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About the exhibition / Texts
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Pretty Dirty
Pretty Dirty is the final exhibition of the 2005 curatorial course, organized
by the School for Contemporary Arts, Center for Contemporary Arts SCCA - Ljubljana.
The curators of the exhibition (the course participants) are: Ivana Bago, Miha
Colner, Ida Hiršenfelder, Monika Ivančič, Nina Kodrič, Mojca Manček and Tanja
Pavlič.
The exhibition is based on the research of Slovene contemporary art production
of the last decade (between 1995 and 2005). The concept is based on the phenomenon
of personal hygiene. Studying the art production dealing with this subject,
it is evident that this socially determined phenomenon can be perceived on various
levels of human existence. It is related to physical, social, mental, moral
hygiene, to micro- and macro-space, to language and metaphors. The essays, following
the introduction, are the result of questioning, associations, thoughts, numerous
discussions among the course participants, as we were developing the exhibition
concept, together with our mentors, Nevenka Šivavec and Alen Ožbolt.
The artists, whose works are presented at the exhibition, are: Martin Bricelj,
Lada Cerar and Sašo Sedlaček, Damijan Kracina, Maja Licul and Metod Vidic, mimikrija,
Mirjam Marussig, Alenka Pirman, Tadej Pogačar, Sašo Sedlaček, Primož Seliškar,
Alenka Spacal, Polona Tratnik, Tanja Vujinović and Zvonka Simčič.
The hygiene is related to the object of the body, the perception of which, as
well as the perception of its direct sensations, has been gradually becoming
more self-reflective, transforming through the course of complex civilization
processes. The hygiene is expressed through fine manners, expansion of the private
sphere and self-control. The human nurtures his body out of his own needs, while
at the same time there is an ever stronger interference between the intimate
and the public.
The body cleanliness is a matter of sight and smell; it is maintained through
the use of water and chemical products that clean the body in the name of beauty.
Cleanliness on the micro level is related to cleanliness on the macro level.
Such ritualized habits and praxes are taken for granted by most people and are
concordant with the present day perceptions of cleanliness.
The body cult is also supported by the numerous media, that hold a key role
in reflecting and promoting the ideals of masculinity and femininity in contemporary
society. The trends in representation and perception of male and female bodies
are primarily cultural, closely related to the politics of the sexes, economic
relations and the popular culture of a certain time. The advertising, cosmetic
and fashion industries determine the social aesthetic standards, the private
space and the public sphere, material reproduction, tradition and the idea of
progress. Cleanliness is the basic norm of cultivation and, as a cultural value,
it defines social positions, social differences, social responsibilities.
Within different systems, not only the totalitarian ones, hygiene had the meaning
of fighting against social and, sometimes, moral dirt. It was used as a sociopolitical
slogan, directed against the morally filthy and political rebels in society.
Marginal spaces are still today, in the eyes of majority, perceived as points
of disease, centers of criminal energy and social revolt.
The processes of "hygienization" are related to the field of social
re-education, the standards of urban hygiene, to dealing with one's own body
and diseases, with constant improvements of urban space. In order for the true
success of the "hygienization" process it is, of course, necessary
to purify the "human heads" as well.
Words, metaphors, flora and fauna
Behind the seemingly symmetrical structure of the opposition clean / dirty,
as behind any other binary construction, there's a concealed hierarchy, which
validates one notion and deprivileges the other. The privilege in this binary
opposition is, naturally, on the side of cleanliness, as an imposed ideal which
(as one half of the binary pair) exists only in correlation with the opposing
notion - dirt. Although it tries to destroy it, cleanliness is addicted to dirt,
as a precondition of its own existence in the signifying network. In the title
of the exhibition Pretty Dirty cleanliness found itself in an awkward position,
in which its positive charge went out of control; by its so far efficient power
of conquering new meanings, cleanliness turned against itself, thus subverting
binarity and giving the "winning" strength to what it originally tries
to annul - dirt. The art works presented at this exhibition can be interpreted
precisely from this, potentially subversive, meaning of the title itself, in
order to point to the hegemony of a complex system of values enclosed within
the notion of cleanliness and its "servant" - hygiene. In that sense,
any form of hygiene can be perceived as a socially conditioned, oppressive mechanism
of control, and each manifestation of hygiene becomes, to use the expression
of Miha Colner, "hygiene in the service of higher goals".
