic, spielte eine wichtige Rolle in ihrem Leben.
"Dunkler Stern" von Simonida Rajcevic ist ein trauriges Universum, das aus Persnlichkeiten, Kunst-, Literatur-, und Musikikonen besteht, deren Leben mit Tragik gekennzeichnet waren.
Patti Smith ist auch eine von ihnen, abgesehen davon, dass sie im Laufe nur eines Jahres ihren Ehemann, den Bruder und besten Freund verloren hat. Zu finden sind auch Dash Snow oder Courtney Love und Kurt Cobain aus den Zeiten als sie noch glcklich verliebt waren.
Nach der Ausstellung in der Galerie Zvono wird der "Dunkle Stern" dem Publikum in Deutschland vorgestellt werden.
Marija Djordjevic
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THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE
Simonida Rajcevic: Installation Dark Star;
Audio by Manja Ristic and Ivana Kaldenburg;
Zvono Gallery
Simonida RAJCEVIC (Belgrade, 1972) obtained her MA under Momcilo Antonovic in 1999. She has taught at the FLU since 2000. So far, she has had a total of nine one-man shows, two of them abroad, in Erfurt and Milano. This is the 6th time she is exhibiting her work in Zvono Gallery.
Her most recent work,The Dark Star, is an installation made up of 150 drawings. The show focuses on the human figure drawn in white marker pen on black bin liners covering the gallery walls. Each drawing is accompanied by a short text which the artist uses to highlight a particular moment in her life. The gallery floor too is covered in black rubber sporting other drawings in marker pen. By entering the gallery, the viewer enters the work itself, his footsteps leaving a mark. The installation is accompanied by footage of phantasmagoric sounds and words.
Assessment: Simonida creates a direct interaction with the audience, which is the objective of every installation. She uses her own words, as well as quotes by Sarah Kane, such as Moments like this never last or You indulge in this state of desperate senselessness, to underline the subject of her work: the tragic sense of life. The dark backdrop connotes anxiety, while the star is the artist herself, her energy materialising in her drawings as a mark of her presence on earth, her presence in the galaxy. The contrast between the universal nature of the subject matter and the transient nature of the plastic bin liners is deliberate: upon leaving the gallery, the viewer cannot help but ponder the question of transience, one of life's crucial issues.
Post scriptum: Simonida's messages are definitely explicit, but they are still a far cry from the New Nihilism espoused by Sarah Kane on the stage. The brutality of Kane's work is designed to shock the public, whereas Simonida's encourages contemplation. What makes the work of both artists meaningful is that their art emanates from life itself. And as for life itself, there is hope!
Milena Marjanovic, Art Historian
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Serbische Tageszeitung Blic, Kulturrubrik
Autor: Milena Marjanović, Kunsthistorikerin
Das tragische Gefhl des Lebens
Simonida Rajcevic: Installation "Dunkler Stern"; Audio-Arbeit: Marija Ristic und Ivan Kaldenburg; Galerie Zvono Belgrad
Simonida Rajcevic (Belgrad, 1974) hat ihr Magisterstudium in der Klasse von Momcilo Antonovic 1999 absolviert. Ab dem Jahr 2000 unterrichtet sie an der Akademie fr bildende Kunst in Belgrad. Bis jetzt hatte sie neun Einzelausstellungen, davon zwei im Ausland, in Erfurt und Mailand. Dies ist ihre sechste Ausstellung in der Galerie "Zvono".
Die neueste Arbeit "Dunkler Stern" ist eine Installation bestehend aus 150 Zeichnungen. Im Vordergrund steht die mit weien Permanentmarkern auf schwarzen Nylontten gezeichnete menschliche Figur, die die Wnde der Galerie bedeckt. Jede Zeichnung ist vom kurzen Text begleitet, mit dem die Knstlerin auf einen Augenblick aus ihrem Leben hinweist. Selbst der Boden der Galerie ist ein schwarzer mit Permanentmarkern bemalter Gummiboden. Indem der Besucher den Fu in die Galerie setzt, betritt er die Arbeit und hinterlsst schreitend seine eigenen Spuren darauf. Die Installation wird von einer Aufnahme phantasmagorischer Klnge und Wrter verfolgt.
Note: Simonida verwirklicht eine direkte Interaktion mit dem Publikum, was das Ziel einer jeden Installation ist. Ihre Zitate und die geborgten von Sarah Kane wie z.B. Augenblicke wie dieser sind nie von Dauer oder Du erlaubst dir diesen Zustand gnadenloser Sinnlosigkeit..., verstrken das Thema der Arbeit: das tragische Gefhl des Lebens. Der schwarze Hintergrund ist ein Hinweis auf die Schwermtigkeit, der Stern ist sie selbst, d.h ihre Energie, die sie durch die Zeichnung als eigene Anwesenheit auf Erden, bzw. in der Galaxie festhlt. Der Kontrast zwischen der Universalitt des Theams und der Vergnglichkeit des Nylons ist absichtlich, weil der Besucher nach dem Verlassen der Galerie und der in ihr aufgestellten Installation mit von wesentlichen Lebensfragen besessen wird.
Post Scriptum: Simonida ist in ihren Botschaften explizit, jedoch ist sie vom sogenannten Neu-Nihilismus den die Kane im Theater zum Ausdruck brachte, weit entfernt. Sarahs Werke schockierten die ffentlichkeit mit ihrer Brutalitt, Simonidas fordern zum Nachdenken heraus. Bei beiden ist die Kunst die Quelle des Lebens und deswegen macht sie Sinn. Und das Leben? - hat Hoffnung!
Milena Marjanovic, Kunsthistorikerin
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SMASHING TABOOS
Simonida Rajcevic's extraordinary energy is again at work. Following the trail of the Dark Star, she has turned the space of the Zvono gallery into a muralled Orthodox church or Dubuffet's cave, filling every single centimetre of the available space with images. Instead of mosaics, the floor is covered with images painted on black bin liners: the kind used to deposit garbage into containers, but not just into containers. Instead of being primed for a fresco cycle, the walls and ceiling are also draped in bin liners. Likewise, the depicted scenes are hardly those illustrating the Saviour's life. Instead, we see images of earthly love, suffering, death, and sexual taboos being smashed... Unlike the kind of fresco cycles found in medieval monasteries, these images follow no pre-established narrative sequence. It is a powerful blast that partakes of both creation and extinction in equal measure. It has always been there since her earliest works, but the dynamic of the conflagration itself has changed. The Wall of Serpents has now been replaced by the Dark Star, the sequence of events careening into chaos.
More specifically: the conflagration rate is rising, but, much like the Bible's flame-proof olive tree, nothing is devoured by the flames. Everything is red hot and ablaze, but nothing is destroyed. Even the martyrs, over forty of them, or perhaps fewer, not that it matters, are consumed by this flame that rises from the soul, but does not burn the body. A white marker on a dark background, with no more than the occasional highlight in colour, adds a finishing touch to this deliberate environment. There is nothing random about the artist's choice of darkness: it didn't just come out of nowhere. It has always been there, sheltered deep in Simonida Rajcevic's world of sensations. It strikes one as a paradox that what is going on in this endless tunnel, amid all this blackness and darkness, is in actual fact a celebration of joy and pleasure, love and passion, fire and darkness. This is no mean feat: it takes a lot of empathy and sincerity to shrug off the anxiety and to simply say whether this is a good thing, or bad. It is from the innermost recess of darkness that the artist celebrates the light emanating from inside. Her procedure as a painter makes the whole thing viable and convincing: the drawings betray a steady hand, while the scenes are well thought out and executed with a sense of measure (the word measure not to be taken in too literal a sense, though).
Vasilije B. Sujic
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Das Brechen der Tabus
Ungewhnliche Energie von Simonida Rajcevic ist wieder am Werk. In der Galerie Zvono sucht sie den "Dunklen Stern", im Raum den sie in eine bemalte orthodox-christliche Kirche oder in Dubufe Hhle verwandelte, indem sie jeden freien Milimeter des Raumes ausfllte. Der Boden ist kein Mosaik. Er besteht aus bemalten dunklen Abfallbeuteln die in einem Mllcontainer enden sollten, aber eben nicht nur im Mllcontainer. Die Wnde und die Decke sind von dunklen Mlltten, anstatt vom Freskenmrtel bedeckt. Die Szenen auf ihnen sind keine kirchlichen, etwa die aus dem Leben Christi oder anderer Zyklen, sondern Darstellungen der irdischen Liebe, des Kummers, des Todes und des Sex-Tabubrechens nach dem drei Punkte folgen: ... Es besteht keine durchkalkulierte Reihenfolge wie diejenige die fr die Klster des Mittelalters spezifisch ist. Dies ist ein Urknall, der gleichzeitig die Entstehung als auch der Untergang ist, und dies passiert in ihrem gesammten Opus, von den ersten Auffhrungen bis heute. Nur diese gewisse Verbrennungskraft ist anders. Die frhere Installation "Schlangenwand" ist durch den "Dunklen Stern" ausgewechselt worden, d.h. die Reihenfolge des Vorgangs neigt tendenziell eher zum Chaos. Um genauer zu sein: Die Verbrennungskraft wchst, es glht, aber es vernichtet nicht. Und ihre Mrtyrer, die es mehr als 40 gibt, oder gar weniger, was auch unwichtig ist, verbrennen in dieser Flamme, die aus der Seele hervorquillt, aber der Krper wird dabei nicht verbrannt. Der weie Filzstift auf dunklem Hintergrund, mit einem hin und wieder farbigen Akzent vervollkommnen die Atmosphre, die der Knstlerin so wichtig ist. Die Dunkelheit ist weder zufllig ausgesucht worden noch ist sie aus dem Nirgendwo gekommen. Sie ist ewig und existiert in der Tiefe der Gefhle von Simonida Rajcevic. Es wirkt wie ein Paradox, dass sich in solch einer Schwrze, einer Dunkelheit, einem endlosen Tunnel etwas abspielt. Etwas, dass Freude und Leidenschaftlichkeit, Liebe und Lieblosigkeit, Flamme und Dunkelheit gleichzeitig zu lobpreisen vermag. Um dies zu vermitteln, erfordert so ein Unternehmen die Kraft des Erlebnisses und der Aufrichtigkeit, ohne sich darber Gedanken zu machen, ob es gut oder schlecht ist. Im letztmglichsten dunklen Punkt feiert sie das Licht, das innen scheint. Ihr malerisches Verfahren macht dies mglich und es berzeugt, d.h. eine sichere Zeichnung und klar profillierte und in Maen ausgefhrte Szenen, aber nur wenn man das Ma nicht wrtlich nimmt.
Vasilije B. Sujic
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21 February 2008
Politika magazine
In the Realm of the Senses, In the Realm of Colour
Nowadays, there is such a great variety of contemporary art being shown in galleries everywhere that a high degree of professionalism and dedication is required, as well as a certain degree of empathy and interest, to follow the developments on the contemporary art scene, to spot the new trends, and to sort the wheat from the chaff. The principal challenge for art galleries is to formulate a clear programme and a coherent strategy. In this context, the Zvono Gallery stands out as one of the successful players on our cultural scene.
The promotion of young artists is at the very top of its agenda, a policy that has catapulted the Zvono Gallery into prominence in terms of actively shaping the new 21st Century art scene. Simonida Rajcevic (1974) is one of the group of young artists favoured by the gallery: their co-operation has been particularly succesful, as evidenced by a number of one-man exhibitions that Simonida has staged in this rather small gallery on Visnjic Street over the last decade. Taking a decisive step towards a closer integration into the complex international system facilitating the communication of ideas, persons, events, and money, the Zvono Gallery has also over the last years included Simonida Rajcevic in its own selections shown at art fairs in Vienna, Koln, and Moscow.
Simonida Rajcevics concept of art is rooted in the New Image poetics and its Neo-Expressionist trends. The artists faith in the act of painting itself, as well as in the very process of drawing and painting, is reasserted in her new work, the Snakewall: a monumental wall installation specially tailored to fit inside the Zvono Gallery. This drawing/painting on canvas is an endless frieze coursing and draping the gallery walls from floor to ceiling. Its visual energy and tension seems to take possession of the space, underlining its nature as an ambience. The scene has a labyrinthine lay-out: we are left to retrace the fragmented segments of the whole in which coarse black-and-white graffiti inscriptions slash across the works representational core. The drawings offer sketchy glimpses of human corporeality riven by passion, fear of the Original Sin, punishment, and alienation.
In the second part of this ophidian sequence, the Baroque-like opulence of the reds is transformed into a dialogue of memory codes. This time, quite obviously, the painter has found a foothold in the dialogue beteween art-historical milestones on the one hand, and the dialectic of contemporary art on the other. The narrative sequence unfolds between sketches for a large-scale, old-master-like historical scene, the kind that might have been painted by Michelangelo, Rubens, or El Greco, and the convulsive qualities of the 21st Centurys hyperconsumerism. Erotic scenes from well-known films are quoted as well. The artist feels the pulse of different epochs across the centuries, until the drama reaches fever pitch.
By referencing well-known iconographic patterns inherent to both subjective and historical memory, the painter actually moves with the flow of an inner time and/or rhythm. In the Snakewall, Simonida Rajcevic creates her own Babel by focussing on timeless subjects. She puts her ear to the heart of time and hears the inexorable succession of its codes, the archetypes of Eros and Thanatos, their consumption and eventual oblivion, phenomena which each generation must encrypt anew, using the language of its own time. The shows name itself the Snakewall is pregnant with polysemy and connotations including mythical chronology, the relationship between God and man, between the sacred and the profane, being transformed into the imperative mode of the here-and-now, subjected to our confused meanings, to our haste. Daniela Puresevic wrote up the transposition of selected motifs into impressive visual wholes. You should visit the exhibition to see for yourself what Simonida Rajcevics outstanding talent as a painter is all about.
Ljiljana Cinkul
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21. Februar 2008, Quelle: Tageszeitung Politika
Im Reich der Sinne und Farben
Ausstellung Snakewall von Simonida Rajcevic in der Galerie Zvono
Die durch die Galerien vermittelte zeitgenössische Kunstproduktion ist heutzutage sehr verbreitet. Um die neuen Erscheinungen verfolgen und klarer sehen zu können, bedarf es hoher professionellen Hingabe, gewisser Neigungen, eines erkennbaren programmatischen Konzepts und einer sicheren Strategie. Die Galerie Zvono (www.galerijazvono.org) kann zu den Beispielen eines gelungenen Kunstkonzepts unserer Kulturszene gezählt werden.
Mit ihren Ausstellungsprogrammen im Zeichen der Anerkennung junger Autoren hat sie einen herausragenden Platz im Sinne der aktiven Etablierung neuer Künstlerszene im 21. Jahrhundert eingenommen.
Simonida Rajčević (1974) gehört auch zur Gruppe junger Künstler, die von dieser Galerie promotet und vertreten werden. Eine erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit hinsichtlich der Beziehung Künstler - Galerie ist im Falle der Rajčević - Zvono offensichtlich. Dies beweisen die belgrader Einzelausstellungen dieser Malerin, die im Laufe des letzten Jahrzehnts in den nicht all zu großen Galerieräumlichkeiten in der Višnjićeva Straße realisiert wurden. Indem Zvono einen erheblichen Fortschritt in der Vernetzung ins komplexe internationale System der Kommunikation von Ideen, Persönlichkeiten, Ereignissen und finanziellen Mitteln vollbrachte, hat die Galerie in der Gruppe ausgewählter Autoren in den vergangenen Jahren auch das Werk von Simonida Rajčević auf den Kunstmessen in Wien, Köln und Moskau vorgestellt.
Das künstlerische Konzept von Simonida Rajčević beruht auf der Poetik des neuen Bildes und seinen neoexpressionistischen Abläufen. Der Glaube an den malerischen Vorgang und den Prozess des Zeichnens und Malens ist in ihrer neuen Arbeit Snakewall bestätigt worden, einer speziell auf die Größe der Galerie Zvono projizierten monumentalen Wand-Installation. Diese Bildzeichnung auf der Leinwand welche wie ein unüberschaubarer Fries die Wand vom Boden bis zur Decke überdeckt, begleitet und mit visueller und energetischer Tension gar den Raum physisch übernimmt und somit das Ambientale in ihm suggeriert. In labyrinthafter Darstellung der Szene sind einzeln die Segmente der Komposition zu sehen, in denen die zeichnerische Textur durch Figurierung von schwarz-weißen expressiven Graffitischriften getrennt wird.
In der Zeichnung werden die Einzelteile der menschlichen Körperlichkeit dargestellt, diese werden wiederum von: Begierde, Ursündenangst, Strafe und Entfremdung unterdrückt.
Im zweiten Teil dieses schlangenhaften Ablaufs verwandelt sich die barockisierte Pracht piktureller Werte der roten Farbe in einen heftigen Dialog verschiedener Gedächniskodes. Offensichtlich findet die Malerin ihren Ausgangspunkt diesmal im Dialog zwischen den Beispielen aus der Geschichte und des zeitgenössischen Diskurses. Der narrative Ablauf findet zwischen den Zeichnungen großer historischen Komposition alter Meister, nach dem Michelangelo-Rubens-El Greco Vorbild und der konvulsiven Eigenschaften der Hyperkonsum-Zivilisation des 21. Jahrhunderts statt. Zusammen mit dem Zitieren der erotischen Szenen aus bekannten Filmen und des Lauschens unterschiedlicher Epochen, gestaltet sich der Ablauf bis hin zum Punkt einer dramatischen Hochspannung heraus.
Die Malerin verfolgt eigentlich den Ablauf der inneren Zeit und/oder des Rhythmus in den verschiedenen Zitatteilen bekannter ikonographischer Formeln der subjektiven und historischen Erinnerung. Indem sie in ihrer Arbeit „Snakewall“ ein eigenes künstlerisches Babylon kreiert, ist Simonida Rajčević auf ewige Themen fokusiert - lauscht verschiedenen Zeitkodes nach, den Archetypen Eros und Tanatos sowie auch ihrer Verschwendung und Vergessenheit. Dies sind Phänomene die jede Generation in einer eigener Zeitsprache kodiert. Allein der Name der Ausstellung „Snakewall“ beinhaltet mehrdeutige Konnotationen, durch welche die mythische Chronologie und die Gott - Mensch Beziehung auf eine sakrale und heilige Weise in den Bereich des Imperativs des Hier und Jetzt und seiner mißverstandenen Bedeutungen und Geschwindigkeiten übertragen werden. Danijela Purešević schrieb zu dieser Ausstellung: „…über die Transponierung ausgesuchter Motive in beeindruckende visuelle Einheiten“. Sie können sich auch vom enormen malerischen Talent der Simonida Rajčević vergewissern und überzeugen, wenn Sie ihre Ausstellung besuchen.
Ljiljana Cinkul
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SNAKE – WALL
Ancient Egyptians believed that every human being
consists of physical and spiritual parts called aspects. Besides body, every
human has its Shwt (shadow), Ba (personality or soul), Ka (life force)
and Ren (the name). (Wikipedia)
Throughout the wall, Simonida Rajcevic creates a form of labyrinth,
resembling the halls of Egyptian tombs, where the life of the painted bodies
is induced by mythical chronology. This pyramidal association gives
narrative symbolism to Simonida’s bodies, drawing the observer into the
(angular) center of the painting. The observer, then, realizes that the
snakes, like other beings, are merely part of gradation, a sequence that
leads to a non-thematic solution.
