16 November – 09 December, 2007
/exhibition in progress/
ŽELJKO BADURINA
PASKO BURÐELEZ
SINIšA LABROVIĆ
IVICA MALČIĆ
Curated by:
Ivana Bago i Antonia Majača
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The work of art as seduction asks to be superseded and seduced in turn by the brilliance of each and all – it demands reciprocity. (Hakim Bey)
In the exhibition MUTUALITIES: Shown & Found, the works of participating artists are not presented simultaneously, by a single act of opening of a group exhibition. Instead, each work is a new intervention into the physical and symbolic space of the gallery, both building the exhibition and deconstructing the very process of its making, as well as destabilizing the positions and relations within the networks created between the protagonists of the process.
Each work is in the show thus becomes an intervention, not only into the gallery space, but also into the very institution of the exhibition as the manifestation of the artistic and curatorial undertaking at the moment of its completion and perfection and its public presentation at the point when it reaches the peak of representability. ‘Exhibiting’ involves a more or less stable economy of exchange, and here it is based exactly on the unstable dynamics of giving and loss, constant negotiation among the protagonists in the process, as well as the encounter or clash of expectations of everyone involved towards one another and towards themselves, along with the possible frustrations resulting from their unsuccessful realization. Everyone is visibly dependent on each other and are in a constant process of negotiating, role exchange, transfer of responsibility and reciprocities.
Institutions and curators have expectations from the artists, the artists expect something in return from curators and institutions, donators, sponsors and the audience (which is, again, expected not to be merely a ‘passive’ audience) have their own expectations regarding the institutions and the content they are presenting etc. In this space of intertwined expectations, a field of multiplied mutualities is being established, allowing occasionally for an absurd play of positions, which could also be interpreted as an institutionalization of power during which the play is legitimized by placing and confronting the protagonists in a dialogue. In the context of the (local) independent, non-profit art scene, however, clear delineations between positions are often missing. Critics, curators, artists etc. are all in the position of freelance cultural workers. Lacking stable forms of organization and institutionalization (primarily on the levels of cultural policy and economy), all cultural workers are often, in one way or the other, simultaneously exposed to the pressures of expectations of highly professional execution and the relentless exploitation of its labor.
The artist/cultural worker is thus always ready for action, always enthusiastic enough, energetic and, above all, a flexible social entrepreneur who, despite the fact that he/she often covers several different segments of creative production, he/she nonetheless keeps gathering strength from his/her infatuation with the mere possibilities of participation in the processes of production of symbolic values.
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The following links contain visual documentation, short CVs of participating artists as well as statements by artists and curators on each particular work in the exhibition.
I SINIšA LABROVIĆ: ‘Punishment’
II IVICA MALČIĆ: ’10 new paintings’
III PASKO BURÐELEZ: ‘Untitled’
IV ®ELJKO BADURINA: ‘Coffee & Cakes’