If we analyze the notions of cleanliness and dirt, we can conclude that they
refer to something which doesn't actually exist. What is dirt, or what is that
of which cleanliness is emptied? It seems that the answer always depends on
the previously defined context. There is no "primary" referent, any
use of these notions is a metaphor - which is exactly why they possess such
power of linguistic penetration into numerous levels of social and cultural
phenomena, from "everyday life", physicality, through science, medicine,
religion, art, and - in a highly extreme form - fascism. What could be determined
as the "content" of the notion of cleanliness is the analogous concept
of autonomy - the assumption according to which the world is organized as a
system of closed, coherent, independent units and categories, governed by a
strictly established order. In such constellation, dirt is the intruder, threatening
to invade the system and disturb the established order. The fear of dependence,
instability, the chaos endangering the illusion of autonomy, is the basis of
the yearning for categorization - cleanliness.
The human, as creator of such systems, tends to perceive himself as a closed,
autonomous unit, which is achieved already at the level of his isolation as
a special biological species, on top of the hierarchical scale of values. Cities,
the creation of which is a consequence of radical appropriation of space by
the human, secure this independent and "protected" existence, which
excludes the visibility and existential conditions for other species, plants
and animals. This invisibility is then compensated for by numerous botanical
gardens and zoos, pets and countless documentary TV films about the "animal
world", often of very high and expensive production. In any case, the distance
is safe and there is no danger - animals are tamed, "framed" by the
cage, the TV screen, or attractively packed as meat. The human is in the role
of a "care-taker" or an explorer bringing "truth" to the
world, and this "truth" always brings money.
In his artistic work, Damijan Kracina intensively deals with animals, but as
an artist / explorer, not an exploiter. He also brings their existence into
the sphere of the visible, but without the authoritative voice imposing "true"
conclusions. On the contrary, in an unpretentious way, he tries to let them
"speak" for themselves. As we can see in his video-installation Talk
to Me Like Lovers Do (1997), this is impossible: the spectator is trying to
have a conversation with the fish, hear her message, only to hear again the
echo of his own voice. This is a subtle criticism of the superior position of
man. The video Ant (1997), presented at the exhibition Pretty Dirty, shows an
ant - the insect which, in the categorization of living creatures on Earth,
represents an intruder, parasite in the living space of man. The ant cannot
be exiled into "nature" or locked into a cage. It has the possibility
of penetrating the urban, closed, sterilized spaces of man and it is exactly
this ability of transgressing the border that characterizes it as dirt, something
to be put away so that order could be re-established. The very set-up of the
work points precisely to the concept of margin, the border, as the key concept
in the categorization of cleanliness and dirt. A miniature monitor, displaying
the last seven minutes of the ant's life, is built into the gallery wall, almost
invisibly, but enough to create a whole in the system, a possibility for "invasion".
The representation of the ant again excludes any kind of imposing of the author's
"message" - it simply focuses on one existence (and disappearance);
magnifying its real dimensions it magnifies its visibility, leaving us to, simply,
watch and, maybe, come to our own conclusions. In that sense this video, in
perpetual loop, like a tiny flickering spot on the dull gallery wall, transforms
into a kind of exercise in meditation, during which the ant becomes just a symbol,
a metaphor pointing to numerous others invisible existences, unwanted and stigmatized
"dirts" in the wholes of systems, and their consequential removal,
cleansing, all in the name of various hygienes, "healthy way of life",
the "common good", "respect for the law", "preservation
of moral" etc. - endless parading of slogans and expressions in which every
word is completely emptied of any kind of content.
Ivana Bago
Hygiene in the service of higher goals
Social hygiene, purity of race, language, society, space. Associations naturally
refer primarily to history, to the medieval persecution of Jews, burning of
witches, elimination of paganism and, of course, the fascist and nationalist
cleansing of society, founded on the belief in the higher ideals of one people,
the purity of race (Adolf Hitler soon arrived to the conclusion that the Jewish
community was so successful precisely due to its preservation of purity - its
non-mixing with members of other peoples).
"We wish to celebrate war, the only hygiene of the world ..."4, said
Marinetti in the first Futurist manifesto. The Italian Futurists, working in
the frame of the fascist rule, saw war as art, spectacle, supported it.
It is surely not necessary to reach back into the past to find actual manifestations
of the so called social hygiene. We can identify them also here, in Slovenia,
a democratic state, with a democratically founded government, on our doorstep,
outside and inside of us all.