Since
the very nature of canvas is to be artificially placed on concrete, it will
sooner or later leave its walls in the finite form of a construction’s end,
and this very act of infidelity brings about a new interpretation angle to
each new background with which the paintings are conjoined.
The
snakes are here to scare away gods, but not a figurative journey free with
its layered conotations. With this, Simonida Rajcevic blends Western journey
with Eastern space. In this borderline territory, gods are integral part of
Eastern mimic, but their bodies are victims of Western artistic feast which
the painter, like Dionises, gives in honor of the Nitschean history of the
world.
Marko Kostiić
(Translation by Helena
Đorđević) |
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SNAKEWALL
With the
force of a typhoon, Simonida Rajčević sweeps through the entire
landscape of civilization searching for the purpose of human body,
sexuality, sin, and taboos. Reports from her journeys are shaped in two
friezes – two monumental Snakewalls.
By its
structure and composition, one Snakewall is more linear in its
narration, more gradual and analogue. The other one is fragmented,
unpredictable, closer to digital language code. However, both are
fiercely expressive and dramatic, both full of tension characteristic
for the matter that is about to break and explode.
The crucial
element of these walls is, naturally, the richly symbolic snake – the
symbol of Man’s original sin according to the Bible, but also the symbol
that unites the aspects of ground and underground, water and fire,
positive and negative, but also the principles of male and female,
signifying sexual duality.
An
important support role in the construction of the Snakewall naturally
belongs to the wall itself – a barrier towards the unknown, a
restriction, an obstacle, a line of division but also a strong carrier
of civilization messages from the Western (Wailing) Wall, through the
Great Wall of China to Berlin Wall and many other nameless walls.
Realized in
the poetic key of „the Creation of the World“ (entailing both the story
of the sin as well as the story of the serpent), with implicit aroma of
drama and pathos, the two friezes resonate with the thunder of God’s
wrath after the original sin was committed, the wrath which destroyed
the pure and idylic world of Eden. Creating her own monumental
compositions, Simonida Rajcevic chooses and relies on elements from
common civilizational art collection, primarily the underscored carnal
element and Eros that support her thought – from antique sculptures,
through the figurative codes of Michaelangelo, El Greco, Rembrandt,
Rubens, as well as Haring and Basquiat, with touches of Goya and
literature of Boris Vian, to the reminiscences and quotes from
Emanuela, Last Tango in Paris, In the Realm of the Senses, French
erotic movies, all the while borrowing important influences from
graffiti art, comics, film techniques, rock’n’roll... Black, white and
red, sometimes they are more of a drawing, sometimes more a painting, in
the dramatic storm of Eros and Tanatos.
The
symptomatic point of one of these two Snakewalls, the one with a more
compact narrative line, is surely a place where the cut is made from
color to black and white (this meaningful cut, among other things, marks
the transition from painting to film quotations). Somewhere on the
borderline between these two worlds, in the color field, we recognize as
a dominant figure one of Laocoon’s
sons from El Greco’s famous painting Laocoon. Laocoon and his sons,
or the Laocoon Group, frequently interpeted as the basic
patern in scultpure and fine art from ancient times until today, is the
embodiment of the myth of Trojan priest Laocoon. Apollo sent two
serpents againt Laoccon and his sons, that, after a dramatic struggle,
take them forever to the darkness of the underworld. However, it is less
known that Laocoon did not incur the wrath of Apollo only by taking part
in the Trojan war, but also because, much earlier, he defied the rule of
priesthood by getting married and begetting sons, and by daring to have
sexual intercourse with his wife in Apollo’s sanctuary, in front of his
statue.
German
archaeologist and art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann, speaking of
the ancient Greek Laoccon Group in the 18th century, points
out to the paradox of getting the impression of exquisite beauty while
observing the scene of death and fall. With the same suspense of Eros
and Tanatos, Simonida Rajcevic unites all protagonists of the two
friezes into one big Laocoon’s family entangled into serpent’s coil.
Danijela
Purešević
(Translation
by Helena Đorđević) |
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ACRYL AFTERNOONS
Italian 15th
century Renaissance art, among other fundamental changes, introduced the
human body as an effective unit of the scene, story and emotional
character presented. To simplify, the character of the figure did not
depend either on physiognomy (the individual character), or on strict
religious canons which represented the consummation of the painting as
the moment of religious elevation. The painting was above all determined
by the way in which the figure moved. In his “Treatise on Painting”,
Alberti said the following:” There are movements of body: growth,
shrinkage, illness, recovery, movements from one place to another..We,
the painters who want to show the movements of spirit by movements of
body parts, use only the movements from one place to another.”
In other words, it is
revealed that expression is achieved only through the relation between
the bodies in the painting, and thus the age of theatricality begins in
art.
However, “the old
masters” invoked from the past in the paintings of Simonida Rajcevic,
are not the artists from the 15th century, but from the 16th
and even 17th century; artists like Michelangelo, Caravaggio,
Rubens and especially Tintoretto and El Greco. These are the artists in
whose paintings the movements and relations between bodies are not only
the plastic signs which determine the composition of the painting trough
Alberti’s model: “surface – member – body – painting”.
In their paintings the
body is ecstatic, dominant but vulnerable, the thing that causes or
presents the aim of God’s intervention; a body whose anatomy is exposed
to a delirious painter’s experimentation, shortenings or assigns
unnaturalistic coloring. Such a body, put in impossible positions,
actually becomes the central metaphor of transformation that art makes.
Michelangelo’s figura serpentinata , as the model for art which
in history is denoted as manneristic ( and the figure which Alberti
rejected as excessively unequal since it exposed the front and the back
side at the same time), was a mobile form compared to the sight of
flame; a figure which depended less and less on the real qualities and
potential of the body, and more and more on the exploration of bordering
spiritual and physical situations in which it was represented. But also,
thanks to the marvelous possibilities and distortions of such a figure,
the space of the painting becomes less a stage, and more a specific
space in which the laws of gravity are decreasingly simulated and
illusion increasingly develops on both imaginary sides of the painted
surface.
In contrast to the
paintings that have justly attracted most attention in last few years on
the Belgrade scene – the so – called “first person painting”, the
ego-painting where the identification develops primarily through the
faces and the net of returned glances (and which is in its distant
background deeply Byzantine) – the paintings of Simonida Rajcevic very
determinedly and convincingly impos the centrality of body and its
gestures as the main mystery of art and experience of the 90-ies. In
this sense, the paintings of old masters, i.e. the chosen fragments of
these paintings, serve as the traditional models of bodily affectation,
which are transformed by the technique of acrylic (which Simonida uses)
into the world of quick results and media manipulation. However, from
the professional point of view, Simonida’s “express old masters” show
that some characteristics of her models can be successfully articulated
again in the art of our time. Her painting is full of motion, “fiery”
moves, orientated towards plastics of figures achieved by warm but also
“poisonous” coloring with few cold shadows. As such, it is both fresh
and quite sufficiently “sick” for the time we live in. The choice of
acrylic is interesting in the conceptual way too, for acrylic is a
technique of the 20th century, the color which Pollock poured
out over his canvases, the color of unmistakably even surfaces of
minimalistic painting, but also a technique that was already first in
use in the 20-ies by an excluded but influential group of Mexican
muralists. Acrylic therefore originally appears as a mediator between
huge surfaces, the domination of the presented bodies and unconcealed
social involvement.
The exhibition of
paintings by which the gallery ZVONO achieves a compressed paraphrase of
those aggressive painted chambers like the Sistine Chapel, is surely
extended in the installation of this artist presented in 1995 under the
name THE LAST SURVIVOR FROM THE NOSTROMO. In it the modern SF
model (films from “the Alien” cycle) was used as metaphorical
articulation of the current social, sexual and political relations, new
feministic theories and, generally the disintegration of the
patriarchate on one side, and incurable viruses and wars on the other
side. In the case of this installation too (as a result of the
traditional painter’s nerve) the body is the focus of the “actual
experience “ the voice of nature that express its presence in culture by
its own fear for existence.
In each of Simonida’s
paintings there are bodies in movement taken over from the number of
originals, but this combination of fragments does not invite us to
decode the allegorical meaning, characteristic for the paintings of the
80-is, but puts in the front plane the question of the logic of physical
presentation. However, in this painting, the demanding observer will
find some “thematic” rules, some motives, which are mostly connected
with events in relation to Christ’s torments, the moment when the body
of the Savior takes over the sins of mankind. However, in Simonida’s
paintings there is no Christ’s body, it is the marked absence, with the
whirlpool of other bodies that gesticulate his sacrifice around it. And
to return to beginning, to the 15th century, when bodies in
paintings began to move, gesticulate and to open to personal visions,
but when the figure of Christ was still an untouchable canon, the body
without a body, once and for all described mystery. In every attractive
painting, and even in one that is swarming with invested exists, which
really makes our view active.
Branislav Dimitrijević
(Translation by Helena
Obradović and Vanesa Strojić) |
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HARDWARE NOSTALGIA
The aesthetic of the
first Terminator movie, structured around machines that get out of human
control, every day becomes less ad less a threatening product of the
progress, and more and more romanticized nostalgia for human
belief that progress of mechanical technology cannot be stopped and that
grandiosity of heavy hardware in itself has the potential to imply the
strength that goes out of the control of its constructors. In relation
to the second film of the sequence, which is dominated by sophisticated
computer effects, cyber-aesthetic of the liquid metal and synthetic
material replaced by body tissues, the first Terminator today seems like
a document of the last phase of development of modernism: material and
technology are brought to perfection but still armored with a real
space, and conventional states of aggregation, with stressed
monumentality and solidness as the main aims of mechanical technology.
Huge machines, huge like
cranes, have lost their threatening potential with the coming of
micro technology, and the obsession with creating micro-dimensions
is exactly what grants the possibility of romanticizing old machines,
regardless of their obvious utilitarianism. There is not much left of
synonyms: construction, progress, prosperity – only utility within the
disciplines or human activities (architecture, heavy industry) where the
size is conditioned by the object that ocupy large areas in space.
Consistently romanticised painting reduces them to human (gallery)
dimensions. Of course, it could be done with digital technologies or 3D
animation, but that would conceptualize other kinds of problems and
imply patronizing superiority of miniature technologies, and in certain
way dislocate another crucial aspect which machines like cranes
undoubtedly posses. Although huge machines have lost everything but
their monument-like monumentality, they still have their almost
exclusive capacity to be installed in space and to set instalation in
space.
Huge construction
machine already represents an installation in space and need not be
repeated as an installation in a gallery. Its two-dimensional
representation becomes a document of the installation – so that artistic
intervention appears only when the existing state is documented.
Therefore, the landscape in the paintings of Simonida Rajcevic does not
appear as autonomous; it is constructed by the shapes of the cranes and
is discursively determined by the use of gold establishing in that way
also a relation towards modernistic heritage.
Unlike modernistic
painting, those paintings do not provide the real kind of fulfillment:
closure, balance, harmony. Although there is a feeling that these
elements are present, that the debt to the formalistic, clasical
painting has been acknowledged, the presence of gold reminds us of the
feeling of uneasiness, uneasiness which Sherrie Levine in her “great
golden knots” recognizes as the uneasy death of modernism.
Branislava Andjelković
(Translation by Helena Obradović) |
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Strelice
Izložba slika Simonide Rajčević predstavlja objedinjeni nelinearni narativni tok, kroz koji umetnica prikazuje diverziju nastalu usled disperzivnog konstrukta odnosa moći. Pozicija sagledavanja šire slike projekta Strelice bi mogla biti iščitana kroz fragmente iz popularne kulture, ali ujedno i shvaćena kao referentni sistem koji objedinjuje i suprotstavlja normative ustanovljene u kulturi i društvu. Insceniranjem događaja, koji u momentu eskalacije postaju zaleđeni u vremenu, umetnica ukazuje na važnost pozicija agresora i žrtve koji se pod određenim okolnostima bore za autoritativnost nad drugim(a). Na taj način simulakrumi sa slika postaju označitelji za borbu koja u zavisnosti od prikaza događaja predstavlja svojevrsnu aluziju na društvene diskurse pozicionirane u popularnoj kulturi, a kroz preneseno značenje – u svakodnevnom životu.
Serija radova označava podelu na različite sisteme odbrane koji se simbolički manifestuju kroz utilitarne ekstenzije (nad)moći u vidu pištolja, noža, bokserskih rukavica i nunčaka, dok su protagonisti koncipirani kao reprezenti različitih borilačkih disciplina. Izložene slike se mogu iščitati kroz karakteristike tipične za mušku i žensku reprezentaciju u savremenom društvu. One predstavljaju rastakanje kategorizacije društvenih normativa i uspostavljanje analogije između divergentnih kulturalnih sadržaja.
Pozicioniranjem figura na slikama, autorka postiže simbiozu između objedinjenih Subjekata – aktera koji bivaju prikazi moći. Fenomenološki sagledavano, reference u afektu postaju estetički objekti koji predstavljaju idealizovane karaktere, čije bi se osobine mogle iščitati i kroz želju za stabilizacijom pojedinca u svakodnevnom životu. Na taj način korpus oznaka pozicioniranih u umetnosti i pop kulturi postaju metatekst per se. Figure ne predstavljaju samo portrete aktera, već one u sebe učitavaju oznake za Drugog.
Figura Brusa Lija (Bruce Lee) u momentu odbrane skreće pažnju posmatraču na akciju, više nego na tumačenje samog aktera. Iz tog razloga se na drugoj slici sa nunčakama vidi samo torzo sa rukama koje drže oružje što ukazuje na važnost pokreta i namere koja se uočava kroz položaj tela.
Sa druge strane, ženska figura na slikama je postavljena u dve različite situacije – samostalno i u direktnoj interakciji sa žrtvom. Ona se u širem kontekstu može iščitati kroz teoriju roda, ali i kroz njenu manifestaciju u umetnosti i kulturi. U samostalnom okviru, figura je postavljena u dominantni položaj, predstavlja refleksiju borbe i/ili odbrane, koja se opaža kroz njen stav, ambijent u kome se nalazi i oružje s kojim je u vezi. Predstavljena kao sinonim za maskulinu telesnu izražajnost, ženska figura prelazi iz uloge žrtve u ulogu agresora, nakon čega ponovo prelazi u ulogu žrtve, što u narativnom smislu čini prelazak aktera iz jedne pozicije u drugu. Pri povratku u prvu poziciju, protagonistkinja kroz kontinuiranu promenu identiteta uspostavlja odnos sa socijološki determinisanim predstavama za Drugog, ističući odnos smeštanja rodnih konstrukata u stvarnom (i fiktivnom) svetu. Na taj način autorka sprovodi pitanja u vezi sa uzrokom i posledicom napada, koje kroz različite frejmove demistifikuje, ukazujući na zaokrete unutar individualne i kolektivne potrebe za apsolutnom i kontinuiranom transgresijom.
Predstava koja biva direktna referenca na Karavađovu (Caravaggio) sliku „Judita koja odseca glavu Holofernu“, za razliku od protagonistkinja sa maskulinom-femininom izražajnošću, zadržava svoj rodni konstrukt, a ujedno i izmešta vremenski okvir koji sučeljava identitete iz prološlosti i sadašnjosti. Imajući u vidu važnost Zeitgeist-a, uspostavljeni gestus ukazuje na odsustvo kolektivne percepcije označitelja za rodno konstruisane zakone koji integrišu tumačenje identiteta u prostoru između dualnih bioloških podela. Upravo je kroz ovu sliku umetnica označila polje koje egzistira na granicama popularne kulture i istorije umetnosti.
Nasuprot ženskom simulakrumu, postavljeni su muški označitelji za borbu kroz rekreirane figure boksera Flojda Mejvedera (Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr.) i Konora Mekgregora (Conor Anthony McGregor). Likovnom transkripcijom spektakla u vidu borbe između Mejvedera i Mekgregora, Simonida Rajčević prikazuje odnos moći između dve podjednako dominantne muške figure, koje svoj sistem referenci izgrađuju unutar mejnstrima. Dalje tumačenje ovog prikaza upućuje na analizu stvarnog performansa, koji sugeriše na fizičke i mentalne karakteristike aktera koji direktno vode borbu za prevlast nad protivnikom. Njihove telesne pozicije su postavljene kroz akciju – one sugerišu izdržljivost i determinisanost u ključnom momentu opstanka. Rekreacijom događaja, akteri na slikama bivaju subverzivni ikonički znakovi koji kroz vizuelnu deskripciju i imaginaciju postaju solipsistički prikazi izmaštane stvarnosti.
Izložba slika Strelice predstavlja naraciju koja kroz medij slike prikazuje jedinstveni momenat koji se kroz koncipiranje sadržaja fabularno nadopunjuje. Dramatruški postavljeno, kompozicije čine isečke iz vremena, a sadržaj ’pre i posle’ postaje opšte mesto individualnog tumačenja prezentovanog sadržaja. Kroz ličnu estetiku, Simonida Rajčević ostvaruje odnos valera kroz boje, linije i prozračnost/praznine, markirajući autentične elemete na slikama, nalik Dejvidu Hokniju (David Hockney). Tom tehnikom autorka sugeriše tok narativa i ističe polaznu tezu koju je koncipirala na intelektualnom promišljanju o pojavama u društvu od druge polovine XX veka do danas.
Jelena Pavićević
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Lažni bol SIMONIDA RAJČEVIĆ
Slike na platnu Simonide Rajčević uvlače nas u antagonizam značenja estetskog kao operativnog, ali i nestabilnog pojma u umetnosti danas, naročito, savremenoj. Stanje ljudske smirenosti ili prepuštenosti oko koga su nastale slike iz prethodnog ciklusa Čudni talasi, u novoj izložbi Lažni bol prerasta u stanje ranjivosti. Kroz kanonizovane umetničke prizore počinjenog nasilja koji svedoče o istoriji ljudske brutalnosti, arhetipski bol je tu da pokrene telo koje ne reaguje i žrtvu koja odustaje. Ova distanca od uobičajnih pojavnih oblika afektivnog iskusutva u svetu u kome živimo ili suspenzija vlastitih čulnih doživljaja zaradi doživljaja nečega što sa sobom nosi potencijal opšteg ili zajedničkog predstavljaju upravo pojam aesthesis-a u svom antičkom značenju doživljaja čovečnosti. Međutim, ono što onemogućava da se jedan takav estetski doživljaj ostvari kroz oslobađajuće iskustvo zajedničkog poimanja sveta je upravo laž koja unosi antagonizam u savremeno značenje pojma estetskog.
Šta je, zapravo, lažno u bolnom buđenju čovečnosti kroz oslikane prizore izmučenih delova ljudskog tela? Jesu li to pojedinačni, otuđeni doživljaji bola ili kolektivna predstava o tome šta ta bol jeste? Ili je možda lažno ono što bol treba da nam kroz umetnost donese? Da li uopšte bol može da nam pruži zadovoljstvo oslobađanja kroz tragediju kako to Aristotel tvrdi kao najviši oblik umetnosti koji donosi katarzu? Ili je možda ta katarza vremenom postala afektivna laž koja ne govori o doživljaju društvene i političke stvarnosti, već o vlastitoj, eskapističkoj nelagodi unutar nje?
