ARTIST AS AUDIENCE FO ru M :: T H E audience A BO ut T H E V isua L art WO R K S Concept and realization, moderator:: M.F.A. Boba Mirjana Stojadinović Artists:: Saša Rakezić alias Aleksandar Zograf, Nikoleta Marković, Zoran Todorović, Igor Milovanović, Boris Šribar, Miloš Tomić, Lana Vasiljević, Dragana Žarevac, Zoran Pantelić, Bik Van der Pol, Milorad Mladenović, Marko Crnobrnja Project production:: Artist Association DEZ ORG and organization “Anonymous said:” Project partner:: Cultural Centre REX Project was generously supported by the Fund for an Open Society, Serbia The presence of the artists Bik Van der Pol was made possible with the help of the Embassy of Kingdom of the Netherlands in Belgrade. Finances and administration:: Jelena Radić Technical realization in REX:: Miroslav Stevanović, Jovan Pešić Visual identity of the first six discussions:: Verica Sokanović Visual identity of the second six discussions:: Boba Mirjana Stojadinović dez Photographs by:: org Boba Mirjana Stojadinović, Ivan Petrović Simultaneous translator for Bik Van der Pol:: Marija Asanović Audio editing:: Vladimir Janković - Slonče FOND ZA OTVORENO DRUŠTVO - SRBIJA Proofreading:: Slobodanka Gligorić FUND FOR AN OPEN SOCIETY - SERBIA *ovako izgleda font pretvoren u krive Thank you:: Gordana Belić, Dušica Parezanović, Fund *font može biti bilo koji standardni serifni font for an Open Society, Ivana Smiljanić, Svetlana Strunić, Miroslava Rajković, Nikoleta Marković, all the artists, Miroslav Karić, Milena Dragićević-Šešić, Snežana Stamenković, Ljubica Ćetković, Ivan Bon This project has been deposited in the Serbian Authors Agency, www.autorskaagencija.com [email protected] BELGRADE, SERBIA, 2010. http://razgovori.wordpress.com The production of contemporary visual art in discourse, possible readings of the cultural and political Belgrade is rich and diverse. Who is its audience: heritage in the perspective of anticipated events, all who sees it and how do they perceive it? Do these within the framework of the works of visual art. artistic works provide “food for thought” and for Some of the general issues touched upon in the whom? Which subjects do they deal with and in framework of the forum included the following: on the prject what ways? Can a work of art change something in :: the lack of critical awareness in terms of contempo- everyday life? rary visual art – the timidity of the audience in ap- As a response to these questions twelve proaching and making contact with art (the inability to discussions have been realized throughout 2010 find an access point); within the framework of the project-forum ARTIST :: the expression of an unbalanced and uncritical rela- AS AUDIENCE. This forum put into the focus of tion towards the notion of other and foreign in general public attention a selection of individual works of terms; art and art strategies produced in the preceding ten years by highly profiled Serbian and interna- :: the problem with articulating one’s own attitudes and tional artists. envisioning the lack of strong personal and social role- models and exemplars, both in art and in general; The discussions have directed the audience to actively participate in the exchange of opinions :: the lack of interest shown by media outlet to deal about the artistic works, on the inter-relation with contemporary non-populist art and their unwilling- of society and the individual here and now, and ness to mediate contemporary visual art events to the numerous other cultural and political complexities general audience; one effective consequence of this of everyday life in Serbia and Belgrade, relevant lack of action is censorship of art in public and lowering for the interpretation and understanding of these of the aesthetic and ethic criteria among the general EXCHANGE DYNIMICS works, but also the contemporary visual art in audience. general. Apart from the artists who live and work in The intention of these discussions was not for the Serbia, there is a special focus within the forum on the artists to explain their work which is being discussed, artists who produced works on the relation between but to create active communication among the work of Serbia and the European context, thereby fostering art and the audience: from first impressions and pos- self-awareness and what difference an experience of art sible implications of the work, to gaining an insight and and life in Serbia make outside its borders. The forum an overview of everyday context of artistic practices on is working towards detecting the differences, making Belgrade art scene in particular. them seen clearly, spoken about and appreciated, and not abolishing the differences in the name of mutual The discussions themselves passed in an ex- respect and thus neutralizing them. change of opinions and thoughts among the attending audience with the help of a moderator. The status of The forum ARTIST AS AUDIENCE represents a case “audience” was understood as equally belonging to study of the fragile state of art and its reception, and everyone, except for