One of the top news recently in Slovenia was the decision of the Republic Inspectorate
about the tearing down of one part of AC Metelkova, an illegitimate construction,
which serves as a perfect example of local social hygiene. It seems that the
goal of our society is to clean all the unformalized things around us, which
include also all the illegitimate constructions in the city - and the buildings
on the Metelkova are only minimal decorative additions to the already existing
buildings, realized as art projects, mostly by voluntary work. However, there
must be order! Opinions expressed by accidental passers-by, living in the neighborhood
of this cultural center tell us a lot about the state of society, its attitude
towards "otherness". The state of mind is such that it brings out
the desires to clean once again the city and society. According to such opinions,
the image of the Metelkova protagonists are a good enough witness to label them
harmful to the spiritual state of society.
Among other things, such "harmful" elements are also foreigners (but
also the locals that look too foreign), various subcultures, homeless people
etc. The "social hygiene" is surely reflected in other areas, such
as the very appearance of our environment, city, village, purity of language,
purity of habits and customs, which always tend to stop any kind of change and
retain the present state. Each of us, members of a certain society, has various
accepted blockades imprinted in our heads, concerning different things. Maybe
we are not aware of some of them, but we stand firmly behind some others and
try to defend them in all possible ways.
How is this social hygiene reflected in Slovene contemporary art? There have
been many projects and works, dealing with these issues in different ways. Tadej
Pogačar and P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Museum of Contemporary Art is represented here
with the video Golden Shoes of Times Square, as part of a broadly conceived
project CODE:RED: it is a multidisciplinary, multimedia, collaborative project,
that problematizes and explores the informal models of economy, self-organization,
global sex work and trafficking. Many activities, developed between 1999 and
2004, are represented in different ways. Golden Shoes of Times Square, realized
on May 1st, 2002, is one among many public manifestations in the frame of this
complex project (with the March of Red Umbrellas, Venice, 2001, Stripping With
Marx, Berlin, 2002). The act of walking was chosen, in the form of an intimate
act, visible only to the very careful passer-by, as the main protagonist (the
artist) was merged within the numerous visitors and tourists. He circled the
whole square, dragging behind him a pair of women's golden shoes, tied to a
rope. The location of Times Square was not an accidental choice. It is an important
symbol of New York sex industry, which transformed in the second half of the
eighties into a symbol of its criminalization and in the beginning of the nineties
into a symbol of its erasure5.
Tadej Pogačar has dealt with similar issues in many other projects, mostly realized
as actions in the public space. One of the most visible was surely the Kings
of the Street project (1995), where he dealt with the issue of the homeless
and society's attitude towards them; like prostitutes, they a completely marginalized
social group, detached and fully criminalized.
As we step into the field of other forms of social hygiene, or un-hygiene, we
can not ignore the work by Alenka Pirman Arcticae horulae, based at first solely
on an artist's private passion, resulting in a complex and influential art project.
The collection was originally presented in the main reading room of the National
and University Library of Ljubljana. The project, evolving, building, transforming
for several years, was realized as part of the second part of Urbanaria, when
it saw the publication of the Dictionary of words of German origin in the Slovene
language. The dictionary is a collection of words of German origin in Slovene
language which have, in the course of centuries, become part of the written
language, their foreign origin becoming unclear, as many of them entered the
colloquial discourse.
The words we find in the dictionary are mostly of perfect practical use in everyday
life, a true witness of life of a language, which is always changing, completing,
influencing and receiving influences. The Slovene language was marked by an
unfortunate destiny in its very beginning, since it always had to fight for
its existence, due to the small number of its users and its specific features.
As a result, we are now preserving it and defending it from changes, purifying
it from unwanted words.
Alenka Pirman finished the project symbolically, now she is working on an internet
project Untied tongue - ordinary phraseological dictionary, which deals also
with a living, street language, the only true indicator of the state of a language.
We can find the example of a similar, but even more extreme form of language
cleansing, in our neighborhood, in Croatia, where there is an effort to purify
the language of all "Serbisms", in order to form the biggest possible
difference between the two, very similar languages. Another similar magalomanian
project was the Soviet incorporation of Russian in all the areas of the former
state.
The social cleanliness has many different meanings, many levels, it's happening
everywhere around us; it is mainly encouraged by education, institutions. Hygiene
in the service of higher goals. Higher goals: those are the goals that are not
personal, but are much bigger than that, useful for the community, for the state.