Pred nama su slike kroz koje se sveti prizori mučeništva iz prošlosti naslućuju i preklapaju sa jarkim bojama i dominantno prisutnim ljudskim obrisima tela sadašnjeg vremena. Kroz univerzalno telo belog savremenog muškaraca preslikavaju se obrisi do smrti izmučenih tela El Grekovog Isusa (na platnu Svetog trojstva) i Svetog Sebastijana, Karavađova odsečena glava Golijata (David sa Golijatovom glavom) i prikovana ruka Svetog Petra (Raspeće Svetog Petra). Zurbaranov prizor Isusa kao Božjeg jagnjeta (Agnus Dei) koje na sebe preuzima sve ljudske grehe pojavljuje se na platnu na kome se univerzalno muško telo – naspram Isusovog zoomorfičnog, položenog i pasivonog tela – drugačije kodira. Na ovoj slici, poslednjoj u ciklusu, vidimo ruke spremne za borbu, za odbranu žrtve, ruke koje nas, na samom kraju, vode do Brus Lija, nepobedive ikone pop-kulture 20-og veka. Slojevita značenja ovih slika žive svoju historizaciju kroz bol koji uvek i iznova izranja kao palimpsest, pretvarajući arhetipsko nasilje u mehanizme vladanja svetom.
Prizori univerzalnog stradanja, patnje i bola čovečanstva koji naizmenično blede i onda nanovo u kriznim, konfliktnim i ratnim vremenima izranjaju iz prošlosti, pojavljuju se na slikama Simonide Rajčević fragmentarno, poput metonimijskih slika i odnosa kroz koje se uspostavlja logička veza sa stradanjem savremenog čoveka u globalnom neokolonijalnom kapitalizmu. Telo današnjeg homo econimicusa koje samo sebe sistemski proizvodi pokrenuto je jarkim i flurocentnim bojama, istorijskim naracijama stradanja i sopstevnom ranjivošću u svetu u kome otuđeno živi. Zaustavljeno u trenutku trzaja, ovo dominantno telo današnjice postaje agresivno sredstvo kojim manipuliše i upravlja bol. U ovom univerzalnom kodiranju bola nastalo je, takođe, i današnje globalno društvo koja eksploatiše, kažnjava, dehumanizuje, te isto tako dosledno sprovodi nasilje nad onim što odstupa iz njegove savršene jednobrazne slike sveta. Rasparčana strukura tela koje se budi i ponovo sastavlja, drugim rečima, govori da je naša globalna civilizacija oduvek bila i još uvek jeste: evropocentrična, bela, hrišćanska i patrijarhalna. Izgrađena i discipilnovana kroz repetativno obnavljanje nasilja, ta civilizacija nam ukazuje na nemogućnost brisanja osnovnog, društveno i politički strukturiranog ljudskog afekata, a to je bol.
Unutar ove izložbe, pojavljuje se, takođe i predimenzionirana skulptura Brus Lijevih borilačkih ruku koje ukazuju na ambijentalno prekoračenje dvodimanzionalnog prostora slike, ali i njenog značenja kroz fikciju ultimativne snage i beskompromisne borbe. U nešto drugačijem položaju nego na slici, ove ruke su postavljene u nulti stepen i napada i odbrane. Sa ovim rukama moguća je identifikacija iz svake pozicije, jer se pobeda nad ultimativnim zlom ne dovodi u pitanje, pa su tako i napad i odbrana dozvoljeni. Ipak, jasno je da je i ova ikonička figura Brus Lija nastala u sferi pop-kulture koja se gradila, kao i prethodne, istim strukturnim mehanizmima kolonizirajućeg odnosno globalizirajućeg društva.
Prenos, odnosno, delegiranje vlastitog zadovoljstva pobede nad nasiljem na fikciju, masovnu kulturu ili objekte, govore o interpasivnom doživljaju slobode koji je zapravo lažan, kao što je i bol sa kojom se pre samog čina pobede identifikujemo. Otelotvorena čulnost, stanje ranjivosti i osećaj bola prepušteni su, na taj način, interpasivnom doživljaju sveta koji je u ovom slučaju svestan svoje laži. Međutim, u toj svesti nazire se novi estetski potencijal slika koje prikazuju delove izmučenih ljudskih, ali životinjskih tela. Ukoliko taj potencijal možemo da zamislimo, pred nama će ukazati – kako to Rosi Braidotti kaže – hibridna figuracija jednog potpuno drugačjeg monstruoznog tela koje u svojoj kontinuiranoj ranjivosti, izmučenosti i potlačenosti pruža otpor i bori za nastanak nove materijalističke kartografije boljeg sveta. Pitanje s kojim nas izložba ostavlja je: Da li uopšte možemo da zamislimo taj svet sa nekim drugim, iz perspektive globalnog čoveka, ‘monstruoznim’ telom koje nam izvan postojećih globalnih arhetipa današnje civilizacije nudi neke druge, možda prave emocije?
Dr Jelena Petrovic
Prevod:
Milan Marković i Tijana Perezanović
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Cudni talasi (kao aktuelizacija i politizacija neucestvovanja)
Pod uticajem interdisciplinarnog zahvata, koji su nametnule studije kulture, interpretativni model za citanje slike usmeren je na tumacenje drustvene uloge umetnickog dela ili na procenjivanje zivotnog stila i polozaja samih autora, a ne na formalne i stilske karakteristike umetnickog dela.
Ipak, dostignuca u slikarstvu i dalje su srazmerzna sposobnostima autora da ontoloske karakteristike slike (Sta? Kako?) pribilize fenomenu (Zasto?) koji je na slici zastupljen.
Cudni talasi su formalna aktuelizacija unutrasnjeg preispitivanja, pri cemu se pojam aktuelizacija odnosi na sakupljanje i otelotvorenje intimnog inventara ranjivog bica, koje stupa u odnos sa okruzenjem.
To okruzenje ovde je predstavljeno uz pomoc apstrakcije. Odnosno, apstrahovanja od poznatih i prepoznatljivih predstava. Apstraktni elementi na slici, koji okruzuju savladanu nagu musku figuru, tragovi su razlicitih atmosfera koje prizivaju rec cudno, a koja se moze tumaciti i kao bizarno, kao vid odvojenosti od realnosti.
Ovde se dakle radi o unutrasnjem dozivljaju otudenosti kao pogleda na svet, a ne o svetu samom po sebi. Apstraktnim okruzenjem, kao spoljasnjim ogledalom unutrasnjeg sveta, Simonida Rajcevic se prepusta odsustvu relnosti.
Nedostatak drustvenog konteksta, koji je zamenjen apstakcijom i nadomesten atmosferom, moze se odrediti kao politizacija neucestvovanja. Upravo takvom atmosferom autorka savladava platno kao opazajno polje, to jest, kao meru sveta koju je moguce zahvatiti rukama, a koja je manifestovana kroz ciklus slika velikog formata (200 x 150cm). U tom smislu, Rajceviceva ne gradi likovnost kroz socijalizaciju sa drugim likovima predstavljenim na slici, vec upravo odsustvom tog procesa. Na taj nacin, autorka i razresava sopstveno nezadovoljstvo postojecim misljenjima i praksama.
Tretiranjem boje, ona slici daje konceptualni smisao, i to tako sto umanjuje ili uvecava "horizont ocekivanja", koji bi uvodenjem drugih figura bio sasvim relativizovan. Fragmentarno opazanje boje i teksture stimulise politizaciju neucestvovanja, koja kao svoju suprotnost priziva feneomen otudenosti.
A fenomen otudenosti, kod Simonide Rajcevic, karakterise nizak stepen integracije i odsustvo zajednickih vrednosti.
U odnosu na razvojnu liniju umetnicke prakse Simonide Rajcevic, ciklus Cudni talasi predstavlja tacku kojom je potvrdila monumentalnost kao bitnu karakteristiku svoje umetnosti (Prvi rez, Salon MSUB, 2014). Pokazala je i afinitet prema crtackom (Tamna zvezda, Galerija zvono, 2012), a kao novinu, ovoga puta svoju paletu ogranicava hladnim i zemljanim bojama, pri cemu razliku ostvaruje "malim pomeranjima u vrednostima boja i tonova koja nisu velikog bojenog intenziteta". Boja ovde ne konstituise samo atmosferu, vec se uspostavlja ili kao novi objekat ili kao prostor nastao integrisanjem fragmenata.
Odnosi unutar samog umetnickog dela uspostavljeni su u prilog politizaciji neucestvovanja koja ne moze da rani. Takva aktuelizacija, cija su moguca osecanja bespomocnost i bes kojima se prikriva strah, razresava se apstrakcijom kao alternativnom mogucusnocu, i rezultat je tvrdog, a ne mekog unutrasnjeg jezgra.
Dr Maja Ciric, nezavisna kustoskinja
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Umetnost kao kriticki proces. Tela izvan sume
Opozicije priroda i kultura, telo i duh, sloboda (izbora) i nuznost, zivot i smrt, nose jedan od kljuceva za razumevanje samo nekih od slojeva znacenja novih ostvarenja Simonide Rajcevic. Novi umetnicki projekat obuhvata crteze velikih formata postavljenih u sadejstvu s ambijentalno-svetlosno-zvucnom instalacijom koja, iako izvedena u drugom mediju, zapravo predstavlja prosirivanje sintakse i idejno zaokruzuje i zakljucuje celinu. Sam naziv "Prvi rez" nosi intrigantnost i mogucnost visestrukih tumacenja , a u svom osnovnom znacenju ovaj izraz stoji u gotovo paradoksalnoj suprotnosti s formalnim karakteristikama izlozbe.
Priroda / Kultura
Guste, mocvarne, lijanama prekrivene neprohodne sume mesto su polaska na put Dzima Vajta, koji se, u starom sevroletu iz cijeg prtljaznika viri gipsana statua Hrista, kroz niz pripovesti i svedocenja, vozi kroz americki Jug, u dokumentarnom filmu Searching for The Wrong-Eyed Jesus. Prolazak kroz sumu ovde se moze sagledati kao proces inicijacije, mesto prelaska, simbolickog ukidanja distance izmedu Prirode i Kulture.
Upravo je suma anticipacija Prirode u novom projektu Simonide Rajcevic, suma posmatrana u znacenju figure, znaka prirode, a ne fizicke datosti. Suma je ovde misljena kao struktura koja predstavlja model konstruisan prema stvarnosti, ali se od te stvarnosti bitno razlikuje.
U okvirima lingvisticko-filozofsko-antropoloske paradigme, prema Levi-Strosu , struktura ima odlike sistema sastavljenog od niza elemenata koji su interaktivno povezani, tako da promena bilo kog elementa dovodi do modifikovanja svih ostalih. Ta teznja ka sistematizaciji, klasifikaciji i polarizaciji iskustava u skupove suprotnosti jedno je od svojstava covekovih kognitivnih procesa. Tako se u tumacenja strukture, u svojstvu metodoloskog instrumenta, uvodi pojam opozicije kako bi se oznacile dve jedinice koje se medusobno iskljucuju i istovremeno dopunjuju, a kao bazicni primer takvog teoretskog diskursa ukazuju se Priroda i Kultura. Zak Lakan prisvaja tu tradicionalno antropolosku opoziciju, tumaceci kulturu kao simbolicki poredak, kao mrezu koja struktuira nasu stvarnost, kao podrucje koje razdvaja ljudsko bice od drugih zivotinja.
Jednu od osnovnih problemskih tacaka u umetnickoj praksi Simonide Rajcevic predstavlja kompleksan kriticki projekat demistifikacije, u cilju postavljanja pitanja i razmatranja elemenata koji sacinjavaju modele fundamentalnih prirodnih, socijalnih i kulturnih odnosa. Izmedu ostalog, autorka ukazuje na homologiju izmedu drustvenih grupa i prirodnih vrsta, kao dva sistema razlika medu kojima postoji formalna analogija. Njeni radovi bave se onim sto, kao cetiri temeljne stavke, formulise holandski naucnik Nikolas Tinbergen: istrazivanje uzrocno-posledicnih relacija, funkcija, razvoja i evolucije, kako bi se objasnili modeli funkcionisanja razlicitih sistema. U tom smislu, projekat Simonide Rajcevic moze biti sagledan kao jedna vrsta etoloske studije, njen rad, s pozicija savremene umetnicko-teorijske platforme, tretira odnose izmedu individua i izmedu vrsta, bavi se ispitivanjem mehanizama uticaja spoljasnjih i unutrasnjih faktora, kao i istrazivanjem medusobnih veza izmedu ponasanja bica i prirode.
Setnja kroz fiktivne sume
Novim ciklusom radova Simonida Rajcevic uvodi posmatraca u boravak u sumi, ali samo na prvi pogled. Sve je na ovim crtezima toboznje, fiktivno, lazno, i suma, i zivotinje, i ljudi. Realnost je posredovana kroz nekoliko nivoa filtriranja, umetnica koristi taktiku intervencije, ona proizvodi novu stvarnost putem trostruke procedure transfera (figurica - fotografija - crtez), a svaki novi nivo reinterpretira status prethodnog. U tom novom konstruktu, imaginarnom poretku koji stvara, sve postaje podlozno zakonima entropije, nije moguce razlikovati fikciju od stvarnosti, oba stanja su modifikovana i medusobno isprepletena. U skladu s tim, i kategorija vremena je izmenjena, ono prividno vise nema ujednacen tok, sve jace se ubrzava i sazima, tako da vise nije moguce sagledati celinu, vec niz segmenata, i to pomocu posrednika, kroz neku vrstu membrane koja menja i izoblicuje sliku realnog. U pitanju je strategija kojom autorka stvarnost sagledava posredno, putem oka foto-aparata, i tek se na osnovu fotografije kao prenosioca stvara predstava o necemu. Mehanickim putem proizveden, taj prikaz je izmenjena, transponovana slika realnosti, razlicita od onoga sto je moglo da ostane zabelezeno u memoriji tokom neposrednog gledanja.
Ljudi / Zivotinje
Moguce oblike relacija izmedu individua ili grupacija umetnica potencira suceljavanjem dve grupe radova. Prikazi su konstruisani na jedinstven nacin, u specificnom mizanscenu, ispred sume, u centralnu poziciju postavljena je figura, ali se u jednoj celini kao osnovna pojavljuje zivotinja, dok je u drugoj covek. Postavljajuci ih u odvojene prostore, ali u srodan kontekst, umetnica naglasava moguce referencijalne mreze odnosa izmedu subjekata prirode i subjekata drustva. Zivotinje su predstavljene u deminutivu (ovcica, magarence, prasence), kao male, deluju blago, neiskvareno, kao da jos nisu odrasle, u fazi mladunaca, koji u coveku bude zelju da se brine o njima. S druge strane, ove reinterpretirane zivotinje umetnica uranja u paradoksalnu situaciju, one su izgubile identitet, ostaju dezorijentisane. Ovi prizori na prvi pogled deluju kao idealizovane scene, dok nas kao potpuni antagonizam ne saceka uvedena predstava destrukcije, besmislenog, bezrazloznog potcinjavanja, osecaj teskobe, mucnine, s obzirom na to da u jednom trenutku nailazimo na ove zivotinje obesene u sumi. Mozemo se zapitati da li umetnica zivotinji daje ambivalentnu ulogu posredovanja identiteta, da li je zivotinja ovde polje odraza, bice nalik na nas. Ako su ova bica slika nas samih, da li su zbog necega kaznjena, ili je nasilje nad njima samo ispoljavanje moci, izraz agresije nadmocnijih bica?
Zivo / Nezivo
Tek kada se crtezima pride blize, na drugi pogled, iz perifernih zona u vidno polje ulazi mnostvo znakova, bica, slova, koji naseljavaju ovaj svet, kao niz kodova koji otvaraju visestruke nivoe mogucih tumacenja. Tim postupkom, autorka svom delu dodaje slojeve, pridodajuci prizoru senzitivne konotacije, poput osecaja mirisa, zvuka, temperature, dok je sledeci znacenjski sloj konstituisan od varijacija emocionalnih stanja, kao sto su spokojstvo, snovi, ljubav, bol, strah. Ni suma vise nije reprezentacija, prikaz, fizicki objekt koji treba da ostane neutralan. Simonida Rajcevic u ovim ostvarenjima referira na animizam, termin koji je kao antropoloski konstrukt razvio Edvard Tejlor , prema kome ne postoji podeljenost izmedu duhovnog i fizickog. Ovaj pristup izlazi izvan diskursa kartezijanske dihotomije da su duh i materija, subjekt i objekt, kultura i priroda, apsolutno heterogene supstance. S ironijskim odmakom, umetnica se poigrava idejom da se suma, planine, reke, zivotinje, vetar, kisa, celokupna priroda i sve njene brojne derivacije percipiraju kao duhovni entiteti. Ona preispituje tezu animizma da umesto fokusiranja na pojedinacno, bice ostvaruje svoju sustinu samo u sadejstvu s drugima, otvara pitanje o zapletenosti identiteta, o tome da li se individua formira ugradnjom u odgovarajuce socijalne obrasce, rodne, politicke, verske, estetske ili bilo koje druge, i da li su iskliznuca ipak moguca.
Figura Sume
Suma je ovde shvacena u smislu onoga na sta upucuje Misel Fuko kada govori o prostorima izvan svakog konkretnog mesta, koji predstavljaju drugo u odnosu na ono sto odrazavaju, sacinjenih od "stvarnih rasporeda koji su istovremeno predstavljeni, osporeni i preokrenuti" . U projektu "Prvi rez" suma se moze definisati Fukoovim terminom heterotopije, kao prostor prisutan u stvarnosti, ali van svakog konkretnog mesta, anomalija u dominantnom poretku. To je stvarno mesto u kome se suceljava vise razlicitih medusobno nespojivih prostora, povezanih sa segmentima vremena, sistem koji istovremeno moze biti otvoren i zatvoren, izolovan i prohodan. (Heterotopije) imaju ulogu da stvore jedan prostor privida koji razoblicava iznova svu iluzornost stvarnog sveta, sva ta razmestanja unutar kojih je ljudski zivot ispregradivan.
Na crtezima Simonide Rajcevic, u ovoj iskonstruisanoj stvarnosti, drugom mestu, nije moguce vise precizno pozicioniranje u vremenu i u prostoru, potrebno je stvoriti nove puteve prihvatanja takve fikcionalne realnosti. U vecini radova, predstavljena je suma/priroda iz koje je svaki trag industrijalizacije, urbanizacije i istorije pazljivo uklonjen, pa ipak, svesni smo da suma/priroda ovde predstavlja polje delovanja Kulture na Prirodu. Covek je dat u dihotomiji, kao receptor i transmiter prirodnih snaga, ali i kao figura koja je reprezent simbolickog poretka. Takode, ovo je mesto socijalnog meduprostora, individualnog delovanja, u kome su znacenja usko povezana s pitanjima identiteta, koji nije vise strogo definisana ili neponovljiva konstrukcija, vec je pomeren od socio-kulturnih stereotipa.
Autorka tretira sumu kao drugo, kao nesto sto ne pripada drustvu. Ako imamo u vidu da Lakan zenski princip locira izvan simbolickog poretka, da "zena ne postoji", umetnica stvara analogiju izmedu pojmova Suma i Zena, tretirajuci ih kao prostore odstupanja koji funkcionisu izvan uobicajenih normi. Problemsko polaziste radova Simonide Rajcevic je pretpostavka da onog trenutka kada bice stupi u Sumu, postaje buntovnik, neko ko se protivi zakonima, prognanik, neko ko izlazi izvan granica drustvenih i prihvatljivih normi i stupa u nevidljivi prostor, mesto izvan drustva, polje koje drustvo ne prepoznaje.