the author of the work. The ap- is a part of a more general artist-art-institution-public proach to the topics in the discussions was such that domain research in the 2000-2010 time-frame in Serbia the advantage was not given to a professional way of (more specifically, in Belgrade) and its consequences. It expressing opinions and attitudes, although that was strives for an exchange through culture, which implies also welcome. an exchange of knowledge, experience and practices that will mutually enrich the interlocutors, stimulating People coming to the discussions were very dif- one another into a further critical and creative rela- ferent – from those who pursued an interest in art in tionship in contemplating reality. Here, this exchange their free time, along with the students of art, architec- through culture is burdened with many factors: from ture, management, sociology, art history, etc. to young the artists’ vanity and apathy of the workers in the experts in those fields, professional artists, theoreti- domain of culture, via the limits set by the sources of cians, critics, art historians, designers and others. financing (be they foreign foundations or state institu- ARTIST AS AUDIENCE, as the title says, puts the tions, often functioning according to their own politi- artist in a position of the one receiving possible read- cal agendas), all the way to the lack of art critique and ings of his/her work, that is, the kind of impressions professional literature and press. The forum raises ques- the work itself makes. The polyphony of these readings tions on how to deal with these problems. does not state a definite judgment on the piece, but ARTIST AS AUDIENCE is a unique project which, considers it from different perspectives. The forum gives as a series of public discussions, represents means of a possibility to think out loud, to share these thoughts working with the audience in a focused way, nurturing and confront them without the pretentions that there thoughts and critical relation towards the contemporary can be only one true answer and a uniform vision of art. visual art with a focus on Serbia as a geographical and Some of the topics presented were: thinking cultural destination, while investing in the reception about the relation of society and activism, thinking and dissemination of contemporary visual art among about the language of design in visual poetics, thinking the general audience. about the engagement and inter-relation of architec- M.F.A. Boba Mirjana Stojadinović ture and visual art, thinking about private life in public 2 1 4 3 5 6 SAŠA RAKEZIĆ alias ALEKSANDAR ZOGRAF In 2009 he represented Serbia at the 53rd Venice Biennale. Among other exhibitions in the same year, he Cartoonist artists realized an extensive mid-career retrospective in the Photographs No. 1 and 2, 21.04.2010. Museum of Contemporary Art in Novi Sad. Aleksandar Zograf (pseudonym for Saša Rakezić) is Since 1998 he has been teaching at the Faculty of Fine a Serbian cartoonist. Zograf has been active on the Arts in Belgrade. international scene since the early 1990s when his work started appearing in comics anthologies in U.S.A. The www.zorantodorovic.com works by Zograf have been translated and published in numerous European magazines, and his individual comic books have been commissioned and published by IgoR mIlovAnovIĆ publishers in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, etc. Designer Saša Rakezić is also a journalist. He started writing for the Photograph No. 6, 08.06.2010. national magazines in Yugoslavia in 1981. In the following decade his journalistic works were published abroad as Born in 1978 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. well. He was educated in the School for Design and Faculty of www.aleksandarzograf.com Applied Arts in Belgrade and he participated in numerous international workshops. At the age of 17 he creates his first commissioned visual nIKolEtA mARKovIĆ identity at the Trans:East Design studio where he starts his professional career, and at the age of 21 he leads the Visual artist creative team working on projects for the Balkan region Photographs No. 3 and 4, 07.05.2010. as an art director of McCann Erickson Belgrade. Nikoleta Marković completed post-graduate studies Later on he goes on to exhibit his own art projects in at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, in 2004. Since Paris, Maribor, Chaumont and Belgrade. His works have 1999 she has participated in numerous exhibitions, been awarded worldwide and they have been published conferences and workshops in the country and abroad. in eminent design books and magazines. Her works investigate the position of the artist in the www.coroflot.com/IgorM contemporary society, reflecting all the political drama between the individual and the society. Her interests are placed in the liminal space between the contemporary BORIS šRIBAR art, the potential new audience and the authors, thus testing all the complex inter-relations underlying this Sculptor/ visual artist exchange.