RUM два at Juxtapose Art Fair:
)The Exhibition(
Laureta Hajrullahu
New Church (Nemanja Ciric & Sara Radulovic)
)The Library(
Thermal Publishing House (Viktor Vejvoda)
Gordana Zikic & Sabine Wedege
2023
)The Exhibition( and )The Library( is a place to be, a place to stay, a place to get better, a place in the virtual world, a place to pray, a place to understand, a place to connect, a place to read, a place to hang out, a place to meet without borders, a place to get coffee, a place to wish – a community. Separating and connection, as a platform placed in a room together with neighbors, overlapping each other, with a booth which is outlined, one place, divided into various places, to see, to listen, to smell. The importance of exchange and comparison, to the awareness of identity and traditions, where places are essential to gather, both in the physical and digital world. To see the surroundings, how it changes when going from place to place, from country to country – the use of symbols, the production and trade of materials, ideologies and values. Then a sense of recognition, a feeling of cohesion, the bonding, the ignorance has evaporated. There is an understanding, similarities, the differences, and then it’s glitching again, from place to place, where the physical world is trained to be a physical world, in the meantime the digital world living by its own laws of nature. Two worlds, one with border, one with none, but maybe there is, because capitalism making invisible borders in the digital world - who can afford, who have access to Wi-Fi, how much time are you “allowed” to be in the digital world – how can we learn from these two worlds, while still speaking about it as two, like countries and people separating by borders, making it the same. That’s logical. It’s about claiming a place, but to claim a place can divide but also unite, where war and politics dictate, and we are kept outside. Where do you belong and who are you anyway? Thinking about what brings us together and what separating us - to rethink the system and our interaction, to restore and to be safe.
The book collection is from RUM два’s own library, which consists of books and publications collected from different parts of the Balkan and the Nordic – purchased, donated, presents. Installed at )The Library( where people can interact with this interlaced work – with different readable and archival objects. The chair and table, )The Library( is yours.
The RUM два Fountain is an advertising sculpture which plays with the idea of the meaning and words of RUM два. RUM in Danish means room, then the Danish word means the liquor rum in English. In English there is confusing about the origin of the word, with various of theories, and again different meanings of the word in different languages. The most widely accepted hypothesis is that it’s related to rumbullion (a beverage), or rumbustion (a slang for uproar and tumult). From rum, Denmark, uproar and tumult, we may not forget Denmark colonized The Virgin Islands, where a large production of rum took place with enslaved people. A mention and a note, which we should be reminded of and could not stay in the unsaid. Два or dva means two, like contrasts, black and white, east and west. Two poles which is connecting, like magnets finding each other and sticks together. A learning from both sides, always to look an extra time, or to see from both sides. Which will result in a more sustainable thinking of connecting and understanding in any kind, with humans, debates, questions. Everything as a reminder of the eye-catching aspect, where the beauty of a fountain can reflect and expand the perspective, when making a distortion where marble becomes plastic, water becomes rum. So throw a coin and make a wish or grap a glass and have a sip!
*Laureta Hajrullahu is a multimedia artist based in Pristina, Kosovo. Her artistic work explores privacy, gender, intimacy, digital ecosystems, video games and impossible futures. Through her digital media work, she presents diverse, critically informed views on ‘reality’. She does this by continuously deconstructing and re-evaluating the boundaries between the virtual and physical world. Hajrullahu’s work has been presented in many different art institutions in Kosovo and across the Western Balkans. She was part oof the Manifesta 14 Biennial, Gjon Mili at the National Gallery of Kosovo and has taken part in exhibitions at the Art Quarter Budapest – aqb Project Space, Tallin Art Hall – Lasnamae Pavilion, Toplocentrala – DOMA Art Foundation, Center for Contemporary Art Montenegro, Institute for Contemporary Art – ISU, Gallery 17 Prishtina, Stacion – Center for Contemporary Art Prishtina, and Lambdalambdalambda among others.