Slika-ekran
Vecina prizora na crtezima Simonide Rajcevic desava se na nekoj vrsti pozornice, sa sumom u pozadini, ispred koje su postavljene figure (domacih) zivotinja, koje, po logici, tu ne bi trebalo da pripadaju, na podlozi poput ploce od leda ili stakla ispred koje su postavljene figure, ili nalazimo ljudske figure u mirnim, asketskim pozama meditacije. Sve scene deluju kao "namestene"- tela se nalaze izvan sume, tu su kao da poziraju - transponovane u konstruisanu stvarnost one nastanjuju simbolicko polje.
Taj nedefinisani prostor ispred sume, funkcionise kao granica sveta, prostor izvan poznatog, meduprostor. Predstava je konstituisana kao ekran, omedeni prostor, odrazavajuca povrsina, koja, s druge strane, pretpostavlja coveka koji stoji izvan tog prizora, onoga koji gleda, posmatraca koji istovremeno postaje uhvacen pogledom figure s predstave. Taj pogled u kome smo uhvaceni Lakan naziva ekran, a mesto preklopa dva pogleda postaje slika-ekran. Odnos izmedu gledaoca i scene, kako reci Dzeklin Rouz prenosi Tamar Garb, uvek je "odnos preloma, delimicne identifikacije, zadovoljstva i nepoverenja" .
U ovim crtezima dolazi do posebnog sagledavanja prostora, rakurs iz koga se posmatra postavljen je nisko, iz vizure coveka koji ih gleda, tako da su vrhovi drveca visoko, zaklonjeni od pogleda, ne ulaze u vidno polje. Takode, figura postavljena u centralnu tacku dominira prostorom i time kao da zaklanja, skriva i sprecava "ulaz" u sumu. Taj subjektivni pogled i dvostuka zaklonjenost mogu se posmatrati u skladu s tumacenjem Branke Arsic, koja u poglavlju "Skrovite veze i tajne" govoreci o opozicijskoj metafori, koja je uvek dvoznacna, navodi sumu kao metaforu za mnostvenost prirodnih stvari. Suma je, takode, metafora za tminu i zabludu, jer stabla u ogromnoj sumi skrivaju put ka istini, kao sto svako od stabala skriva celinu sume; ali je suma isto tako metafora za svetlost i istinu.
Drvo / Rizom
Projekat "Prvi rez" uslovno se moze podeliti na nekoliko celina, a jednu od grupacija cini diptih na kome su prikazi sume i autobusa, ? drugu poliptih Prvi rez 5. U radu Prvi rez 5, koji funkcionise kao alegorijski prikaz, postupkom repeticije prikazan je isti lik, ali u razlicitim aktivnostima, mladi covek atletske grade (mitski junak, s macem/stapom u rukama), cija je pojavna forma u potpunoj suprotnosti s njegovim delovanjem. Poput odraza u dvostrukom ogledalu, figura se udvaja i bezgranicno multiplikuje, i tim ponavljanjem jednog istog, poput patterna, pojacan je efekat agresije. Kad se posmatraju u nizu, kao na antickom frizu, ova tela u pokretu zive u virtuelnom cirkularnom vremenu, u nekoj vrsti kruznog toka svesti. Suma/priroda je data kao mesto produkcije tenzija, covek svojim delovanjem, u iluziji moci, kontrole, postaje matrica, klon, koji umnozavanjem sve vise bledi, nestaje, dematerijalizuje se. U pokusaju da potcini prirodu, unistava citave sisteme, zapravo razara samog sebe.
Radovi Simonide Rajcevic ukazuju na moguce aspekte razvoja interakcije izmedu dva sistema. Danasnje drustvo je, kako Nikola Dedic tumaci teze Slavoja Zizeka, "drustvo posle Prirode i Tradicije: postmoderni sistem neoliberalnog kapitalizma vise ne moze racunati na neiscrpnost prirode kao izvor svih ljudskih aktivnosti" . U tom smislu umetnica postavlja pitanje da li je i dalje moguca trijada covek - priroda - ekonomija, koliko jos moze da traje aproprijacija prirode kao resursa za proizvodnju kulture, i da li ce u jednom trenutku Priroda da uzvrati udarac. U radu Prvi rez 6, gde autobus, zaglavljen u sumi, zaboravljen propada, postepeno biva razlozen, obesmisljen, umetnica direktno naglas?va binarni sistem opozita kao paradigmu moguce projekcije buducnosti, preuzimanja primata Prirode nad Kulturom.
Kako tvrdi Zak Derida, dualizam Priroda/Kultura predstavlja jednu od temeljnih filozofskih kategorija, a tumacenje prema kome je svet organizovan na opozicijama, odlika je zapadnog teorijskog diskursa. U uvodnom poglavlju knjige Hiljadu platoa Zil Delez i Feliks Gatari daju kritiku binarnog modela misljenja, i uvode pojam rizoma koji treba da oznaci otvorenu, nehijerarhijsku strukturaciju. Drvo sa svojim korenom, primer dualistickog sistema, drvo kao sliku sveta, metaforu znanja tradicionalne zapadne civilizacije, Delez i Gatari zamenjuju konceptom rizoma, podzemnog stabla koje proizvodi mnogobrojne izdanke u nepredvidivim pravcima. Rizom je konceptualna metafora, model koji podrazumeva multiplicitet, princip heterogenosti, i nije podreden centralizovanoj kontroli ili strukturi. Prema Mihailu Epstejnu , Delez i Gatari govore o postistorijskom pejzazu kao o pustoj prirodi bez drveca, s niskom, isprepletanom, rizomaticnom vegetacijom. Zato Epstejn, kao da ima u vidu upravo crtez Prvi rez 1, daje predlog treceg modela koji bi ujedinio oba prethodna filozofska koncepta:
Na primer, ne izuzimajuci iz postistorijskog pejzaza drvece, mozemo zamisliti i mogucnost lijanastih struktura, koje oplicu drvece jedno za drugim, cipkastim, talasastim, skladnim linijama, dijagonalno presecajuci vertikalu drveca i horizontalu granja, kako silazno, tako i uzlazno. Cak i estetski gledano, tropska suma, obavijena lijanama, deluje kao model "raskosne raznolikosti" i nekog slozenijeg izobilja, nego sto je to korovsko bilje.
Izlozba "Prvi rez" nadovezuje se i u izvesnom smislu proizilazi iz prethodnog projekta, ali je u potpunosti drugacije realizovana. Pomeranja postoje na formalnom planu, ali se kroz ceo projekat uocava konceptualni i metodoloski kontinuitet. Novo ostvarenje realizovano je kao istrazivanje i kriticko promisljanje prirode, granica, potencijala i ishodista. U pitanju su suptilni crtezi, kod kojih linija kao da tek jedva izvire iz povrsine, stice se utisak da nestaju, skoro su potpuno ispunjeni, a ipak transparentni, fragilni, skoro prozirni. Time se ostvaruje prelazak u prostor koji ne pripada ni stvarnom, ni istini, prelazak u zakrivljeni prostor, u kome dolazi do zamenjivanja realnog njegovim znacima. Otkrivanjem, formalizovanjem i strateskom upotrebom skupova kodova stvara se semanticka viseslojnost ovih crteza. Rad Simonide Rajcevic upravo egzistira u tom znacenjskom meduprostoru, postavlja pitanja, stvara refleksiju na realnost i fikciju, istinu i simulaciju.
Zaklina Ratkovic, kustos Muzeja savremene umetnosti, Beograd
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Intervju u magazinu Vreme (oktobar 2014):
Simonida Rajcevic, likovna umetnica
Intervju vodila: Sonja Ciric
Prvi rez je druga ovogodisnja samostalna izlozba Simonide Rajcevic. Otvorena je u Salonu muzeja savremene umetnosti. Prethodna, Lanac, odrzana je pre pola godina u galeriji 12HUB. Obe izlozbe su povod i razlog da se zaboravi na produkcionu i kvalitativnu inflaciju domace likovne scene.
Simonida Rajcevic (1974.) je Beogradanka, diplomirala je i magistrirala na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu, gde i radi kao docent. Kako pise u njenom CV-ju, izlagala je na vise samostalnih i grupnih izlozbi u zeml?i i inostranstvu, medu kojima su: Poslednji preziveli sa Nostroma, Galerija SKC, Beograd, 1995; Express stari majstori non-stop, Galerija Zvono, Beograd, 1997; Belgrade Double, Rothamel Galerija, Erfurt, Nemacka, 2007; Tamna zvezda, Galerija Zvono, Beograd i Galerija Perpetuel, Frankfurt, 2010; Crna noc, Kula Nebojsa, Beograd, 2011; Ljudske aktivnosti. Bespomocni, Zeleznicki muzej i Galerija Zvono, Beograd, 2012...
Prvi rez je izlozba crteza u olovci velikog formata i ambijentalne instalacije koja se u idejnom smislu nadovezuje na radove u papiru. Na crtezima je gusta suma kao u bajci, ali istovremeno prozirna zbog crteza koji jedva da izvire iz povrsine. U sumi je po neki covek/ zena, zivotinja, napusteni autobus, kao druga tacka relacije izmedu savremenog drustva i prir?dn?g p?r?tk?, relacije o kojoj prica Simonida Rajcevic u Prvom rezu.
VREME: Sintagma Prvi rez u naslovu izlozbe asocira na prvu verziju nekog rada, na nesto sto tek treba da dobije finalni oblik. Zasto?
SIMONIDA RAJCEVIC: U svom bukvalnom znacenju, izraz "prvi rez" stoji u gotovo paradoksalnoj suprotnosti sa formalnim karakteristikama izlozbe.
Posetilac koji pode na izlozbu takvog naziva, cak i ako nije upoznat sa mojim prethodnim radovima, nehotice ocekuje crteze koji bi bili kao nozem "urezani" u podlogu: ostre poteze, jake kontraste, primenu litografskih ili drugih graficnih tehnika. Suocavanje sa izlozenim radovima i vlastitim pogresnim ocekivanjima otvara mogucnost za razlicite reakcije. Neki izabrani naslov mogu da protumace kao ironijsku distancu; drugi, da u njemu sagledaju inherentne poetske kvalitete; treci, da paradoksalnu suprotnost izmedu reci i dela protumace kao putokaz da bukvalno znacenje zapravo nije bitno i da se, shodno tome, valja preusmeriti na prenosna znacenja izraza iz naslova.
Na engleskom jeziku, izraz the first cut prvobitno je imao uzestrucno znacenje. Koristio se u filmu i muzici za snimljene materijale koji su grubo montirani i jos uvek nisu prosli zavrsnu obradu. Danas se taj izraz ustalio u svakodnevnom jeziku u svim oblastima rada kao sinonim za radnu verziju, prvi predlozak, prvu varijantu.
U tom, prenosnom znacenju naslov ne stoji u suprotnosti sa formalnim karakteristima izlozbe, naprotiv.
Medutim, izraz the first cut u engleskom ima i drugo, sasvim razlicito znacenje, koje nema nikakve veze sa ljudskim delatnostima, vec sa emocijama i intimom. To znacenje dolazi do izrazaja u poslovicama kao sto su "The first cut is the hardest to mend" ili "The first cut goes the deepest".
Takode, izraz "prvi rez" na srpskom se cesto tumaci kao "rani rad", "prvi mladalacki pokusaj".
Meni takvo tumacenje, iako neocekivano, ne smeta. Naprotiv, sto su otvorenije i sire mogucnosti razlicitih, pa i medusobno suprotstavljenih tumacenja, to sam sklonija da radni naslov izlozbe usvojim kao konacan.
Akteri ove i prethodne vase izlozbe su zivotinje. Zbog pitanja i dilema koje one pobuduju, ima se utisak da se Prvi rez nastavlja na izlozbu Lanac.
Da, to je tacno. Medutim, sada posle odredene vremenske distance izlozba Lanac je kroz publiku dobila potpuno novi zivot suprotan od onog koji sam joj ja namenila tokom procesa stvaranja. Naime, te crne digitalne skulpture bika na raznju, konja koji lezi i ptica koje na neki nacin sve to posmatraju ljude su naterali na potpuno razlicite konotacije, drustvene i politicke. Jedan deo javnosti izlozbu je vezao za politicku proslost, dok su je neki doziveli kao vesnika nekakve nemile buducnosti. Izlozba Prvi rez je vec u tom trenutku bila osmisljavana u sasvim drugacijem mediju i kontekstu.
Reprezent prirode na vasim crtezima je suma. Njena uloga je da istakne stav izlozbe da su priroda i drustvo u opoziciji. Sta za vas znaci suma?
U ovom kontekstu suma je samo vizuelni predlozak koji korespondira sa nasom idejom o pejzazu kroz istoriju umetnosti, kao jednim od primarnih motiva ali i sa savremenom idejom o prirodi koja je zapravo nas konstrukt. Suma je u savremenom smislu podrucje van drustva koje nam obezbeduje drustvenu sigurnost, mere i zakone koji nas ogranicavaju i stite, koji nam postavljaju granice i obezbeduje nasu "slobodu". Onog trenutka kada krocimo izvan tih granica nase "drustvene slobode" nestaju. Ja se plasim prirode i ne osecam se prijatno ni kada sam na proplanku.
U toj sumi ima i ljudi, zenska i muska figura su joj, istina, okrenuli leda i zive neke svoje misli, ali ste zato u radu Prvi rez 5 grupu muskih tela postavili unutar sume.
Lako se dogodi da tvar ili stvar iz "uredenog" stanja prelazi u "neuredeno" stanje. Nered intuitivno dozivljavamo kao skup delova koji nema nikakve simetrije niti pravila na koji je nastao, cini nam se da je nastao "slucajno". Red, s druge strane, dozivljavamo kao poredak stvari koji sledi odredena pravila.
Kada pazljivo pogledamo rad na kome je predstavljen Idealni mladi muskarac, savrsenih telesnih karakteristika, multiplikovan u sest poza, mozemo kao i uvek imati razlicite asocijacije. Ono za cim tezimo jer je to nasa drustvena potreba i potvrda je da nas model pobedi. Ova scena moze da deluje kao neprestana borba ili krcenje puta kroz sumu, odnosno unistavanje nepoznatog zarad nevidljivog ali zasigurno opravdanog cilja. Iz neuredene i haoticne prirode nas model ce stvoriti neku vrstu reda i uredenja.
S druge strane nas model moze imati bajkovite elemente, on je idealizovan, nema psiholosku karakterizaciju, i vrsi izmisljenu radnju tako multiplikovan, kao kroz vise ogledala, uvodeci posmatraca u narativ sasvim druge vrste, narativ koji se moze bazirati na nadnaravnom ili mitskom.
Bajke i jesu strasne. Na jednom crtezu su male, slatke svinje - obesene. Ko ih je i zasto obesio? Da li te zivotinjice simbolisu ljude? Sta je njihov greh zbog kog su obeseni?
Crtez obesenih zivotinja je u toku rada na ovoj izlozbi za mene bio preloman zato sto je tematski zaokruzivao celinu o kojoj sam mesecima razmisljala i na kojoj sam radila. Na ovom crtezu je zapravo prikazana opozicija ljudskog drustva i prirode.
Da ne bi neko, ko vas sada prvi put upoznaje, stekao pogresan utisak: u vasem radu je prisutan eksperiment i multimedijalnost isto koliko i tradicionalne tehnike. Uostalom, i ova vasa izlozba je multimedijalna: osim crteza pokazali ste i instalaciju, deo jednog crteza je tekst, svi su obavijeni muzikom, to je audio rad Manje Ristic, izlozbu Tamna zvezda ste realizovali na crnim kesama za smece, izlozbu Ljudske aktivnosti. Bespomocni pomocu belih carsava... Da li vam likovna umetnost nije dovoljna da realizujete ideju?
Likovna umetnost u 20. Veku je izasla iz tradicionalnih medija I prosirila svoje polje delovanja. Ja pripadam generaciji koja je odrastala na kraju 20. Veka I na mene su uticali I mediji kao sto su film, video I savremena muzika. Samim tim, pokusavala sam da kroz svoj rad sve te uticaje iskoristim.
Vec godinama saradujem sa muzickom umetnicom Manjom Ristic ciji je audio rad deo I ove postavke koju mozete da vidite u Salonu Muzeja savremene umetnosti.
Da, ali sve cesce se cuje da vise niko ne slika, ne crta, cak je i grafika deficitarna.
Radim na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti vec 14 godina i nasi studenti godinama prolaze kroz programe koji su poprilicno klasicno orijentisani. Vecina nasih predmeta se bazira na klasicnoj studiji crteza i slici, vajanju i grafici i sto se mene tice te tehnike su itekako i dalje prisutne. Sa jedne strane publika i dalje cezne za radovima izvedenim u ovim klasicnim tehnikama ali sa druge, zapravo je spremnija i otvorenija da u novom vremenu komunicira sa brzim i jednostavnijim formama za koje im nije potrebno predznanje ni prevelika koncetracija da bi stigli do krajnjeg dozivljaja ili razumevanja.
Pricamo bas u momentu kad je odluceno da Oktobarski salon, nasa najstarija likovna manifestacija, postane bijenalna ne bi li joj se omogucilo da zahvaljujuci vecoj ponudi ostvari veci kvalitet. Naime, nekoliko poslednjih godina posecenost Salonu je niza od ocekivane s obzirom na njegov renome, a ocene pokazanih selekcija su niske. Da li se radi o staroj prici da su umetnici neshvaceni u svom vremenu, ili...
Umetnost treba da dozivimo, a ne da je se plasimo. A ako nam je drustvo omogucilo da mozemo da je konzumiramo tek ponekad, bilo to i jednom ili tri puta godisnje na nivou vecih umetnickih manifestacija ili preseka scene, mi nikad necemo moci da ispratimo sve te razlicite umetnicke namere koje su sprovedene u odredenim medijima. Za to je potrebno kontinuirano pracenje savremene umetnosti, odnosno radova odredenih umetnika, domacih i stranih, kroz vise generacija. Samo kroz takvu udubljenost dosli bismo mozda i do novih citanja i razumevanja.
Cesto se cini da umetnosti ni nema, da se pretvorila u ideju - setite se da se jedan rad na proslogodisnjem Oktobarcu sastojao od pravljenja svilenih bombona, a drugi od pranja vesa.
Provokacija na nivou umetnicke ideje je fantasticna stvar! Cinjenica da je necija ideja vas iznervirala, zvuci super. Ideja je osnovni cinilac svakog rada pa i umetnickog. Ono sto nama mozda nedostaje na umetnickoj sceni je zapravo veca i sira ponuda umetnickih produkcija koje bi zadovoljile i najsiru publiku. Kroz takvu ponudu, publika koja to zeli biva suocena sa razlicitim umetnickim idejama ali i fantasticnim praksama koje ih kroz tu ideju sprovode i otvaraju nove svetove i zbog toga umetnost ima tako znacajno mesto u kulturi i drustvu.
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Intervju: Simonida Rajcevic, umetnica
Razgovor vodio : Milan Vukelic
Izlozba "Prvi rez" beogradske umetnice Simonide Rajcevic bice otvorena veceras u Salonu Muzeja savremene umetnosti. Rec je o opusu crteza velikih formata i ambijentalnoj instalaciji kojom umetnica preispituje odnos drustva i prirodnog poretka. Pitanje glasi: Gde su granice izmedu realnog i fiktivnog u svetu u kojem obitavamo?
Simonida Rajcevic kaze za "Blic" da ovo ipak nije samo "ekoloska" izlozba, iako se bavi odnosom prirode i drustva.
Jedna od najsnazijih slika su obesene zivotinje u sumi. Strasna slika. Otkud ona tu?
