Lost in Communication

Saturday, January 15th, 2011 | Razstave

Exhibition: Lost in Communication, solo exhibition by KOLEKTIVA, Vesna Bukovec, Lada Cerar and Metka Zupanič
Location: A+A Gallery, San Marco, Venice
Date: January 18 – February 8, 2011

Curator: Aurora Fonda

Artists: KOLEKTIVA, Vesna Bukovec, Lada Cerar, Metka Zupanič

KOLEKTIVA, Lost in Communication, 2010, installation view

Lost in Communication is an exhibition that assembles three Slovenian artists born in the seventies and belonging to the same generation – three artists who individually pursue their own practice while working together in the group KOLEKTIVA.

A collective project of KOLEKTIVA, Lost in Communication (2010) features interweaving coloured tubes that chaotically invade their surrounding environment. Using modular drainpipes that can be reconstructed depending on the exhibition site, the structure can change from day to day, and in some contexts presents an audible component that emanates into the outer space from within the tubes. The drainpipe’s grey, metal surface is covered up with vibrant and cheerful colours. The installation is often accompanied by wall pieces that offer thumbnail views of alternate configurations for the drainpipes, always highlighted by their bright colours. KOLEKTIVA’s projects vary in nature, ranging from artistic production to curatorial endeavours, organizing art events characterized by their great inventiveness and realized through simple means. Initiatives have involved a vast number of artists and other participants, who have directly collaborated on projects such as Visions (2006), Special Place in the City (2004–) and Secret Heart (2010). Additionally, se¬veral projects began with open calls for proposals and submissions, allowing general public and artists to actively participate. The group has been very productive, particularly in the past year. Numerous projects have been developed contemporarily in various exhibition venues, giving rise to a widespread and networking presence that is constantly evolving.

In addition to KOLEKTIVA, each artist partakes in independent practice. For some years, Vesna Bukovec has engaged herself with artistic interventions that directly involve citizens. Her work invites them to express views on issues related to community, demonstrating how the arts can interact with heterogeneous situations. Recent project, Positive Illusion (2009) probes the stock images archives on the web produced by apt designers and marketing professionals, which were conceived to represent our notions of certainty and increase our feelings of security. With a simple, black line Bukovec outlines figures, situations and settings. Details or aspects are isolated to later be transformed into representations incongruent to their original form. The procedure is opposite to the work of designers, who eliminate any traces of ideas that disrupt our notions of comfort. Bukovec, on the other hand, uses this is her point of departure, eroding the positive illusions with which we surround ourselves. These images are juxtaposed with psychological tests, typically found in insipid magazines, which assess levels of satisfaction, happiness and other values sought after by consumer society. Unlike the copy in these magazines, which tend to avoid direct questions, Bukovec poses queries that can only have a single, concrete answer.

Excerpt from the text by Aurora Fonda

Curated by: Aurora Fonda
Artists: KOLEKTIVA, Vesna Bukovec, Lada Cerar, Metka Zupanič
Production: Galeria A+A
Coproduction: Kolektiva Institute
Suported by: Ministry of culture RS, Obalne galerije Piran

Galeria A+A
San Marco, Calle Malipiero 3073
30124 Venezia
tel & fax: +39 041 2770466
www.aplusa.it
info@aplusa.it

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I am participating with the drawing series Positive Illusion, 2009 and video It Will Be OK, 2009.