Personal interests are often inferior and sacrificed for the will of the superior
ones. As we can witness in Greek tragedies, that is the highest purpose of being,
the most noble action, on the side of an individual. Today we don't see much
of these "volunteers", focused towards a "higher" goal,
ignoring the side-effects. Unfortunately, those who are direct objects of the
many forms of cleansing, have no right to speak and decide on these actions.
It seems that cleansing and meticulous ordering of society will always be going
on, that it is impossible to stop it, maybe it is enough just to be aware of
it.
Miha Colner
Dictatorship of the media - in a new, perfected formula
The information holds the power. Information are spread by the media and are
everywhere, in all forms, dimensions. Technological growth makes possible the
infiltration of information into our lives, ignoring our own will, which encourages
the production of violence upon our independence. The messages they send us
condense in our brains, consciously and subconsciously forming our way of thinking.
The media represent absolute rulers of the world, most often in a tight relationship
with advertisers' money. In this true love affair they gain the power of convincing,
evaluating, shaping their subjects. They teach us how to make our lives even
more complicated, in a promise to make them fulfilled. They have come to a wise
conclusion that the best way to achieve the desired effect is to turn to our
narcissistic self-involvement, as well as our need to please the environment,
thus transforming us into perfect consumers, accomplices in the spreading of
our own prison.
The cosmetic industry, in collaboration with the media, creates always brand
new needs, using incredible tricks It is not enough to be clean, one needs to
be cleansed with the brand new, the greatest, the perfectly smelling, the best
packed products for the body, soul and objects surrounding us. They receive
our positive feedback even when they aim at our sense of empathy for the others,
less fortunate, the poor, those we are reverting our gazes from. They give a
false feeling to the individual that he/she is participating in something that
will make the world better, more just. In short, reality is important, it is
important to know who, when, how and where they represent.
The Fake up project by Martin Bricelj and collaborators represents a reaction
to the filthy media reconstructions of reality. With clearly set goals (a powerful
reaction of the media and the public) it warns about the dangers of manipulating
with reality and covering up the consequences. Fake up is a multidisciplinary
project, presented as the CityLight poster exhibition, with eight portraits
of illusionary victims of biochemical attacks, placed all around the streets
of Ljubljana, between October and November, 2003. The whole story was imaginary,
devised and presented to the public through various media (print, television,
radio, banners, internet). They gained the media attention with the street exhibition
Faces of Fear, organized by a newly opened office in Ljubljana, Avbia - Association
of Victims of Biochemical Attacks. The aim was to produce the "truest"
possible story, the Avbia internet site (www.avbia.org) and mailing lists were
launched, the signing of petitions was organized; the fictional protagonists
of the organization could be reached at a phone number in New York, where the
organization's headquarters was placed.
The exhibition presents four digital prints, belonging to the Faces of Fear
poster series. Deformed faces are a warning about the existence of the other,
the unprivileged, something that we are not, but can easily become, if we refuse
to take action. At the same time they are refreshing, alternative representations,
in contrast with the numerous idealistic images, seducing us every day. The
basic medium of the action (public communication through posters) appropriates
the advertising methods of creating artificial perfection, used by cosmetic,
textile, car industries etc. Fake up swept away the media, just like the media
sweep away the public, but this time the garbage was on their own doorstep.
Nina Kodrič
Newest researches in the field of personal hygiene
The question is which social and cultural norms define our understanding of
cleanliness. The juxtaposed embroideries Toilets / Made in India by Lada Cerar
and Sašo Sedlaček indicate that the hygienic norms are closely related to their
cultural environment, they represent five national characters based on different
types of toilets and ways of doing away with shit. It is more than obvious that
the cosmetic industry and its unrelenting economic interests are the main directors
of this never ending soap-opera, talking about the processes of cleansing of
the body and the living space. An important element of marketing strategy for
chemical products is based on the integration of ever changing and improved
i.e. "scientific research". The "improvements" offer a constant
communication with consumers, in which they take the position of tutors, exterminating
the human ignorance. They need to convince the consumer that his/hers, physical
nature is extremely deficient and condemned to stench and deterioration, due
to its processes of excretion and aging. Tanja Vujinović and Zvonka Simčič in
their installation Plasma by Stigmata show in a tragicomic al way the complexity
of the issues, dealing with the limited understanding of cleanliness. Plasma
by Stigmata is a fake perfume, imaginary smell, unreal product, directing us
to think about the fake identities, offered to us by artificial smells and other
cosmetic products. On the advertising posters for the perfume we are presented
with the "perfect woman", combining the ideals of a film star icon
and a Renaissance painting. Therefore this segment of contemporary man's identity
isn't based on the system of ideas, but is defined rather with beauty - it is
not meant, it is seen. In this sense identity is also a social position, for
the realization of the external image requires incessant consumption of products
and great financial power.