Kada sam pocela taj crtez, sve mi se zaokruzilo, zato sto izlozba ima tu nameru i taj tvrd stav. Ona ima taj "kick", jer je izlozba sva fragilna, crtezi su veoma nezni, to su veliki formati izvedeni olovkom. Neki me pitaju da li sam postala romanticna, a moj odgovor je da mozda jesam, ali to nije poenta. Radila sam to s namerom. Ta scena je napravljena tako da ti prvih 10 sekundi nisi siguran sta je na njoj, a onda shvatis. Moras prici, moras malo da se udubis. Kada shvatis sta je, jasno ti je da je to nesto vrlo neprijatno. A dotle mislis da je to samo neka sumica. To mi je bilo vazno, jer mi je to obezbedilo jos jedan nivo poimanja, razumevanja i osecanja u odnosu na izlozbu. Jer, ti nijednog trenutka nisi svestan da li ti je prijatno ili neprijatno. Gde stojis: na obodu drustva, ili si krocio u mracnu sumu koja ce te pojesti, da li ces pobeci nazad u osvetljenu ulicu...?
Koliko danasnjim ljudima uopste moze da se obrati nesto sto je minuciozno i fino?
Mislim da vecina ljudi nema tu privilegiju da mu profesija zahteva da puno sedi, razmislja, oseca, promislja i radi. To je u stvari sloboda. To je takvo jedno ostrvce slobode da se ja nekad prosto uplasim. Uplasim se da li ce mi to neko oduzeti.
Nedavno je Pol Mekarti imao onaj skandalozni rad u Parizu. Da bi mediji pisali o savremenoj umetnosti, ispostavlja se da je neophodno staviti ogroman dildo nasred ulice...
Mislim da su nazalost mediji zbog finansija optereceni time da ne mogu da obrade nijednu temu koja nije izrazito senzacionalna i koja obraduje iskljucivo nasilje i seks. To je tuzno na nivou civilizacije, a ne medija. Kao da su teme prijateljstva, sarma, drugarstva postale toliko beznacajne da niko ne prica o njima. A to je bila tema filmova, knjiga, muzike...
Sta se desilo?
Promenilo se vreme. Svi koji i malo misle se to pitaju i bave se time na ovaj ili onaj nacin. Mislim da je u pitanju strasna promocija vrednosti novca kao jedine religije, jedine mogucnosti da se spases, da ozdravis ako se razbolis, da ti bude bolje ako si tuzan. Nastupilo je brisanje tema koje se ne mogu kupiti novcem.
Sta znaci biti ekstreman u umetnosti danas? Sve je ekstremno: Upalis dnevnik u pola osam i ljudima odsecaju glave.
Evo ova izlozba nije ekstremna, ona se bavi potpuno drugim tkanjem. I to ne u otklonu na ekstremno, nego u nekom komadicu mira i vremena se bavi nekom temom na jedan neekstreman, ali za umetnost primaran nacin - samo s papirom i olovkom. Ubedena sam da ljude to i dalje zanima, nemam dilemu.
Biografija
Simonida Rajcevic je rodena u Beogradu 1974. godine. Diplomirala je 1997, a 1999. godine magistrirala na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu. Dobitnik je DAAD stipendije za prvu godinu postdiplomskih studija u Berlinu. Clan je ULUS-a od 1998. godine. Od 2000. godine radi na Fakultetu likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu. Izlagala je na vise samostalnih i grupnih izlozbi u zemlji i inostranstvu, a postavka u Salonu MSU-a ce trajati do 23. novembra.
Antrfile
"Ljudi, probudite se!"
"Dejvid Birn je nedavno napisao tekst o njujorskoj umetnosti i tome kako je razocaran, pa ga mnogo ljudi sada pljuje, dok ga drugi brane. Razumem one koji za njega sada kazu da je deda koji im soli pamet dok se oni trude i muce u okviru svojih mogucnosti. A njemu su te mogucnosti smesne, i porucuje im: 'Ljudi, probudite se!' Ali, nema budenja", kaze Simonida Rajcevic. Na pitanje zasto ga nema, odgovor je bolno jednostavan: "Zbog kulture novca".
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Simonida Rajcevic: Lanac (2014)
PUT U NOVO
Na sta prvo pomislite kada ugledate rec lanac? Primeri mogu da se krecu od svakodnevnih predmeta do apstrahovanih odnosa zivog sveta predstavljenih simbolima. Negde izmedu se krece i narativ istoimene izlozbe Simonide Rajcevic, novonastalih radova predstavljenih u beogradskoj galeriji G12 HUB, kao deo festivala novih medija Resonate. Tezeci da izbegava hiperprodukciju i ponavljanja, cini se da umetnica u novim poduhvatima trazi izazov, drugaciji nacin izrazavanja i promisljeni pristup upustanja u novu materiju (konceptualno i materijalno). Izlozba Lanac cini taj najnoviji iskorak i eksperiment.
Izlozba se sastoji od tri skulpture-instalacije koje cine jednu multimedijalnu ambijentalnu celinu. Tri vrste zivotinja - bik, gavrani i konj - su tehnikom trodimenzionalne stampe izvedeni u prirodnoj velicini, presvuceni sjajnom crnom bojom. Skulpture podrazavaju figure zivotinja, iako postoji izvesno odstupanje od naturalizma, kroz stilizaciju i brisanje detalja, cemu se doprinosi utisku modela. Moguce je za svaku zivotinju vezati odredenu pricu, posmatranu kao samosvojni element i u korelaciji sa ostalima. Po ulazu u galeriju, posmatraci su suoceni sa bikom na raznju. Bik je jedna od najstarijih dokumentovanih zivotinja na pecinskim zidovima, koriscen mahom za vucu, ishranu i priplod. Vo, kao sterilisani bik, predstavlja uobicajenu trpezu u nasoj sredini gde se visoko ceni meso domacih zivotinja (svinje, jagnjeta, teleta, zivine, konja) i divljaci, a od nedavno i noja, u praznicnim prilikama.
Sa leve i desne strane bika se nalaze dve skupine identicnih gavrana (30), postavljenih na skele. Ovaj segment izlozbe poseduje snazan element intertekstualnosti sa animacijama i citatima proze. Gavrani, de facto jedne od najinteligentnijih ptica, imaju bogat "zivot" u okviru mnogih mitova, ali ipak zauzimaju mracnu nisu u popularnoj imaginaciji kao lesinari i glasnici smrti. Projekcije u vidu video mapiranja likova mladunca jelena Bambija i ptice Vudstoka (Woodstock) preko oba "jata" gavrana stoje u ostrom kontrastu, u neobicnom decje-mracnom, morbidno-nadrealnom sklopu koji oponasa nesto nalik na ples smrti (Totentanz). Oni su takode zaokruzeni formom koja ponajvise nalikuje video igrama trece generacije konzola (8 bita). Cela ova kompozicija je nadopunjena citatima iz knjige Pod jesenjom zvezdom Knuta Hamsuna, koji su ispisani na postoljima svakog gavrana, gde su opisana lutanja po ruralnim podrucjima Norveske, uzivanja u divljini i trazenju mira coveka u prirodi.
Poslednju celinu cini konj koji je postavljen lezeci na podu zasebne prostorije. Konj lezi na podu u pozi koja moze biti shvacena dvosmisleno. Poznavajuci ponasanje konja, njihov san je moguc kako u stojecem, tako i u lezecem polozaju, iako nije jasno da li konj spava ili je mrtav. Prema recima same umetnice, ovaj rad je inspirisan filmom Melanhonija Lasa fon Trira (Lars von Trier), preciznije scenom smrti lika Dzona, kao i mnogobrojnim slikama konja Teodora Zerikoa (Thodore Gricault). Ceo prostor je obuhvacen ambijentalno-eksperimentalnom muzikom autorke Manje Ristic.
Postavka izlozbe i sami radovi daju neposredan uvid u sve tri celine, cija kombinatorika i tumacenje mogu da se krecu u nekoliko pravaca. Sam naziv izlozbe - Lanac - moze da uputi na tehnicki predmet i njegovu siroku upotrebu, ali i figurativno znacenje - od jedinstva i snage, do lisavanja slobode. Kao fizicki predmet, moze se dovesti u vezu sa dve predstavljane zivotinje - bikom i konjem - koje su prosle kroz proces pripitomljavanja od strane coveka, a koji traje vec nekoliko hiljada godina. Lanac ovde cini vaznu kariku u kontroli i upotrebi obe zivotinje, odnosno kao sredstvo podjarmljivanja. Takode, lanac se moze protumaciti i kao vid zavisnosti od coveka, koji predstavlja fizicki neprisutan, ali gradivni idejni element izlozbe. Poigravajuci se sa terminom lanac ishrane, s obzirom da sve tri predstavljene zivotinje zavise od ili su pod velikim (posrednim, kao ne neposrednim) uticajem i sveprisutnoscu coveka, moze se cak reci da se radi o lancu odnosa. Upravo promisljanje odnosa ljudi i "ne-ljudskih" zivotinja cini plodno tlo za refleksiju i razumevanje ove izlozbe.
KONTINUITET
Stvaralastvo Simonide Rajcevic je pretezno okrenuto ljudima, odnosno antropocentricno. Medutim, pojava zivotinja kao subjekta/objekta je najprisutnija u njenom prethodnom umetnickom projektu, izlozbi Ljudske aktivnosti. Bespomocni iz 2012. Kroz intertekstualnu mrezu citata i predstava, na belim carsavima ove celine instalacija, pojavljuju se zivotinje u svojstvu anticko-hriscanskih alegorija iz Danteovog Pakla (lav, panter, vucica), kao i dve predstave konja - u kasu i u lezecem polozaju. Postoji ocigledna paralela sa lezecim konjem, cija je slicna postura prisutna i u izlozbi Lanac.
Povlacenje par paralela sa drugim savremenim umetnicima moze da delimicno pojasni upotrebu zivotinja kroz medij skulpture. Jane Alexander u svojim instalacijama i skulptorama kombinuje predstave zivotinja i ljudi, nedvosmisleno govoreci o pojmovima "zivotinjsko" i "ljudsko" u post-kolonijalnom africkom drustvu. Cai Guo-Qiang (Heritage, The Allegory Of 99 Wolves) i Karen Knorr pak koriste skulpture koje su doslovne replike zivotinja, a cija postavka i prisutnost oneobicuje i transformise ambijent. Katharina Fritsch se kroz monohromne skulpture zivotinja (Elephant, Rat King, Cock) poigrava sa pojavnoscu istih, bilo da je njihova velicina prirodna ili uvecana, koristeci bogatu ikonografiju i ocekivanja posetilaca kao sastavne elemente radova. U poredenju sa ovim primerima, radovi Simonide Rajcevic se oslanjaju na monohromatiku, koriscenje "originalnih" modela koji su bliski prirodnim, naglasavajuci njihovu vrednost kao umetnickih objekata, a ne reprodukcija. Takode, kroz intertekstualnost i odustvo coveka kao sadrzaja radova, otvara se prostor za refleksiju publike.
Imajuci u vidu crnu boju skulptura, kao i sam trodimenzionalni medij instalacije, moguce je povuci jos jedno poredenje - sa umetnicinom prvom samostalnom izlozbom Poslednji preziveli sa Nostroma iz 1995. i skulpturom Tudina (Alien). Ako pokusamo da pronademo slicnosti izmedu Tudina i tri vrste zivotinja, vraticemo se na nas same kao referentnu tacku. U odnosu na dati subjekt (u ovom slucaju ne-ljudski), kroz psiholoski proces trazenja slicnosti i razlika, razvijamo svest o sebi i svojoj posebnosti, individualnosti, kao i karakteristikama (nase) vrste. Kroz proces diferencijacije, uspostavljamo odnos koji moze da se krece od generalizovanog do specificnog, od Mi-Oni do licnijeg Ja-Ti. Ovakav odnos moze da bude jednako vazan kako za uspostavljanje relacija prema zivotinjskom svetu, tako i prema nekim drugacijim ("egzoticnim", "dalekim") kulturama i narodima, pa cak i bicima iz sveta fantazije i naucne fantastike.
PITANJE ZIVOTINJA
Samokriticna nauka je vec odavno prepoznala antropocentrizam u nasem ophodenju prema svetu u kome zivimo. Pomeranje fokusa sa boga (onozemaljsko) ka coveku od vremena Renesanse u Zapadnom svetu i razvojem mahom prirodnih nauka je u prethodna dva veka doprinelo i jacanju svesti prema biosferi, odnosno prostoru Zemlje u kojem zive sva ziva bica. Sve cesce se zagovara biocentrizam, koji je ekoloski svesniji centrizam, ali istovremeno uzdrmava povlascenu ulogu coveka. Medutim, na taj nacin se i veca odgovornost za lanac odnosa, uzroka i posledice, takode pripisuje coveku, kao i promisljanje drugih oblika zivota s kojima delimo zivotni prostor. Sagledano kroz ovu prizmu, cini se da skulpture bika, jata gavrana i konja na izlozbi Lanac nadilaze samu pojavnost predmeta i upucuju na cinilac koji nije opredmecen - na coveka.
Covekovo sagledavanje zivotinja moze da poprimi najrazlicitije oblike, a umetnica naglasava da je velika inspiracija za ove radove predstavljala knjiga Vanese Lem (Vanessa Lem) pod nazivom Nice i filozofija animalnog (Nietzsche and the philosophy of animality). Snazan deo filozofske i religiozne tradicije Zapada je smatrao coveka "razumnom zivotinjom" i upravo su razum i dusa bili karakteristike koje su ljude odvajale od zivotinja. Na ovaj nacin je napravljen ogroman jaz izmedu Nas i Njih. Nice je, prema navedenoj knjizi, smatrao da se ovaj razdor zapravo tice suprotstavljanja civilizacije i kulture, gde je on smatrao kulturu kao agens uspostavljanja veze sa prirodom, zivotinjama, odnosno svetom nesvesnog. Posledicno, ova psiholoska veza se prenosi na prirodu oko sebe i u sebi, kroz animalnost koja predstavlja kontrateg covekovom razumu. Time se takode kritikuje covek koji smatra da je visoko uzdignut od zivotinja, "civilizovan", ma sta cinio u ime razuma i napretka, ne prihvatajuci deo svoje prirode. Niceov primer je samo jedan u nizu koji je pokusao da decentralizuje coveka i da ga "pomiri" sa animalnim, zivotinjskim svetom.
Formiranje znanja i stava prema zivotinjama usko zavisi od drustveno-istorijskog konteksta i vladajuce paradigme, odnosno pretpostavki i pravila koje uzimamo zdravo za gotovo. Ono sto se cesto gubi iz vida je da su paradigme neprestano podlozne promenama. Istorija takode pokazuje kako jedna ista zivotinja moze da bude prihvacena od strane coveka ili ne, sa definisanom ulogom u okviru mitova, svakodnevice, slike sveta i atributima (cak i karakterom) u razlicitim epohama, kulturama, vremenu i zajednicama. Posledicno, ista vrsta moze imati drugaciji ili cak kontradiktoran status - od svete zivotinje, preko saradnika, do "alata" ili stetocine. Zapravo, ne mozemo izbeci da zivotinje posmatramo kroz prizmu uvrezenih shvatanja: kao metafore, (statusne) simbole, protagoniste prica, sujeverja, mitova, i sl, sto se u velikoj meri odrazavalo kroz sve umetnosti. Tome doprinosi i velika savremena produkcija bajki i decije literature, koje svoj koren vuku od Ezopovih basni, kao i animirani filmovi i serije, maskote, igracke, gde zivotinje igraju veliku ulogu. Ovde moramo biti oprezni, jer zivotinje prolaze kroz bitnu transformaciju od svog prirodnog stanja. Pre svega, kroz brojne narative, suocavamo se sa cinjenicom da covek govori o svom drustvu preko zivotinja koje nalikuju coveku i imitiraju ga (u govoru, ponasanju, navikama, izgledu i sl.) - ovakva radnja se naziva antopomorfizam. Suprotno tome, postoji opisivanje covekovog ponasanja dodeljivanjem "zivotinjskih" epiteta, u kojem slucaju se radnja naziva zoomorfizam. U oba slucaja, postoji otklon od "pravih" zivotinja, i ulazi se u interpretaciju i donosenje suda.
Skulpture na izlozbi Lanac ne robuju ni jednom od navedenih morfizama, ali usvajaju nesto sto je karakteristicno za uopstavanja vizuelnih umetnosti. Naime, u svrhu lakse empatije i uspostavljanja odnosa sa posmatracem, cesto se pribegava stilizaciji i uopstavanju protagonista. Detaljan izgled navodi da se radi o nekome ko je jedinstven, poseban, na sta posmatrac reaguje kao da vidi fotografiju, dok sa likovima koji imaju pojednostavljene crte lica sticemo okvir - koji ne lice na nas, ali su dovoljno jednostavni da ih prihvatimo, kao imaginarne nosioce price. Bambi, kao knjizevni i popularni lik iz animiranog filma studija Volt Dizni (Walt Disney), i Vudstok, kao lik iz stripa i animirane serije Peanuts/Carli Braun i Snupi sou, su dodatno pojednostavljeni, kroz pikselizaciju originalnih "junaka". Oni su projektovani preko oba jata gavrana, dodajuci novi sloj narativa. Konj, bik i gavrani poseduju nesto stilizacije, prateci dominantno naturalizam u svojoj osnovi, ali izbegavajuci detalje. Tako su na prvi pogled prepoznatljivi, ali odaju utisak da se radi o predstavama vrsta, a ne pojedinacnih zivotinja. Na neki nacin, predstavljaju modele, kao sto to cine i igracke zivotinja. Vestacki aspekt je naglasen i cinjenicom da gavrani nemaju noge, vec postolja, kao i da je svih 30 primeraka izvedeno iz istog kalupa.
REFLEKSIJA
Vazan pogled na izlozbu predstavlja refleksija publike. Na primer, sagledavajuci skulpturu konja koji lezi, postoji velika sansa da cemo poverovati, makar na trenutak, varci umetnicke transformacije i prihvatiti da ne gledamo (vestacki) predmet, nego sadrzaj, tj. da uspostavljamo odnos sa predstavom. Tako samo "citanje" izlozbe postaje razlicito u odnosu na posmatraca, sto navodi i da se postavi pitanje kakav dodir imamo sa sve tri zivotinje u nasem zivotu. Bilo da se oslanjamo na kontakt koji je posredan, preko dokumentarnih filmova i serija, vesti iz novina, stripova, prica, mitova, animacija i dr, ili neposrednim licnim kontaktom, unapred odredena znanja nam "smestaju" ove zivotinje u odredene uloge. Da li cemo imati najvise empatije sa zivotinjom koja je najvise podjarmljena, najkorisnijom, najprisutnijom u nasoj okolini, ili sa onom o kojoj najmanje znamo, koja nam je u bilo kom smislu bliska, zapravo, koja nam najvise govori o nama samima?
Srdan Tunic
Istoricar umetnosti, nezavisni kustos
Mart 2014.
Lanac _okovi_...
Od dinamicnih radova ispunjenih gestom i citatima koji, bilo da nas tera da gazimo po slikama ili nam priprema postelju, usisavaju posmatraca u urbani svet intenzivnih dozivljaja, Simonida Rajcevic, izlozbom Lanac, pravi izlet u novi umetnicki eksperiment.
Svet nepomicnih zivotinja, do savrsenstva modelovanih i obradenih formi, namece distancu. Tera nas na odmak i razmisljanje, pa cak i zazor, te se nasa recepcija krece u suprotnom smeru od uobicajenog postupka umetnice. Na izlozbi Lanac nema gesta ni slucajnih motiva. Uspostavljena je hladna kontrola nad simbolima, oblikom i izrazajnim sredstvima.