www.secondaryarchive.org/artists/laureta-hajrullahu/
@lauretahhh
*Touching systems, can’t they see? IT’S ALL CHROMA-GREEN is a part of )The Exhibition( investigates the structures, technologies and aesthetics of the global video game industry, by appropriating the medium for artistic practice, to create alternative perspectives on identity, gender issues, and social change. The term "cyberfeminism", which came into use in the early 1990s, "was understood as a provocation, a criticism of the cyberbabies and fembots that populated the sci-fi landscapes of the years''. As a provocation, the term has been successful: Over the decades, it has brought feminisms and technologies into conflict and conversation, while the term itself has been contested, reimagined, discredited, and expanded. No attempt to resolve these contradictions, but rather to honor the multiplicity of practices that could be brought together under this imperfect umbrella. One of the strongest patterns is precisely the use of digital tools for the creation of humanoid figures that are immersed in various universes within which they communicate. These visual representations of the digital human body usually lack gender, religion, nationality and even propose to rethink some innate characteristics of the human being such as hair, skin, nails, etc. What is interesting is how instead of perceiving these representations as a failed attempt at corporeal representation, they become something else. The decision surrounding the aesthetics of these figures in Touching systems, can’t they see?! IT’S ALL CHROMA-GREEN is directly related to the Cyborg Manifesto written by Donna Haraway in which she proposes a high-tech culture which is not guided by patriarchy, colonialism, essentialism, or naturalism, but rather challenges a series of antagonistic dualisms such as man / woman, me / you, culture / nature. As a consequence of this way of thinking, these humanoid figures come back to life, challenging and disrupting the essential means of interaction by providing a vehicle that leads to a digital universe where we can channel the way we want. In a world apparently dominated by far-right politics, it is important to create a safe space within art, a space where concepts such as nationality and gender can be provoked and questioned by stimulating dialogue through new media such as created artistic practice. On the web.
1’46’’ loop Video, 720x1180 wallpaper, 2021
**New Church (Nemanja Ciric) is a musician/artist/producer, born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia. Throughout his life he has been constantly changing his place of residence, shifting between Serbia and Russia. At this moment he is living and working in Belgrade, Serbia. The main domain of his work is music, he has been active member of local bands, but besides being involved in creative process, he is also working as music curator in Cultural Center Grad in Belgrade and as freelance producer and organizer of music festivals, concerts and shootings. He also works in the field of photography and design. Self-reflecting and therapy are the two basic elements in his work, for bringing up eternal topic of life, love and death. Ciric uses his own experiences and relationship with people – relations with strangers, friends, lovers and family, and himself. This therapeutical fields can raise questions and give answers from different perspectives, where he uses the contrasts between good and evil, life and death, love and hate, ignorance and knowledge to gratitude, solidarity and humanity. He wants to take himself and his audience on a spiritual awakening journey, with his use of sacred symbols, through self-recognition, acceptance in order to start acting and evolving. A spiritual growth, as an attempt to become a better man, person, everything.
@nw_chrch
**New Church - a new place to pray is a part of )The Exhibition( - it’s a one-man project formed in 1995, reaching its followers from the distorted depths of suburban Belgrade. By combining electronic noise with the interference of melancholic one-riff guitar parts and chantlike singing, New Church is a pilgrimage, transmitting its message from unknown places, announcing its existence through whispers and quiet steps in the dark, a shadow play pierced by hypnotic, repetitive mantras. Its Holy Mass brings surrealism to a black and white meltdown in which there is a very thin line between tranquility and discomfort, between a dancing soundtrack under neon lights and the sounds to enjoy at the peace and comfort of your room, where prayers sound like curses, as mermaid songs emerge behind the blackest waves. Join the New Church, a sanctuary where language boundaries are erased, as all patterns are lost in a new place to pray. New Church - a new place to pray is a project that started as solo music project of one man but turned out to be much more involving a lot of people, changing it shape from music to a multimedia project.
A new place to pray was, is and will be this people: Co-author Sara Radulović – director and screenwriter, Nikola i Boško Mijušković – music, Nikola Mijušković – mixing and mastering, Filip Tasić – director of photography, Tina Dragovic – 2nd camera and BTS, Neda Zivanovic, Vasilije Vujicic – editors, Aleksa Vitorovic – color, Rastko Stojanovic, Marko Stepic – producers, Visnja Vulicevic – production assistant, Dina Nedelkov – set design, Petar Aleksic – production designer and design, Gavrilo Nenadovic – gaffer.
A new place to pray, video, installation, mixed material, 2022
***Thermal Publishing House (Viktor Vejvoda) is a publishing house founded by Viktor Vejvoda in Belgrade, Serbia. It’s named after the inkless technique used for printing receipts from the cash register. It experiments with micro publishing, and a broadened use of the term 'self-publishing'. The publishing house utilizes its small and mobile form to maximize authenticity and partisan versatility. It focuses on producing, distributing and promoting so-called marginal authors and works. Part of this project and publishing house is the organization of public activities, a way to discuss topics such as self-publishing and a technological renaissance of the Thermal Printer. These aim to provide the chance for individuals and groups to meet and discuss ideas, publications and to invite new members, interested in the Thermal method. With the help of Open-Source software tools Viktor Vejvoda has been able to use this method to publish multiple books by himself and an international series of artists and authors, developing a practical system for a transportable publishing desk, which can be deployed in various environments. A key emphasis of Thermal Publishing House is its cooperative and inclusive potential, and they organize various community-driven workshops. Works and publications can be produced flexibly, quickly and efficiently, avoiding the time-consuming process of mainstream publishing, by locally available material and producing and distributing in sustainable amounts. For practicality and sustainability, there is a reduction in the print format (print rolls of 58mm width) and print quality (to half-tone black and white raster), which is contrasted to the overwhelming presence of contemporary glossy images. Authors and readers are confronted with a page-less, endlessly designed, reading experience. Final prints are compact, on lightweight paper. He recently started the informal cafe SUPERMARGINAL on the terrace by the entrance of The Art Pavilion Cvijeta Zuzoric, Kalemegdan, Belgrade. Here people can read publications from Thermal Publishing House and others, old catalogues from 1947, and new samizdat. MANIFESTO OF SUPERMARGINÁL: In these times, as well as in all other times, only a mad dog can feel safe and calm in and out of any system. Only thing that brings us back to a sane mind and close to each other is a platform phenomenon known as BALKAN CAFÉ.