In the process of advertisement and consumption of products for personal hygiene
we use thousands of tons of paper and as much plastic and other packaging. Products
for personal hygiene are undoubtedly one of the worst polluters of our living
environment. The majority of people are reluctant to seek alternative options,
because it takes quite a bit of effort. In the art action Picnic on a dump initiated
by Sašo Sedlaček, a group of artists expose themselves to the extreme environment
of the city dump area. Through various actions from daily life they show how
the rules of body and environment hygiene do not remove the problem, but rather
only push it aside and hide it away from the eyes of the public: at the dump
we can throw rubbish on the floor, a sink for disposing used water is not needed.
The fact that the existing ideals and norms for cleanliness are completely fantasmatic
is even further emphasized by the inscription extending on the rubbish hill
of the Ljubljana dump: Hollywood.
Ida Hiršenfelder
Clean lies and dirty truths
The solution to the "final question of death" was traditionally offered
by Religion. Ever since it was concluded that "God is dead" Science
has taken over the place of religion. Not having a true answer to the question
of death, Science tries to avoid it in every possible way.
The problem of death has been tabooed in the Western modern civilization; it
is not polite to discuss it, question it or even think about it. Some fifty
years ago, it was still customary for the relatives of the deceased to take
pictures with his dead body. Today the dead are cremated and placed in small,
nice and discrete boxes. Death has perished from the everyday (real) life and
moved to the (unreal) media spectacle.
When death is not around, we are not afraid of it. Although the fear of dying
is inscribed in our genes, as a basic evolutionary necessity, our society has
transformed it into the fear of illness and aging. Fortunately, science has
solutions for these human troubles. They are devised by medicine and cosmetic
industry. At the same time, both of them encourage the cult of the healthy and
beautiful body, creating new needs for always new body care products. The spiritual
health is also taken care of; there is plenty of popular-scientific literature
advising about health and harmony of the soul, various programs of meditative
and sports praxes are being devised and for those of us of more radical inclinations,
there are things such as ritual cleansing by walking on embers.
The image of the complete man encompasses his physical, moral and mental health.
The meaning ascribed to these different types of hygiene and the hierarchy governing
them are dependant on dominant ideologies, that manipulate with their actual
and symbolic values. In our society the emphasis on the physical body is especially
dominant - its youth, beauty and health. One of the ways in which we can neutralize
the feeling of guilt caused by this consumer, materialistic state of affairs,
is to enter the world of art.
It is hard to deal with the knowledge of ephemerality of the human being and
his work. The installation by Primož Seliškar points to this reality. Reflecting
the principles of human existence, this artistic work also contains the end,
programmed already in the beginning. The naive title (Bather) reminds of happy
and relaxed moments in life. The grotesque interpretation of the bather, in
spite of the humorous approach, speaks of the human ephemerality. This is something
that gives the work mystical, i.e. religious connotations. In a way, the artist
identifies himself with the Creator, which is further emphasized by the choice
of a hermaphrodite, gods' creation, according to Greek mythology. This conceptual
direction is closely followed by the use of symbols. Water is an ancient symbol
of purity and cleanliness, both physical and moral; in contemporary society
soap is an even stronger symbol of cleanliness. In an interesting twist, with
critical sharpness, Seliškar transforms water, the symbol of life, into the
cause of death.
In an ordinary motif of the bather by Primož Seliškar we find religious content,
while the painting by Mirjam Marussig follows the opposite direction. The motif
of prayer, which the author uses as part of the Intimacies series, is unusual.
Does anyone still believe in prayer as an intimate talk with god, in a time
when we see prayer and confession in front of the tv cameras, for political
reasons; dirty underwear is washed on yellow and white pages of magazines, moral
purification is done publicly, in courts of law. In the society of spectacle,
where church rulers are equated with pop stars, the image of the cross is transformed
into a mere media icon. We are used to living without privacy. The series of
paintings deal with the gap between the public and the intimate, between lies
and reality. The artist objectifies the moments of her own intimacy, photographing
them. The voyeuristic gaze from outside is emphasized by narrow perspectives.
The use of color filters and artificial, unrealistic light deny them the illusion
of being the reflections of reality.