Da se radi o potrebi za uspostavljenjem kontrole nad sopstvenim dozivljajem, o suptilnoj unutrasnjoj igri umetnice u okviru koje se razliciti umetnicki principi bore za prevlast, svedoci citava koncepcija izlozbe. Na samom ulasku u galeriju suoceni smo sa savladanom snagom bika. Zudnja, strast, patnja, snaga, sukob i borba ukroceni su u komjuterskom algoritmu CNC masine za precizno oblikovanje forme. Bik je zrtvovan. Naglaseni volumen tela, oblozen premazom crne visokog sjaja, proburazen je raznjem, ali gotovo groteskno dostojanstveno, kao da se predajom bez borbe uzdigao do mitskog simbola cija je jedina svrha da svedoci o savladanoj lepoti i snazi nekog drugog sveta.
I tu, na granici naseg i njenog sveta, sveta posmatraca i umetnika, stoji jato identicnih gavranova. Precizno programiran do idealnih proporcija, pa zatim serijski repliciran, gavran nas uvodi u svet Bodrijarovskog domena hiperrealnosti. I upravo na samoj ptici, kao glasniku smrti realnog, poigravaju digitalne slike Bambija i Snupijevog pratioca, pticice Vudstok.
Kada je jedan od istaknutih predstavnika Arte povere Janis Kunelis privezao 12 zivih konja za zidove galerije u Rimu 1969 godine, bio je to radikalan cin redefinisanja poimanja objekta umetnosti koji formi pretpostavlja intuiciju. Pa iako nas umetnica, u samoj zavrsnici izlozbe, suocava sa savrsenom formom mitskog Ariona, njen umetnicki postupak je tvrdokorno instinktivan. Sugestivnim simbolickim skulpturama, zavodljivim digitalnim intervencijama i namenski komponovanim zvukom Manje Ristic ona smisljeno diriguje instinktima posmatraca i provocira konflikt realnosti i hiperrealnosti, animalnog i ljudskog, zivog i nezivog, istorije i mita. Cak i kad se sluzi mimetickim postupkom rada masine, kada formalno istrazuje savremene fenomene digitalnog, kada posmatraca ne uvlaci u sopstvenu sliku vec ga gura u sebe samog, Simonida Rajcevic, ostaje dosledna svome slikarskom temperamentu. Sopstvenim sredstvima, svedenom formom ali i samim sadrzajem izlozbe ona daje jedinstven i sasvim autentican doprinos razmatranju tema koje pokrece festival kao sto je Resonate.
Milica Pekic
Ljudske aktivnosti. Bespomocni
Proslo je vise od polovine veka od kada je americki pop art umetnik Robert Rausenberg izlozio jednu od svojih prvih kombinovanih slika u vidu kreveta u prirodnoj velicini u umetnickom prostoru (The Bed 1955). Njegova reakcija na apstraktni ekspresionizam se moze sagledati u uvodenju predmeta iz svakodnevice u umetnicko delo/instalaciju (sto ce vremenom postati obelezje pop arta), kao i u suocavanju sa umetnikovim intimnim prostorom, nimalo apstraktnim ili mistifikovanim.
Simonida Rajcevic svojim novim ciklusom -crtezima na belim carsavima zapocetim 2010. takode pravi otklon od ekspresionizma, ali u ovom slucaju od vlastite slikarske tehnike, pretezno zastupljene u radovima u toku poslednjih deset godina (Tamna zvezda, Zmijski zid, Bez racuna sa kreditne kartice idr). Pojavnost je realisticna, cak u nekim delima naginje i fotorealizmu. Napustanje ekspresivnosti u korist lakse prepoznatljivosti i jasnoce tema predstavlja sredstvo za izrazavanje narativa.
Pred nama stoje dela koja nas svojom tematikom uvlace u jedan lican svet. To je naglaseno cinjenicom da je bela posteljina dobijena od ljudi bliskih umetnici, koriscena i ponovo upotrebljena u drugacijem kontekstu, iako njena fizicka i idejna vezanost za krevet nije narusena. Za razliku od Rausenbergovog kreveta koji je uramljen poput klasicne slike, ovi radovi su pricvrsceni za duseke za dvoje i stoje slobodno u prostoru, oslonjeni na zid u prirodnoj velicini; na taj nacin ove pojedinacne instalacije kreiraju ambijent.
Cini se da dupli krevet - zamisljen kao intiman prostor, zona komfora, utehe, ljubavi, snova i ranjivosti - postaje opredmeceni mentalni prostor. Kroz njega se projektuju iskustva, secanja, fragmenti prica i strahovi ljudi koji kao da su utisnuti na carsavima. Taj prostor je stvoren od citata filmova, pesama, slika, prica, koncepata, omaza, porodicnih fotografija iz mladosti, koji reflektuju svakodnevno iskustvo, u isprepletanom odnosu tri medija - crteza, teksta i muzike koja je prisutna kroz crteze omota LP ploca u prirodnoj velicini.
Slike intimnog prostora neminovno podsecaju na dva emotivna utocista: detinjstvo i ljubavni par koji su prisutni u nekoliko radova u ciklusu. Pesma Milene Markovic Uspavanka cini tekstualni segment koji prati predstavu porodice iz detinjstva, koja je nemo ozvucena albumom Dejvida Bouvija (LP Aladdin Sane, 1973). Omaz fotografu Ricardu Bilingemu kroz prikaz njegovih roditelja iz fotografske serije Ray's A Laugh (1996), dokument jedne neobicne i bizarne porodicne price, cini to utociste ambivalentnim, produbljujuci opseg odnosa i znacenja intimne zone. Konflikti - bilo oni imaginarni ili realni - prete da naruse sigurnost i zonu komfora postelje, poput gerilaca iz filma Apokalipsa danas, kao sveprisutne pretnje (teroristicke opsesije danasnjice?) sa svojim oruzjem uperenim u posmatrace.
Odredeni broj radova tematizuje stare narative koji kroz moderne interpretacije pokazuju svoju vitalnost i aktuelnost. Tako anticka Euripidova tragedija o Medeji dobija savremeno citanje kroz citate scena iz filmova reditelja Larsa fon Trira (1988) i Pjera Paola Pazolinija (1969). Mracna prica o bracnoj izdaji zarad politickog braka, osveti i cedomorstvu je vizuelno predocena sa naglaskom na liku same Medeje. Uspostavlja se korelacija sa pratecim omotima LP ploca - u slucaju fon Trira, buke i distorizije koja se moze vezati sa Medejinim pomracenjem svesti (Lou Reed, LP Metal Machine Music, 1975), dok je Pazolinijeva tragicna junakinja okruzena temom ubistva i smrti (Hsker D, LP Metal Circus, 1983). Drugi segment price o Jasonu i Argonautima je predstavljen kroz ratnike-kosture iz holivudske verzije filma (1963). Povucena je paralela izmedu antickih heroja i super heroja danasnjice, likova izdavacke kuce Marvel Comics: Betmena, Supermena i Srebrnog letaca. Jos jedan stari tekst - Ezopova basna o Decaku koji je vikao vuk - je prisutan kroz citat istoimene pesme muzicarke, umetnice i pesnikinje Peti Smit, posvecene tragicno preminulom muzicaru Kurtu Kobejnu, frontmenu grupe Nirvana.
Zivotinje su jos jedna tema prisutna u ovom ciklusu. Deo njih je inspirisan Danteovim Paklom i predstavljaju zanimljiv primer covekove (samo)spoznaje. Silazak u Pakao je suocavanje sa ljudskim gresima, predstavljenih, izmedu ostalog, kroz anticko-hriscanske alegorije lava, pantera i vucice. Zivotinjsko u coveku, predstavljeno na ovakav nacin - kroz nas svakidasnji, suzeni, intimni prostor, moze se razumeti na vise nacina. S jedne strane, to je san o izgubljenom raju i harmoniji sa prirodom i zivotinjama, a sa druge suocavanje sa primalnim nagonima svakog coveka. Konj, kao jedan od nekadasnjih covekovih najblizih pratioca, vizuelno i tekstualno je verno pracen atmosferom muzickih predlozaka. U jednom radu je padu, u stanju bespomocnosti i napustenosti (Nico, album Behind the iron curtain 1985; Annie Lennox, pesma Loneliness, album Bare 2003.). U drugom je u galopu, slobodan, pun energije (Peti Smit - Radio Ethiopia). Poznavanje muzickih predlozaka dodaje jos jedan, dublji sloj razumevanju i atmosferi radova Simonide Rajcevic. U suprotnom, ploca je u funkciji dekoracije, ali i poziv posmatracu da istrazuje.
Postoje ocekivane podudarnosti ove izlozbe - Ljudske aktivnosti: bespomocni, sa prethodnim ciklusom Tamna zvezda iz 2010. Crna boja pozadine (plasticnih kesa) i bela boja teksta i slika su zamenjene, kao u negativu - inverzijom belim krevetskim platnima i dominantim grafizmom crne boje, sa tek nekoliko naglasaka u drugim bojama. Ove dve kontrastne boje, zapravo kako se smatra u nauci ne-boje, koje cini prisustvo ili odsustvo svetlosti, postaju komplementarne u igri suprotnosti i vecitoj simbolici.
Poredenje sa Rausenbergom deluje mozda suvise retro iz perspektive 2012, medutim opravdano je jer oboje umetnika uvode krevet u umetnicki prostor i oslikavaju ga na sebi svojstven nacin, naglasavajuci pojam privatnog. Licni dozivljaj i prostor ovog ciklusa, opredmecen kroz belu posteljinu i duseke za dvoje, nosi suptilno u sebi staru romanticarsku ideju (i ideal) o sinesteziji, medusobne povezanosti slike, reci i muzike. Ova isprepletanost cini jednu od gradivnih tkiva rada Simonide Rajcevic. Moze se cak reci da su platna dvostruko vizuelno ozvucena - recju i LP plocama.
Da li cujete muziku?
Srdan Tunic
Istoricar umetnosti - kustos
Kad spavamo ... spavamo li ?
Duboka ekspresivnost i poniranje u srediste neizrecenih, utamnjenih i cesto lazima prekrivenih ljudskih odnosa, Simonidino je djelo.
Oslikani carsafi...kako bi isti bili banalni, kada se u tom atributu 'oslikani' ne bi sakrivalo i 'otvarajuce', 'moguce', 'izravno', 'procesualno', 'ljudsko', 'nepatvoreno', 'samotno', 'zajednicko',...Radovi koji otkrivaju osobno zajednici kakvu demistificiraju Lars von Trier ili Paolo Pasolini, zajednici koja u danasnjim uslovima vise nema resursa za empatiju, razumevanje, bivanje udvoje, utroje, a kamoli kao nekad udesetero, udvadesetero u falansterijima koji su danas i opet namenjeni nekim drugim ljudima, ne nama,... nekim izbeglicama, dosljacima, marginalcima, propalicama, Kinezima,...ali ne, nikako ne nama, evropskim gradanima koji placamo uredno svoj porez kako bismo jednog dana uzivali u miru svoje zasluzene mirovine, koju nam nece uzeti nitko, nitko...
Oslikani carsafi...teraju nas da pokrenemo one zadnje miligrame ljudske tvari i pokusamo da preslozimo slike iz svoje vlastite mitologije: majka, otac, omiljeni predmeti iz detinjstva, zivotinje i igracke, hrana i ljubav, susjedi i prijatelji, ljubavi...a onda da ih utvarimo u moguce koncepte neke zajednicke slike sveta, neke drugacije zajednice, nekog idejnog modela alternativne stvarnosti, mozda cak i neke stvarnosti koja je vec bila, ali nije prosla zauvek, nekog paralelnog tretmana sveta i vlastite nutrine. Imaginarij sveta koji ne poznajemo otvara se, a ne plasi nas, mekan je i prebacen preko duseka, dise s nama i otvara nam se...
Carsafi...prvo prekrivaju krevete, razmjestene u nasim vecim i manjim izbama i prebivalistima, pa onda prekrivaju nasa tela, ukotvljujuci ih tako u prostoru koji poznajemo, kako nas nepoznati astrali ne bi ostetili dok spavamo.
Carsafi...tako obicni bi bili, kada i inace ne bi bili oslikani nasim snovima i nocnim morama, umazani menstrualnom krvlju, semenom ili slinom, majcinim mlekom ili tek mrvicama kruha koje su preostale od dorucka donesenog u krevet.
Sonja Lebos
Solidarni u svojoj sobi
Omoti vinilnih ploca sluzili su svojevremeno kao vizuelni i mirisni uvod u "preslusavanje albuma". Drugim recima, u pripremi i tokom slusanja muzike, uvek je ucestvovao i omot kao potpuno ravnopravni deo slusalackog iskustva, neka vrsta uvodnog vodica u svet koji donosi ploca, narocito sa svojim mirisom sveze stampe i cinjenicom da u ruci drzite ozbiljno likovno delo u funkciji pakovanja.
Ritualno otpakivanje i pomno proucavanje omota izdanja uvek su bili deo iste magije nadilazenja stvarnosti. Kad se svi ti prvi utisci pomesaju sa otpevanim recima, koje kao slike odzvanjaju u glavi, dok smo pokusavali da ih prevedemo sa nedovrsenim znanjem engleskog, postajalo bi nam polako jasno da je "preslusavanje albuma" ozbiljan proces ljustenja vise slojeva dela, pre nego sto se do dela dode - neka vrsta procesa otkrivanja sebe kroz muziku i sve sto ide iz nju.
U secanju, ipak, ostaje samo magma pomesanih osecanja koja prati svaku plocu. Osecanja koja smo sa sobom nosili u krevet i premotavali pre spavanja, cesto odlazeci na pocinak smireni ili uzbudeni nekim utiscima koje nismo znali kako da nazovemo. Ponekad mislim da smo u krevete u kojima smo spavali morali da utisnemo neka od tako intezivno prozivljenih putanja misli pokrenutih muzikom.
Kad sam video ove duseke sa omotima ploca, bio sam siguran da intimnost tih trenutaka zapravo dele hiljade, svako izolovan u svom krevetu, a zapravo svi sjedinjeni carobnim dusecima, cija jedna verzija je sada pred nama.
Kreveti su ocigledno kruzili po gradu, a svaki krevet je bio mesto na kojem su se najbolje ploce na svetu dodatno vrtele, dozivljavale i slusale, sve dok - kroz spavace - omoti nisu ostavili trag na krevetima i pripadajucim dusecima. Simonida Rajcevic ih je posle samo prikupila i donela da ih vidimo.
Dragan Ambrozic
Crtezi na posteljini
Izlozba "Ljudske aktivnosti. Bespomocni" Simonide Rajcevic u Galeriji Muzeja Zeleznice i Galeriji "Zvono"
U formiranju slozene umetnicke licnosti Simonide Rajcevic (1974), sa osobenostima tipicnim za njenu generaciju, rok muzika, umetnicki filmovi i odabrana literatura, odigrali su presudnu ulogu. Iz tog konteksta, a u intenzivnoj umetnickoj praksi ove darovite slikarke, razvio se i njen aktivisticki karakter u tematizaciji lociranih fenomena. Tako u svakom novom projekatu-izlozbi ona zauzima analiticku poziciju istrazivaca koji nastoji da fokusira odredena stanja i situacije iz realnog sveta. U kontinuiranom pracenju i predstavljanju ove umetnicke aktivnosti tokom protekle decenije i po angazovana je i Galerija "Zvono", u cijoj upadljivoj programskoj orijentaciji promovisanja stvaralastva mladih umetnika ova slikarka zauzima istaknuto mesto.
"Ljudske aktivnosti. Bespomocni", novi rad Simonide Rajcevic, potvrduje njenu poetsku orijentaciju i spremnost na meru saradnickog kontinuiteta. Realizacija ovog jedinstvenog projekta predstavljena je malim segmentom u Galeriji "Zvono", dok je centralni deo ove instalacije postavljen u Zeleznickom muzeju, ugodnom ali netipicnom prostoru za ovu vrstu radova.
Upadljivo je da slikarka ovim svojim projektom produbljuje odredeni socijalni kontekst, a izborom artefakata intenzivira sopstveno prisustvo u stvarnom okruzenju. Projekat je koncipiran u osetljivoj zoni ljudske privatnosti, sa idejom da osvetli relaciju i vreme, energiju realnih odnosa i njihove fiktivne projekcije.
Intimni prostor ove u osnovi dirljive vizuelne price oznacen je sa 20 autenticnih postelja (slikarki bliskih ljudi), na dusecima za dve osobe i jednim video-radom koji zatvara ovaj tematski krug. Koncept ove instalacije je jednostavan, duseci su uspravljeni, naslonjeni na zid galerije i kao dominantni objekti referiraju na covekovo iskustvo u emotivnom, etickom, estetickom i materijalnom okviru njegove egzistencije. U tako postavljenom konceptu rada, komunikacijski kod i njegov energetski potencijal integrisani su u zonu izlozbe koja istrazuje odnos necije prisutnosti i odsutnosti. Plohe belog krevetskog rublja preuzetog iz realnog zivotnog prostora, sa svim tragovima i znacima koje posteljinu cini nasim najintimnijim prostorom izmedu sna i jave, ispunjene su figuralnim crtezima koji upucuju na skup okolnosti u kojima te cinjenice postoje.
Sam naslov projekta "Ljudske aktivnosti. Bespomocni" pojacava ekspresiju idejnog i materijalnog bica radova, na kojima autorka intervenise bogatim figuralnim crtackim tkivom, jer njene veste ruke premrezavaju zapisima velike beline ovih nekadasnjih posteljnih carsava. Sam rad, u ambijentu velikog i osvetljenog prostora Zeleznickog muzeja, poput razvijenog kolaznog eseja, fragmentizuje zonu razlicitog iskustva. U tim vizuelnim jedinicama, do metaforicnog su dovedene relacije vidljivih slika/crteza i reci/teksta sa crtezima omota za ploce cuvenih rok sastava. Oni poentiraju moc asocijacije, jer muziku sa ovih vinilnih ploca mogu "cuti" samo oni koji je vec znaju. Aktuelni prostor ovog rada otvara prostor "ljudskih igara" zasnovanim na komunikaciji, intimnosti, vremenu, dogadaju..
Ljiljana Cinkul
Objavljeno u listu Politika 14.05.2012.
Jun 2010, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Putovanje kroz noĆ
Slike na kesama za dubre: Simonida Rajcevic u galeriji Perptuel
Svakako nije u pitanju parada najgorih. Tu su John Keats, Lord Byron ili William Blake, Rimbaud, Sylvia Plath pa i Dylan Thomas sa svojim zavodljivim, uareno mracnim stihovima, pesme Kurta Cobaina. Nick Cave i stalno iznova Depeche Mode, a tu i tamo i Sarah Kane: No one can know what the night is like. Tamna zvezda je naslov rada Simonide Rajcevic, instalacije koja citav prostor ispunjava crteima, i prua ba to to obecava: putovanje kroz vie vekova romanticarske, a povremeno i crnoromanticarske tamne strane Moderne.
Izloba se trenutno moe videti u galeriji Perptuel u Frankfurtu (Oppenheimer Strae 39).
