Belaj
In : Art
...In his recognizable style, with the humorous twists of words. Under the title of Belaj, he has exhibited five different powdered materials in which he has made impressions in the form of the words milk, flour, sugar and cocaine with a cooking utensil… ...U svom prepoznatljivom stilu, sa duhovitim obrtima reči. Pod naslovom Belaj izložio je na stolu površine sa pet različitih belih praškastih materijala u kojima su modlom otisnute reči mleko, so, brašno, šećer i kokain... Andrej Tišma
Belaj
Dejan Radovanović
White installations, Belaj (the title of this work in Serbian is Belaj – word roughly meaning chaos, mess. Although it has a slightly negative ring to it, its sound reminds of the word belo meaning white in Serbian, which is the reason why the artist chose it for the title - again a witty choice of the terminology suggesting chaos/collection of whiteness), as Marko Stojanovic, the author, named them, are by this occasion represented in Remont; they are a segment of author's work, which he claims he wouldn't know how to describe. Of course he wouldn't, because his work has already offered affluently anatomized expression and associative context. White materials (salt, sugar, flour, powdered milk... cocaine...) of different granulation, strength and taste are represented in the most familiar spatial representations - in amount and shape. The shades of reflection (or emission) tell the difference between them and the names of the matter are imprinted in them with identical font size. Behind the visually obvious differences, familiar and assumed differences of their tastes and effects are revealed (or appealed to). So that achromia becomes panchromia, because a rich spectre of shades that are reflected and emitted by different granulates comes up out of the whiteness. If the whiteness as the basic quality is opposed to the shapelessness made by merging of different spectre components, then Stojanovic's authorial approach could be defined as the negation of shapelessness by singling out the richness of identity and differences in the white world. Philosophical, theosophical, metaphysical, and/or dialectical considerations and speculations, as the primary sections of the predecessors' white work, to mention only Malevich and suprematism, or conceptualists, yet do not satisfy completely the authors need to define separate identities and characteristics. Because of that Stojanovic introduces the double subjectivity of each of the qualities (identities): the subjectivity of the matter itself and subjectivity object's activity - an observer or a taster. So that he introduces the element of atmosphere, i.e. pleasure as a corrective of a measurable physical characteristic or activity. That is not hedonism in its negative (condemned) aspect, but an added measure of subjectivity in which the truth is being searched for. The pleasure supplements the authenticity of impression, so we reach the satisfaction by revealing the subjectivity through the subjective action and approach. When Marko's vocation for design is observed from that point of view, we reveal his personal approach and attitude to branding - it is fine, but with the respect of the identity - diferentiae specificae - of what is being branded and whom is that brand meant for and represented. Intellectual and ethical responsibility must be sensually perceptional, generally both in artes minores and in ARTES (MAIORES). P.S. In a personal reading the first association the writer of this text got was a character of aged Casanova / Marcello Mastroianni in Ettore Scola's film "That Night in Varennes". The mask and the costume of Gabriella Pescucci then gave thirty shades of dusty "white" covering the seedy seducer. Incredible visualisation of the messages of the innocence gained in time (maybe by wisdom), i.e. the cunning innocence. The chain of associations following brought me to this reading. P.P.S. The film was made in 1982!
Belaj
Dejan Radovanović
Bele instalacije, Belaj kako ih je sam autor, Marko Stojanović, nazvao, predstavljeni ovom prilikom u REMONTU, segment su njegovog opusa za koji sam tvrdi da o njemu ne bi znao šta da kaže. Naravno, da ne bi, jer je radom već ponudio bogato razuđen iskaz i asocijativni kontekst. Beli materijali (so, šećer, brašno, mleko u prahu, …kokain …) različite granulacije, čvrstoće i ukusa predstavljeni su najsličnijim mogućim prostornim pojavama – u količini i obliku. Na razlike među njima ukazuju nijanse odsjaja (ili emisije) i imena materija otisnuta u njima identičnim fontom. Iza vizuelno uočljivih razlika otkrivaju se (ili prizivaju) i poznate i pretpostavljene različitosti njihovih ukusa i dejstava. Tako ahromija postaje panhromija, jer iz beline izranja bogati spektar nijansi koje reflektuju i emituju različiti granulati. Ako se belini kao onovni kvalitet pretpostavi bezličnost nastala stapanjem različitih komponenti spektra, onda se Stojanovićev autorski pristup može definisati kao negiranje bezličnosti ukazivanjem na bogatstvo identiteta i diferencija u belom svetlu. Filozofska, teozofska, metafizička, i/ili dijalektička razmatranja i spekulacije, kao primarne referade belih radova prethodnika, da pomenemo samo Maljeviča i suprematizam, ili konceptualiste, ipak ne zadovoljavaju u potpunosti autorovu potrebu za definiciju posebnih identiteta i svojstava. Stojanović stoga uvodi i dvostruku subjektivnost svakog od kvaliteta (identiteta): subjektivnost materije po sebi i subjektivnost objekta dejstva – posmatrača ili degustatora. Tako uvodi element ugođaja odnosno uživanja kao korektiv merljivog fizičkog svojstva ili dejstva. To nije hedonizam u svom negativnom (osuđenom) vidu, već dodatna mera subjektivnosti u kojoj se traži istina. Uživanje dopunjava istinitost utiska, te se do zadovoljenja dolazi otkrivanjem subjektiviteta kroz subjektivno dejstvo i pristup. Kada se Markova vokacija za dizajn sagleda iz tog rakursa otkriva se njegov lični pristup i stav prema brendizaciji - može, ali samo uz poštovanje identiteta - diferentiae specificae- onog što se brendira i onog kome je brend namenjen i predstavljen. Intelektualna i etička odgovornost moraju biti i čulno opažljive, kako u artes minores tako u ARTES (MAIORES) i uopšte.
P.S.
U ličnom čitanju prva asocijacija koja se javila piscu ovih redova je lik ostarelog Kazanove / Marčela Mastrojanija u filmu Noć u Verneu Etorea Skole. Maska i kostim Gabriele Peskuči dale su tada tridesetak nijansi prašinaste “bele” popadale po ocvalom zavodniku. Izvanredna vizualizacija poruka o nevinosti stečenoj vremenom (možda mudrošću), odnosno prevejanoj nevinosti. Dalji tok asocijacija doveo je do ovog čitanja.
P.P.S.
Film je snimljen 1982!
AP Gallery, Academy of Art Halapa , University of Veracruz, Mexico
AP Gallery, Academy of Art Halapa , University of Veracruz, Mexico
Lasalle-Sia College of the Arts, Singapore
Art Clinic, Perspektive 4, Novi Sad
Dejan Radovanovic’s text on Belaj written in flour, Remont Gallery, Belgrade
Like a coffee mill / Like a coffee grain / I’m self-grinding, grinding myself. / Like a watermill
Like wheat / I’m self-grinding, grinding myself. / Predrag Trokicić