Primož Seliškar and Mirjam Marussig in their own ways both deal with reality
and fiction, human and god, lies and reality, life and death. In order to speak
of these issues, they use recognizable motifs and, by placing them into different
contexts, they transform them into metaphors. In this way, art become similar
to both religion and science: none of them offer absolute solutions about life
and death (or anything else, for that matter). It would seem, though, that the
absence of reality is necessary in order to go on living.
Monika Ivančič
Caught within the social role
The art system is also a space governed by norms, power and surveillance and
not a space of unlimited freedom, as it can seem on first sight. We can easily
make the comparison with social life, where each individual is defined and limited
already at birth. Our own name, the first among social norms, is given to us
and we have to accept it unconsciously; it has the function of identifying and
distinguishing between bodies, emotions, thought processes and, of course, words.
In the process of social growth each individual is faced with identifying with
the other, with the role, imposed on him in a given period, confining him and
forcing him to accept it. It is his duty to try to overcome authority, the images
of mother and father, the people that defined him, influenced him. The cleansing
and questioning of the social patterns, the consciousness that we are supervised
and supervising ourselves, limiting our own will, reflecting the past, past
identities we used to represent, is a duty of each of us. It is his duty to
act in an ethical way, to consciously explore his emotions, to quit undesirable
habits and imposed patterns, to base his actions on firm arguments. With such
exploration any individual can come to a critical perspective towards a social
event, expose it, act more freely, just as art can interfere with reality and
actively engage itself in society.
In her Self-portraits, painted on kitchen cloths, Alenka Spacal self-ironically
questions her own subjectivity through a "performance" of various
identities (sexual, gender, racial, religious, class identities etc.) Using
the autobiographical method, through the language of painting, she places her
personal stories into a broader social context. In her research of relations
between the biological and sociological sex/gender she does more than question
her own female identity and her identity as a female artistic subject - with
her self-portraits she reaches beyond her biological sex. Through various motifs
she plays with numerous representations of her own social and sexual identity,
trying to overcome the established binary divisions on the male and female sex,
which is especially evident in her androgynous images.
With the work Efficient credit rate Maja Licul and Metod Vidic (mimikrija),
who designed the publication for the exhibition Pretty Dirty, problematize the
limits of art. They reflect on the "transition" of Maja Licul from
the field of painting into the sphere of visual communications. The work refers
to the process of cleaning of the New Ljubljana Bank Gallery, which Maja Licul
realized in the context of series of exhibitions entitled Fathers and Sons,
Mothers and Daughters. She wanted to warn about the problem of authority, fatherly
authority in the first place, which is universal. She also questioned the problem
of direct genetic identifications - artist father equals artist daughter. She
was interested in the way the system of authority functioned from an inside
perspective and how it can be dealt with. In the performance of cleaning she
used three painterly canvases: with the first she cleaned the bank floors, with
the second the windows and she used the third to clean herself after the finished
work.
In the past, Maja Licul continuously worked on the process of cleaning, washing
off the original definition of herself as painter. Now she is questioning her
position within the system of advertising and promotion.
Tanja Pavlič
Artist - curator - artist
The function of the artist is also evident in his symbolic cleansing and exposing
of the invisible, hidden spaces, standing behind an artwork. The whole process
before the opening of an event - an exhibition, is hidden from the eyes of the
public and becomes visible only at the very opening of the exhibition, which
is a result of mutual collaboration, exchange of ideas between artists and curators.
The function of the curator, beside his competence to use his knowledge of art
in order to be able to present an art work, lies also in his ability to gain
financial means, necessary to realize a project. In this process he enters the
sphere of art market, governed by certain regulations. Here also arises the
question - what is clean and what is dirty? The curator as a mediator between
the artwork and art market tries to determine values, based on the purity of
the artistic idea, but sometimes also based on the logic of the market.
A contemporary artist is no longer a suffering man, living off his inspiration.
Instead, art is closely related to the developments in society. With the Pretty
Dirty exhibition we would like wash away the romantic illusion of a suffering
artist, detached from society, and replace it with a new vision of art, focused
on the personal and artistic growth, not isolated from society but evolving
along with it and offering possibilities for an alternative view on the world
around us.
The multimedia artist Polona Tratnik used an original, interactive approach,
including in her art work the creativity and thoughts of the curators as they
were making the selection of their personal items. In contrast with the more
sterile society, which uses various cosmetic products to destroy micro-organisms,
the art work In-time offers a space where, in conditions of suitable humidity
and temperature, bacteria grow, representing macrocosmic relations on a micro
level.
Mojca Manček