Rodena u Beogradu 1974., umetnica podjednako ozbiljno shvata unutranje dranje i umiljenu pozu te u svojim crteima uljanim pastelima na tamnosivim kesama za dubre mea postojece slike sa sopstvenim radovima i fragmentima teksta. Pop s poezijom, Seks droge i rokenrol sa ikongrafskim slikama istorije umetnosti. Tu su i osvrt na Duchampovu Fontaine kao i portret Michalea Jacksona, parafraza Blakeovog Demijurga, ba kao i slike iz porno magazina. Moglo bi se reci da je u pitanju avanturizam, drskost ili u naletu samokritike poza koja se hrani klieom, ali ne moe se reci da ne funkcionie.
Ne samo zato to prikazivanje citavog niza pesnika, slikara i muzicara koji spadaju u prerano ugasle zvezde sazveda umetnosti u velikoj meri relativira pricu o uobicajenom mladalackom romantizmu. Nije dovoljan razlog ni to to putniku, koji na ovom putovanju kroz noc zalazi sve dublje, odjednom vie ne izbijaju iz glave Rilkeovi stihovi, koji su ovde nali svoju rezonantnu kutiju. Bezmalo kao da su napisani u cast ovom mestu, u cast spaenih i izgubljenih dua ovog Panteona:
" Hteli su cvetati,
a cvetati isto je to i lepim biti,
ali mi elimo zreti i dozreti,
to znaci nastojati, a i tamniciti"
Ovih stotinak brzo nastalih radova, uglavnom belih na tamnosivoj pozadini sa mestimicnim akcentima jarkocrvene, ono su to nadasve izvlaci Rajcevicevu iz svih romanticarskih implikacija i predstavlja je kao suverenu majstoricu crtacke vetine koja se virtuozno igra sa tekstom i slikom, anrovima i stilovima.
Nije vano to neki od ovih listova ne bi mogli da stoje sami za sebe. Ova gusta i mracnom senkom obavijena, ali utoliko zavodljivije treperava Tamna zvezda ispoljava zapanjujucu snagu sugestije kao prostor u kome se trivijalnosti dodeljuje mesto pored Rilkeovih ili Rimbaudovih stihova, gde Courtney Love stoji pored Gottfrieda Benna, a pejzai pored portreta, grafita i kompozicija mrtve prirode.
Izloba u frankfutskoj Galeriji Perptuel u Oppenheimer Strae 39 otvorena je do 25. juna od utorka do cetvrtka od 14:00 do 18:00, subotom od 11:00 do 14:00
Kristof ite
Jun 2010, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
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11.04.2010. Dnevni list Danas
SNAGA I TOPLINA UMETNICKE POSVECENOSTI
Simonida Rajcevic je zaduila svetki rokenrol svojom aktuelnom izlozbom Tamna zvezda u galeriji Zvono, a zatim i Beograd sopstvenim privlacenjem u njega citavim sazvedem popularne kulture, rasutim diljem sveta, u cije zvezde dakako spada i gospodica Patti Smith kao jedna od njenih bazicnih inspiracija. I, da ne bude zabune, Smitova je doslovce bila prisutna na otvaranju ove izlozbe u ponedeljak 5. aprila u Vinjicevoj ulici. Njihov susret izgleda da je posve nalikovao opisu onog susreta Patti Smith sa njenim pak velikim idolom Bobom Dilanom, objavljenom u sada vec cuvenom intervjuu za magazine Rolling Stone 1976. godine. Cuda se zaista dogadaju ponekad.
Izabrane licnosti su meavina portreta meni vanih osoba iz mog privatnog ivota, kojima se divim iako ih vidam svakoga dana, kao i rokenrol ikona i poznatih umetnika. Na istom mestu nali su se portreti : River Feniks, Olivera Katarina, De Snou, Milena Markovic, Pati Smit, Robert Mepltorp, Trejsi Emin, Oleg Novkovic, Karl Marks, il Delez, Sonja Vukicevic, Kortni Lav, Sara Kejn, kao i citati : grupa Hole, Rembo, Bajron, The Streets, Pati Smit, Volt Vitmen, Alen Ginzberg, Bukovski, Vilijam Blejk, inejd OKonor, Bob Dilan, Lusinda Vilijams
Nacin na koji ste radili svoje crtee, izabrani materijal i poseban kvalitet mogucih uglova i posmatranja od strane publike njihovom culnom aparaturom ne samo optickom- takode su specijalni takode ?
Rad je prostorna instalacija, koja se sastoji od velikog broja crtea napravljena uljanim markerima na plastici i gumi. Sa obzirom da ovo nije klasican crtacki materijal, moda bi za publiku zanimljivije od mog opisivanja rada bilo da ga sami pogledaju i doive.
Izlozba ima i svojevrsni soundtrack ?
Tako je, to je audio rad Manje Ristic i Ivana Kadelburga, koji je posebno napravljen za ovu izlobu. Rad traje 57 minuta i sastavljan je od tekstualnih citata na cetiri jezika kao i od autorske muzike nekih od najtalentovanijih evropskih bendova koji se bave eksperimentalnim i improvizacionim muzickim performingom i muzickih citata poznatih rokenrol pesama.
Sada je vec opte znano da je vau izlobu posetila i Pati Smit, to je jedinstveno iskustvo, pretpostavljam, za umetnika poput vas, narocito ako se ima na umu da se njen lik pojavljuje najmanje dva puta predocen ovom prilikom kako je izgledao va susret i kakve vam je sve ivotne i umetnicke savete dala na otvaranju u ponedeljak ?
Moji prijatelji su danima radili na tome da sakriju od mene da ce Pati Smit posetiti moju izlobu jer je vec videla moje ranije radove i dopali su joj se. Sat vremena sam se borila sa gravitacijom i mucila da se saberem dovoljno da mogu artikulisano da govorim. Tako je izgledao manje vie na susret. saveti koje sam dobila su prilicno privatni, te ih ne bi sada iznosila, ali mislim da cu pred svako spavanje morati sebi da ih ponavljam jer su za mene od velike vrednosti. Ono to jeste za javnost je da mi je ova velika dama rokenrola rekla da joj je izuzetno drago to je dola na ovu izlobu, kako zbog toga to joj se dopala instalacija i audio rad Manje Ristic koju je posebno pohvalila, tako i zbog toga to je osetila izuzetnu atmosferu, neto to je ona nazvala meavinom snage, topline, umetnicke posvecenosti i porodicnog zajednitva, koja je po njenim recima ono to cini jedan rad uspenim, vidljivim i snanim. Za to su zasluni moji prijatelji i ekipa koja je radila na samoj tehnickoj realizaciji ovog rada, moji galeristi, i okupljeni ljudi na ovom otvaranju. Jo krace, parafraziracu : Ova snana zajednica ljudi koju ste stvorili cini da snaga i zvuk rada dodirne mnoge druge ljude.
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11.04.2010. dnevni list Politika, Kulturna rubrika
NE ODUSTAJ, REKLA MI JE PATI SMIT
Slike na kesama za dubre: Simonida Rajcevic u galeriji Perptuel
Nisam znala da ce na otvaranje moje izlozbe doci cuvena Pati Smit. To je bilo iznenadenje koje su mi priredili moji prijatelji Milena Markovic, Oleg Novkovic, Ljuba Boovic i ostali. Pati Smit je bila nekoliko dana u Beogradu privatno jer se drui sa enom Ralf Fajnsa koji ovde snima film kae umetnica Simonida Rajcevic autorka izlobe Tamna zvezda koja je otvorena 4. aprila u beogradskoj galeriji Zvono.
Iznenadenje je pripremano danima. Simonidini prijatelji, od kojih jedan radi sa ekipom Fajnsovog filma Koriolan , odlucili su da cuvenoj americkoj pevacici Pati Smit dostave Simonidine kataloge sa prethodnih izlobi, kako bi je motivisali da dode na njenu najnoviju izlobu.
Danima su me zamajavali, dok sam ja bila u galeriji, neko ostane sa mnom da me zadrava, a drugi ode kod mene kuci da, kao, neto uzme. Ustvari, uzeli su mi sve kataloge i nosili na snimanje filma. Kau da je bilo napeto,urba, pa je moj prijatelj Ljuba koji radi na filmu silazio sa skele da bi ih preuzeo. Kada sam na otvaranju videla Pati, mislim da sam se paralisala, a onda me je obuzelo ogromno uzbudenje kae Simonida Rajcevic.
Sa obzirom da je na nekoliko crtea Pati Smit i delovi iz njenih pesama, Simonida Rajcevic je mislila da svojim prijateljima priredi iznenadenje, ali ispalo je obrnuto, i zanimljivo je da pre otvaranja niko nije ni znao ta je tacan sadraj izloenih radova.
Pati Smit se zadrala na izlobi oko sat vremena. Paljivo je gledala crtee realizovane belim markerom na crnim najlon kesama kojima je od plafona pa do poda optocen prostor galerije.
Kada je pogledala radove, povukla je nau umetnicu u stranu i rekla je ta joj se najvie dopada. Simonida kae da je spomenula tri crtea, ali od uzbudenja nije bila u stanju da zapamti koji su.
Onda su ljudi poceli da je vuku, da se fotografiu sa njom, a ja sam joj se izvinjavala za takvu atmosferu. Uasno sam bila zbunjena, mislim da sam mucala. Pati Smit mi je rekla da je ona navikla na takve situacije i da je to deo njenog posla. Rekla mi je da to mora biti i moj posao i predloila da se fotografiemo. Dala mi je nekoliko saveta u vezi sa mojom umetnocu, ali ne bih sada javno o tome govorila. Mogu da kaem da mi je rekla da moram da budem uporna, da ne odustajem, jer je ivot dug. Takode mi je rekla da je na izlobi u Zvonu osetila atmosferu zajednitva, a posebno joj se dopao audio rad Manje Ristic koji se sve vreme cuje u pozadini istice Simonida Rajcevic
Na crteima nae umetnice nalaze se portreti iz intimnog okruenja, zatim poznate licnosti, rok zvezde koje su na vie nacina obeleile njeno odrastanje, sazrevanje, umetnost. Na levom zidu nalazi se portret Pati Smit, a na plafonu, ova rok pevacica sa svojim velikim prijateljem cuvenim fotografom Robertom Mepltropom kada su bili mladi. Mepltrop je umro od side.
Bila je vrlo dirnuta kada je videla taj crte dodaje Simonida Rajcevic (1974) inace docent na fakultetu likovnih umetnosti u Beogradu.
Citat iz cuvene pesme Glorija ispisan je na portretu nae poznate dramske spisateljice Milene Markovic.
Kao da smo prizivale dogadaj, Milena i ja smo nedeljama pre izlobe pevale i prepevavale Gloriju na najrazlicitije nacine kae umetnica.
Jedna grupa crtea posvecena je radovima iz istorije umetnosti, kao to su Dianov pisoar i ve-ce olja, kao i slicni radovi Sare Lukas. Tu je i Frensis Bejkon sa radom na kome se takode pojavljuje motiv ve-ce olje na kojoj je umro njegov prijatelj vece uoci otvaranja Bejkonove izlobe. Prikazani su i detalji iz filma Skupljaci perja, koji je, kako kae Simonida Rajcevic, bio vaan u njenom ivotu.
Tamna zvezda Simonide Rajcevic je tuan univerzum sastavljen od licnosti, ikona umetnosti, literature i muzike ciji je ivot obeleen tragikom.
I Pati Smit je jedna od njih buduci da su joj u roku od godinu dana umrli mu, brat, i najbolji drug. Tu su i De Snou ili Kortni Lav i Kurt Kobejn iz vremena kada su bili srecno zaljubljeni.
Tamna zvezda ce posle galerije Zvono biti predstavljena publici u Nemackoj.
MARIJA OREVIC
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April 2010, dnevni list Blic
TRAGICNO OSECANJE IVOTA
Simonida Rajčević (Beograd, 1974) magistrirala je 1999. u klasi Momčila Antonovića. Od 2000. radi na FLU u Beogradu. Dosad je imala devet samostalnih izložbi, od kojih dve u inostranstvu, u Erfurtu i Milanu, a ova joj je šesta u „Zvonu“.
Najnoviji rad „Tamna zvezda“ je instalacija koja čini 150 crteža. Dominira ljudska figura nacrtana belim markerima na crnim najlon-kesama kojima oblepljuje zidove galerije. Svaki crtež prati kratak tekst kojim umetnica ukazuje na neki trenutak svog života. I pod galerije prekriven je tamnom gumom iscrtanom markerom. Ulaskom u galeriju, gledalac zapravo ulazi u rad, a gazeći ostavlja sopstveni trag na njemu.Instalaciju prati snimak fantazmagoričnih zvukova i reči.
Ocena : Simonida ostvaruje direktnu interakciju sa publikom, što je i cilj svake instalacije. Svojim citatima i onih pozajmljenih od Sare Kejn, kao što su „trenutci poput ovog nikada ne potraju“ ili „ Ti sebi dopuštaš ovo stanje očajničkog besmisla...“ pojačava temu rada : tragično osećanje života. Tamna pozadina upućuje na teskobu; zvezda je ona sama to jest njena energija koju crtežom beleži kao trag sopstvenog prisustva na Zemlji, odnosno u galaksiji. Kontrast između univerzalnosti teme i privremenosti najlona je nameran jer posmatrač po izlasku iz galerije (rada) biva obuzet ključnim životnim pitanjem prolaznosti.
Post scriptum : Simonida jeste eksplicitna u svojim porukama, ali je daleko od tzv. novog nihilizma koji je Kejnova promovisala u pozorištu. Sarina dela su brutalnošću šokirala javnost, Simonidina je teraju na razmišljanje. Kod obe umetnost izvire iz života i zato ima smisla. A život ? – ima nade !
MILENA MARJANOVIC
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RAZBIJANJE TABUA
Neobicna energija Simonide Rajcevic je opet na delu. U galeriji Zvono trai Tamnu zvezdu u prostoru pretvorenom u oslikanu pravoslavnu crkvu ili Dibifeovu pecinu, puneci scenama svaki slobodni milimetar. Pod nije u mozaiku vec u islikanim tamnim kesama za odlaganje dubreta u kontejner, i ne samo kontejner. Zidovi i plafon su takode prekriveni tamnim kesama za dubre umesto malterom pripremljenim za freske. Scene na njima nisu iz crkvenih Hristovih itija i ostalih ciklusa vec prikazi ovozemaljskih ljubavi, patnji, smrti i razbijanja tabua seksa iza cega dolaze tri tacke : ... Nema ustanovljenog redosleda svojstvenog srednjovekovnim manastirima. To je prasak koji je, ujedno, i stvaranje i smak, a deava se u celokupnom njenom opusu, od prvih nastupa do danas, samo je snaga sagorevanja drugacija. Raniji Zmijski zid je zamenjen Tamnom zvezdom, odnosno redosled dogadanja tei haosu.
Preciznije : sila sagorevanja raste ali nita ne strada u plamenu poput nesagorive masline u Zavetnoj prici. Sve plamti, ari, ali ne unitava. I njeni mucenici, vie od cetrdesetoro, ili moda manje, nije ni vano, sagorevaju u tom plamenu koji izvire iz due ali ne pri telo. Beli flomaster na tamnoj podlozi, sa tek tu i tamo ponekim koloristickim akcentom upotpunjuje atmosferu na kojoj umetnica insistira. Tema nije slucajno izabrana niti je dola niotkuda. Vecno postoji krijuci se u dubini osecanja Simonide Rajcevic. Deluje paradoksalno da se u tolikom crnilu, mraku, tunelu bez kraja odigrava neto to slavi radost i sladostrace, ljubav i razljubu, plamen i mrak. Takav poduhvat zahteva snagu doivljaja i snagu iskrenosti da se saopti bez zabrinutosti da li je to dobro ili zlo. Ona, u krajnjoj tacki tame, slavi svetlost koja obasjava iznutra. Njen slikarski postupak cini to mogucim i uverljivim, odnosno siguran crte i jasno profilisane scene izvedene sa merom, ukoliko se mera ne shvati isuvie bukvalno
Vasilije B. Sujic
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21.Feb.2008, 12:00, Izvor: Politika
U carstvu Čula i boje
Postavka Snakewall Simonide Rajcevic u galeriji Zvono
Savremena umetnicka produkcija projektovana kroz galerijsku praksu danas je veoma razudena, a da bi se nove pojave na recentnoj sceni jasno uocile, izdvojile i pratile, neophodni su velika profesionalna posvecenost, odredeni afinitet, prepoznatljiv programski koncept i strategija same galerije. U tomkontekstu, Galerija Zvono je danas jedna od uspelih primera na naoj kulturnoj sceni.
Naime, svojim programima u znaku afirmisanja mladih autora zauzela je upadljivu poziciju aktivnog profilisanja nove umetnicke scene u 21. veku. U grupi mladih autora koje ova galerija promovie je i Simonida Rajcevic (1974); uspena poslovna saradnja na relaciji umetnik galerija u slucaju Rajcevic Zvono ocita je u slikarkinim (beogradskim) samostalnim izlobama koje su tokom protekle decenije realizovane u ovom nevelikom galerijskom prostoru u Vinjicevoj ulici. Cineci jedan upadljiv pomak ka umreavanju u sloeni internacionalni sistem komunikacije ideja, licnosti, dogadaja i novca, Zvono je, takode, proteklih godina u grupi odabranih autora predstavilo i rad Simonide Rajcevic na sajmovima umetnosti u Becu, Kelnu, Moskvi.
Umetnicki koncept Simonide Rajcevic fundiran je u poetici nove slike i njenim neoekspresionistickim tokovima. Vera u slikarski cin i sam proces crtanja i slikanja potvrdena je u novom radu Snakewall, monumentalnoj zidnoj instalaciji specijalno projektovanoj prema gabaritima Zvona. Ovaj crte-slika na platnu, kao nepregledan friz prati i pokriva zid galerije od poda ka plafonu i svojom vizuelnom i energetskom tenzijom gotovo da fizicki osvaja prostor i sugerie njegovu ambijentalnost. U lavirintskom toku scene pratimo fragmentisane segmente kompozicije u kojima crtacko tkivo figuracije presecaju crno-beli ekspresivni zapisi grafita. Crteom su skicirani pasai ljudske telesnosti pritisnuti poudama, strahom od pragreha, kazne i alijenacije.
U drugom delu ovog zmijolikog toka barokizirana rasko pikturalnih vrednosti crvene boje prerasta u estoki dijalog razlicitih memorijskih kodova. Ocito, slikarka svoju uporinu tacku ovoga puta nalazi u dijalogu kardinalnih primera iz istorije umetnosti i savremenog umetnickog diskursa. Narativni tok se odvija izmedu skica za veliku istorijsku kompoziciju starog majstora mikelandelovsko-rubensovsko-elgrekovskog uzora i konvulzivnih svojstava hiperkonzumne civilizacije 21. veka. Uz citiranje erotskih kadrova iz poznatih filmova, ovo oslukivanje razlicitih vremena razvija se do tacke visokog dramskog naboja.
U razlicitim citatnim tackama poznatih ikonografskih obrazaca subjektivnog i istorijskog secanja slikarka, zapravo, prati tok unutranjeg vremena i/ili ritma. Stvarajuci sopstveni umetnicki Vavilon u radu Snakewall (Zmijski zid), Simonida Rajcevic fokusira vecne teme oslukuje razlicite kodove vremena, arhetipove Erosa i Tanatosa kao i njihovo troenje i zaborav, a to jesu fenomeni koje svaka generacija kodira na svoj jezik-vreme. I sam naziv postavke Snakewall sadri vieznacne konotacijeu kojima su mitska hronologija i odnos BogCovek i sakralnosvetovno transferisani u domen imperativa vremena sada i ovde i njegovih pobrkanih znacenja i brzina. O transponovanju odabranih motiva u impresivne vizuelne celine pisala je za ovu postavku Danijela Pureevic. U raskoni slikarski talenat Simonide Rajcevic uvericete se odlaskom na izlobu.