@thermalhouse_publ
***Self and others publications cabinet and folder is a part of )The Library( where you can read publications from Thermal Publishing House. It consists of an acrylic box with the publication scolls, as a pocket library, with small shelves – seen as an interactive object. The scroll publications can be purchased until there is one left of each, so the cabinet/folder can have an after-life and more readers in the Nordic - you can buy it on site for two coffee equivalents. Contact Thermal Publishing House for purchase of more pieces with a min. of 5+ pieces to be doable for shipping. @thermalhouse_publ
The space at SUPERMARGINÁL consider coffee as a human interface – where the idea is to create a point in the city where fresh micro-publications can be approached and interaction, meeting and cooperation enabled, or offer just a chance to rest and restore energy. At )The Library( it’s possible to get a sense of this specific atmosphere.
Acrylic box with publications, 2023
****Gordana Zikic is an interdisciplinary artist, director of Center 424 nonprofit an artist-run organization, co -founder and artist coordinator at Belgrade Artist in Residence and a co-founder of the Martial artist in residence. She was born in Belgrade, Serbia where she completed her Ph.D. in Arts in 2018, undergraduate and graduate studies in painting in 2005 and 2009, at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade. In 2004, Žikić won the Ljubica Sokic and Perspektive awards. She is a member of the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia (ULUS) and exhibits nationally and internationally. Her work is material-driven and research-based and focuses on the intersection of art and archeology with ecology and ecofeminism. Her current art practice involves examining traditions and innovations through installations, sculptures, paintings and drawings, wall drawings, videos, performances, and immersive installations. Zikic’s art attempts to re-contextualize traditional rituals, and objects and her body of work focuses heavily on collecting and recycling found objects and materials such as hair, fur, shells, copper wire, feathers, etc. These items are then transformed into sacred objects using traditional and current artistic methods to reveal her perspective regarding symbolism, spiritual mythology, and identity. Moreover, this transformation demonstrates how personal narratives intertwine, challenge, and mimic other international narratives.
www.gordanazikic.wordpress.com
@gotza_gotza
****Sabine Wedege is a visual artist, lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark and holds an MFA from Jutland Art Academy in Aarhus, Denmark and Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Serbia. Attended The Writing School in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland (The publisher Gladiator), the educational curator program WHAT COULD/SHOULD CURATING DO? in Belgrade, Serbia, Frieze New Writers Programme at Bergen Kunsthall, and a certificate student and researcher at The New Centre for Research & Practice in Art & Curatorial Practice, Seattle, USA. Shown works i.a. Kunsthal Aarhus and Kunsthal Kongegaarden in Denmark and Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, Serbia. She is also the founder and curator at the platform RUM два. Her interdisciplinary practice intertwines research and storytelling, primarily though sculpture as well as text, sound, and video – based on various of references, including esotericism, folklore, paganism, feminism, and ecology. The works merge associations via connections found in history to our present, which results in new constellations.
www.sabinewedege.com
@sabinewedege
****MOKOSH FREJA: material-research-archive-box, 2023, a part of )The Library(, is a collaborative work between Gordana Zikic and Sabine Wedege, investigating similarities, overlaps and parallels in their artistic practice – what materials is being used and how it proceeds, with an awareness of exchange and comparisons in the matter of identity, our common heritage, as Europeans, decided by geopolitics and borders, paganism and Christianity, Slavic and Nordic mythology, by war and trade - contrasts and unions. The divide between Eastern and Western Europe from a pagan symbiosis to strangers, where the community evaporated, forgetting what we once shared, but shines through our common use of materials – production and craft – to art-making and artistic research – to coincidences and what we share in another form. The title MOKOSH FREJA refers to the Slavic and Nordic goddess, yet another coincidence.
Archive box, mixed material, 2023
Curated by RUM два at Juxtapose Art Fair
@rumdva
Supported by Kulturudviklingspuljen
Special thanks to Juxtapose Art Fair
4/5-23 – 15/6-23
Juxtapose Art Fair, Rå Hal, Godsbanen, Aarhus, Denmark
www.juxtaposeartfair.com/
@juxtaposeartfair
Photo: RUM два