Ljiljana Cinkul
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SNAKE – WALL
Stari Egipćani su
verovali da je svako ljudsko biće sastavljeno od fizičkih i duhovnih
delova koji se nazivaju aspekti (pojave). Osim tela, svaka osoba ima
šwt (senku), ba (ličnost ili dušu), ka (životnu energiju) i (ren)
ime.
(Wikipedia)
Prateći prostiranje
zida, Simonida Rajčević pravi svojevrsan lavirint, poput hodnika
egipatske grobnice u kojima je život likovnih tela indukovan mitskom
hronologijom. Ova piramidalna asocijacija daje Simonidinim telima
narativnu simboliku, uvlačeći posmatrača u ugaono težište slike.
Tada posmatrač shvata da su zmije, kao i ostala bića, samo deo
gradacijskog niza koji, ipak, ishodi vantematskim rešenjem.
Pošto je sama
priroda platna da bude veštački postavljeno na beton, ono će, pre
ili kasnije, ostaviti svoje zidove u konačnosti gradjevinskog
završetka, a upravo će taj preljubnički čin doneti novi
interpretativni ugao, svakoj narednoj pozadini sa kojom ove slike
budu sjedinjene.
Zmije su ovde da
uplaše bogove, ali ne i likovni put slobodan u svojoj konotativnoj
slojevitosti. Ovim Simonida Rajčević integriše zapadno putovanje sa
istočnim prostorom. Na toj graničnoj teritoriji bogovi su sastavni
deo istočne mimetike, ali su zato njihova tela žrtve zapadne likovne
gozbe koju slikarka, poput Dionosa, prinosi ničeanskoj istoriji
sveta.
Marko Kostić |
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ZMIJSKI ZID
Tajfunskom silinom Simonida Rajčević preleće sveukupnim
civilizacijskim pejsažem tragajući za suštinom ljudske telesnosti,
seksualnosti, greha, tabua. Izveštaj sa svojih preleta ona je
uobličila u dva slikana friza – dva monumentalna Zmijska zida.
Jedan
Zmijski zid je po svojoj strukturi i kompoziciji više
linearno narativan, postupan, analogan. Drugi je fragmentaran,
skokovit, bliskiji digitalnom jezičkom kdu. No, oba su žestoka u
ekspresiji, dramatici, naboju, oba poseduju tenziju i napon
karakterstičan za materiju pred samo pucanje i eksploziju.
Ključni
elemenat ovih zidova je, naravno, zmija – mnogoznačni simbol:
prvobitnog ljudskog, biblijskog greha, ali i simbol koji u sebi
objedinjuje aspekte htonskog i zemaljskog, vode i vatre, negativno i
pozitivno načelo, ali i principe muškog i ženskog određujući polnu
dvoznačnost.
Bitnu
potpornu ulogu u konstrukciji Zmijskog zida svakako ima i zid
– barijera prema nepoznatom, ograničenje, prepreka, linija
razdvajanja, ali i snažan nosilac civilizacijskih poruka – od Zida
plača, preko Kineskog zida, do Berlinskog zida, pa do mnogih
bezimenih zidova.
Ostvareni u poetskom ključu Stvaranja sveta (gde je
implicirana kako priča o grehu, tako i priča o zmiji), sa
podrazumevajućom aromom dramatike i patosa, ovi frizovi odjekuju
tutnjavom i grmljavinom božjeg gneva koji je usledio počinjenju
prvog ljudskog greha i koji je razorio čedan i idiličan edenski
svet. Tvoreći vlastite monumentalne kompozicije Simonida Rajčević
bira i oslanja se na elemente iz opštecivilizacijskog fundusa, pre
svega one naglašene telesnosti i Erosa, koji podržavaju njenu misao
- od antičke skulpture, preko mikelanđelovskog, elgrekovskog,
rembrantovskog, rubensovskog, do heringovsko-baskijatskog slikarskog
kda, uz primese Goje i literature Borisa Vijana, pa sve do
reminiscencija i citata iz Emanuele, Poslednjeg tanga u
Parizu, Carstva čula, francuskih erotskih filmova. I sve to sa
značajnim uplivima grafita, stripa, filmskih postupaka,
rock'n'rolla... Crno, belo i crveno, nekad više crtački, nekad
više slikarski, u dramatičnom vihoru Erosa i Tanatosa.
Simptomatična tačka jednog od ova dva Zmijska zida, onog
kompaktnijeg narativnog toka, svakako jeste mesto gde je ostvaren
rez/prelaz iz boje u crno-belo (tim višeznačnim rezom je, između
ostalog, označen i prelaz sa likovnih na filmske citate). Negde na
granici ta dva sveta, u bojenom polju, kao dominantna figura
prepoznaje se figura jednog od Laokonovih sinova sa poznate El
Grekove slike Laokon. Laokon i sinovi ili Laokonova
grupa, često interpretiran predložak u skulpturi i slikarstvu
od antike do današnjih dana, otelotvorenje je mita o trojanskom
svešteniku Laokonu. Na njega i njegove sinove Apolon je poslao dve
zmije koje će ih posle dramatične borbe zauvek odvesti u mrak
htonskog sveta. No, malo je poznato da Laokon na sebe i na svoje
potomstvo Apolonov gnev nije navukao isključivo svojim učešćem u
Grčko-trojanskom ratu, već i time što je mnogo ranije prekršio
sveštenički zakon time što se oženio i imao sinove, i što se usudio
da obljubi svoju ženu u svetilištu pred Apolonovim kipom.
Nemački
arheolog i istoričar umetnosti, Johan Joakim Vinkelman, govoreći o
antičkoj Laokonovoj grupi, u 18. veku, ukazuje na paradoks utiska
zadivljujuće lepote dok se zapravo posmatra scena umiranja i
posrnuća. I upravo takvim suspensom Erosa i Tanatosa Simonida
Rajčević objedinjuje sve aktere ova dva friza u jednu veliku
Laokonovu porodicu povezanu u zmijsko klupko.
Danijela Purešević
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AKRILNA
POPODNEVA
Italijanska umetnost
petnaestog veka, odnosno period poznatiji kao renesansa, medju
ostalim korenitim promenama uvela je ljudsko telo kao efektivnu
jedinicu predstavljenog prizora, priče I emocionalnog karaktera.
Uprošćeno, karakter figure nije zavisio ni od fiziognomije (
individualnog karaktera), ali ni od striktnih religijskih kanona
koji su konzumaciju slike predstavljali kao trenutak duhovnog
uzdizanja.
Slika
je pre svega bila odredjena nacinom na koji se figura pokreće.
Alberti će u svom Traktatu o slikarstvu napisati i sledeće: “Postoje
pokreti tela : narastanje, skupljanje, oboljevanje, ozdravljenje,
pokreti s jednog mesta na drugo mesto. Mi slikari koji hoćemo da
pokažemo pokrete duha pokretima delova tela , koristimo samo
pokretanja s jednog na drugo mesto”. Drugim rečima otkriva se da se
tek relacijom jednog tela u odnosu na drugo na slici ostvaruje
izraz, i time u umetnost nastupa era teatralnosti.
Međutim, “stari majstori” prizivani iz prošlosti na slikama Simonide
Rajčević, nisu umetnici petnaestog, već šesnaestog, pa i
sedamnaestog veka, umetnici kao što su Mikelanđelo, Karavađo, Roso,
Rubens, a posebno Tintoreto i El Greko. To su umetnici kod kojih
pokreti i relacije između tela nisu samo plastički znaci koji
određuju kompoziciju slike kroz albertijevski model
“površina-član-telo-slika”.
Kod
njih je telo ekstatično, dominantno ali ranjivo, ono što uzrokuje
ili predstavlja cilj božanske intervencije, telo čija je anatomija
izložena deliričnom slikarskom eksperimentisanju, skraćivanjima ili
dodeljenom anaturalističkom koloritu: takvo telo stavljeno u
nemoguće položaje ustvari postaje i centralna metafora
transformacije koju umetnost obavlja. Mikelanđelovska figura
serpentinata, kao uzorone umetnosti koja se u istoriji označava kao
maniristička ( I figura koju je Alberti odbacivao kaoekscesno
neujednačenu jer “otkriva prednju I zadnju stranu istovremeno”, bila
je mobilna forma upoređivana sa izgledom plamena , figura koja je
sve manje zavisila od realnih osobina i potencijala tela a sve više
od istraživanja graničnih duhovnih i fizičkih situacija u kojima ono
biva predstavljeno.Ali takođe I zahvaljujući čudesnim mogućnostima,
izvitoperenjima ovakve figure, prostor slike sve je manje bio
pozornica a sve više specifičan prostor u kojem se zakoni
gravitacije sve manje simuliraju a iluzija sve više odvija s obe
imaginarne strane slikane površine.
Za razliku od
slikarstva koje je u poslednjih nekoliko godina na beogradskoj sceni
s razlogom privlačilo najviše pažnje – a to je takozvano “slikarstvo
u prvom licu”, ego–slikarstvo u kojem se identifikacija odvija
prvenstveno preko lica i mreže uzvraćenih pogleda ( i koje je u
nekom svom dalekom predtekstu duboko vizantijsko) – slikarstvo
Simonide Rajčević veoma odlučno i ubedljivo nameće centralnost tela
i njegovih gestova kao ključnu misteriju umetnosti i iskustva
devedesetih. U ovom smislu slike starih majstora, odnosno izabrani
fragmenti tih slika, služe kao tradicionalni modeli telesne
afektacije koji se tehnikom akrilika ( a koji simonida koristi)
prenose u svet brzih rezultata i medijske manipulativnosti. Međutim,
I “zanatski” gledano, Simonidini “expres stari majstori” pokazuju da
neke osobenosti njenih uzora mogu itekako da budu ponovo
artikulisane u umetnosti našeg vremena. Njeno slikarstvo je punog
zamaha, “plamenih “poteza, orijentisano ka plastici figura
postignutoj toplim ali I “otrovnim” koloritom, sa tek po kojom
hladnom senkom.
Kao
takvo ono je i sveže i sasvim dovoljno “bolesno” za vreme u kom
živimo. Izbor akrilika zanimljiv je i konceptualno, jer akrilik je
tehnika dvadesetog veka, boja koju je Polok prosipao po svojim
platnima, boja nepogrešivo ujednačenih površina minimalnog
slikarstva, ali i tehnika koju je jos dvadesetih prva počela da
koristi jedna izmeštena ali uticajna grupacija meksičkih muralista.
Akrilik se tako prvobitno i pojavljuje kao medijator između ogromnih
površina, dominantnosto prestavljenih tela i nepikrivene socijalne
angažovanoisti.
Postavka slika kojom se u prostoru galerije Zvono ostvaruje sabijena
parafraza onih agresivnih slikanih komora nalik Sikstinskoj kapeli,
svakako da se nadovezuje na instalaciju ove umetnice izvedenu 1995.
Pod nazivom Poslednji preživeli sa Nostroma, u kojoj je savremeni SF
predložak( filmmovi iz ciklusa Alien) , iskorišćen kao metaforična
artikulacija kurentnih socijalnih, seksualnih i političkih odnosa,
nastalih novim feminističkim teorijama i uopšte mrvljenjem
partijarhata s jedne, i neizlečivim virusima i ratovima s druge
strane. I u slučaju ove instalacije ( kao rezultatu savremenih
umetničkih “metoda” kojima Simonida itekako vlada) i u slučaju
serije slika koja je pred nama (kao rezultatu tradicionalnog
slikarskog nerva), telo je fokus “aktualnog iskustva”, glas prirode
koji prisustvo u kulturi izražava sopstvenom ugroženošću.
Na
svakoj Simonidinoj slici nalaze se tela u pokretu preuzeta sa više
predložaka, međutim ovakva kombinacija fragmenata ne poziva na
dekodiranje alegorijskog značenja, karakteristično za slikarsvo
osamdesetih, već stavlja u prvi plan pitanja logike prestavljanja
telesnih manifestacija. Ipak, u ovom slikarstvu će zahtevni
posmatrač otkriti neka “tematska” pravila, neke motive koji se
uporno ponavljaju i koji su uglavnom vezani za Hristove muke,
trenutke kada telo spasitelja preuzima na sebe grahe čovečansva.
Međutim na Simonidinim slikama Hristovog tela nema, ono je označeno
odsustvo okokojeg je vrtlog drugih tela koja gestikuliraju njegovu
žrtvu. I da se vratimo na početak, u petnaesti vek kada su tela na
slikama počela da se kreću, gestikuliraju i da se otvaraju ličnim
imaginacijama, ali kada je figura Hrista i dalje bila nedodirljivi
kanon, telo bez tela, jednom za svagda opisana zagonetka. Na svakoj
atraktivnoj slici, pa i na onoj koja vrvi od investirane energije i
telesne akcije, uvek postoji i ono što je odsutno, ono što i čini
naš pogled aktivnim.
Branislav
Dimitrijević |
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HARDWARE NOSTALGIJA
Estetika prvog
Terminator filma struktuiranog oko mašina koje izmiču ljudskoj
kontroli svakoga dana je sve manje preteći proizvod progresa a sve
više romantizovana nostalgija za ljudskim verovanjem da
mašinska tehnologija nezaustavljivo napreduje i da sama grandioznost
teškog hardwarea ima potencijal da nagovesti snagu koja izmiče
kontroli konstruktora. U odnosu na drugi film iz serije, kojim
dominiraju sofisticirani kompjuterski efekti, kiber-estetika tečnog
metala, sintetički materijal koji zamenjuju telesna tkiva, prvi
Terminator danas deluje kao dokument o poslednjoj fazi razvoja
modernizma: materijal i tehnologija dovedeni do savršenstva ali i
dalje oklopljeni realnim prostorom, konvencionalnim agregatnim
stanjima, uz isticanje monumentalnosti i čvrstine kao glavnih
ciljeva mašinske tehnologije.
Velike mašine,
velike poput kranova, izgubile su svoj preteći potencijal sa
dolaskom mikro tehnologije i upravo je opsednutost
mikro-dimenzionisanjem ta koja otvara mogućnost romantizovanja
starih mašina bez obzira na njihovu očiglednu utilitarnost. Od
sinonima izgradnja, progres, prosperitet nije mnogo ostalo - samo
utilitarnost u okviru disciplina ili ljudskih delatnosti (
arhitektura, teška industrija) gde je veličina uslovljena objektima
koji zauzimaju velike površine u prostoru. Dosledno romantizovano
slikarstvo ih svodi na ljudske ( galerijske ) dimenzije. Naravno, to
bi mogle da učine i digitalne tehnologije, 3D animacije, ali bi se
tako konceptualizovala druga vrsta problema i implicirala
patronizujuća nadmoć minijaturnih tehnologija i na svestan način
dislocirao još jedan krucijalni kapacitet koji mašine poput kranova
nedvosmisleno imaju. Iako su velike mašine izgubile sve osim
spomeničke monumentalnosti ostaje im njihov skoro ekskluzivni
kapacitet da budu instalirane u prostoru i postave instalaciju u
prostoru.
Velika
građevinska mašina već predstavlja instalaciju u prostoru i
nepotrebno je ponavljati je kao instalaciju u galeriji. Njeno
dvodimenzionalno predstavljanje postaje dokument o instalaciji- tako
da se artistička intervencija pojavljuje tek pri dokumentovanju
postojećeg stanja. Tako se ni pejsaž na slikama Simonide Rajčević ne
pojavljuje kao samosvojan, njega konstruišu oblici kranova a
diskurzivno odredjuje upotreba zlata utvrdjujući tako i odnos prema
modernističkom nasledju. Za razliku od modernističkog slikarstva,
ove slike ne pružaju pravu vrstu zadovoljenja: zatvorenost, balans,
harmoniju. Iako postoji osećaj da su svi ovi elementi prisutni, da
je dug formalističkom, klasičnom slikarstvu priznat, prisustvo zlata
podseća na osećaj nelagodnosti , nelagodnosti koju Sherrie Levine u
svojim “velikim zlatnim čvorovima” prepoznaje kao nelagodnu smrt
modernizma.
Branislava
Anđelković
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ŽENSKA ZVEZDA
Simonida Rajčević :”
Poslednji preživeli sa Nostroma”- instalacija
Prekrentnica u
thnološkom savladavanju vaseljenskog beskraja – susret sa
užasavajućom snagom, prevoren je u višeznačni mit medijske kulture.
Pripovest o biću nadljudskih, preobražavajućih svojstava materije,
izbila je u okrilju posade svemirskog broda Nostromo, po prvi put u
filmu Alien (Ridley Scott , 1978.) Posle zaglušujućih,
pomračenih enterijerskih jurcanja i otklanjanja monstruma u
poslednjem trenutku, jedini preživeli je – ona. Kroz lik iste
glumice, ponovno stupanje pred razorno divljanje od iste vrste,
jeste saznavanje i bioloških zakonitosti bića pramajčinske moći u
verziji Alien II ( James Cameron, 1989.), ali i borba sa
njenim nezaustavljivim reproduktivnim čudima iz stravičnih,
kolektivnih uslova svemirske kažnjeničke kolonije, nalikujući na
zemaljski koncentracioni logor u filmu Alien III( David
Fincher, 1992.). Uspešno savladavanje tekvih situacija podseća na
elementarnu dinamiku snalaženja u svetu – umeće ili umetnička
ambijentalna celina podstaknuta filmovima, otud poseduje čaroliju
koja objedinjuje raskoš delotvornih moći. Likovna predstava ne
računa samo na galerijski enterijer u stupanju pred trodimenzionalnu
senzaciju. Autorka je podvrgnula, po receptima igre sa prividom i
kadriranjem, dakle – vizuelnim udarom pop kulture, i četvrtu
dimenziju, podrazumevajući učešće u trajanju tokom prilaženja,
saznavanja i otkrivanja instalacije Poslednji preživeli sa
Nostroma. Zagonetna moć uvedena je kroz likovnu dimenziju
suprotnih elemenata: džinovsku konstrukciju visećih pravougaonih
metalnih ploča – po površinama obradjenih materijalnih tragova ulja
, emajla i bitulita, i suprotnim likovnim izvođenjem- u morfološkom
iznenađenju. Da li se radi o sustretu dva, u praksi suprotstavljena
umetnička koncepta? Sustret sa zgusnutim prostorom galerije u vidu
hodnika je i duhovita jeza savremene strategije izmicanja usled
okružujućih, neretko m onstruoznih neprijatnosti. Sprečavajuća
gustina i masivnost ravnih ploča sugeriše površinske ponore smisla u
tajanstvu koje ne dopušta preciznija tumačenja. Međutim, etimon
Nostromo, potiče iz književnosti, od istoimenog pustolovnog dela
Džozefa Konrada. Jezički razložen naslov u moguću deobu “naš-monstrum”,
ubraja se u elemente istraživanja svireposti i očajanja, koje je
isti posac sproveo u noveli Srce tame, nastale na samom izmaku
prošlog veka. Zavodljivost instalacije nije reakciona nostalgija za
kosmičkom borbom ili signalizacija dolaska martijarhata trećeg
milenijuma - u pitanju je opražajna predstava senzibiliteta
sadašnjeg skončanja i pocetka XXI veka, za čiji je doživljaj, u
dinamici uzmicanja i izmicanja, neizbežno lucidno umetničko
postavljanje zamki.
Nikola Šuica
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