hello,
The disappearance act - Rapunzel style
//part of Voždovačka galerija - Bajka, audio-immersive installation, written mostly in Serbian with bits in English
[...] The installation speaks, in depth, through poetry, narration, theoretic sequences and auto-interrogation, about the thematic concerns of the exhibition. It begins with “Once upon a time” and gradually dissolves into a series of less coherent thoughts and ideas which, ultimately, tie the ends to their beginnings (essentially reminding us that, both “happily ever after” and “happily never” are okay). The text is written by Voždovačka galerija, but it references at times: the disappearing act (as in, the magic trick scheme), parts from Haytham El-Wardany’s text “How to disappear”, samples from “Inside my Love” by Minnie Riperton, an interpretation of the “The naked truth” legend and an interpretation of our friend Marija Radojlović’s grandmother’s real life story.
this part of the website is still under construction, but feel free to access available texts
This mess we're in
//2022, Saša Tkačenko solo show at Galeria e Bregdetit, Vlore, Albania
Mapping the dystopian contradictions of our times: this is how Saša described the intentions behind this exhibition to me. The works reconstruct his personal photo archives and are further combined with utilitarian objects of no particular aesthetic consequence, he adds. The personal and the common come together in an ambience meant to trigger an associative response in the viewer. The uncanny touches the familiar, so as to evoke thoughts on the current social, political and environmental issues; such as the global warming, wars and war threats, the economic crisis, social stratification based on class, race, gender, or any other invention designed to prevent and/or dismantle democracy.
Isn’t it interesting how much content can be covered with just a few elements, though? After all, there’s only three tables with custom-printed cloths there, a wallpaper and a handrail. Buckets full of melting ice and a bunch of glass bottles, cups, cutlery, as if nobody cleaned up after a party. Whose party was it? [continue reading]
if the text is password protected it's either not finished, or not for you. or maybe it is? who knows
The Grand Scam
// 2023
I woke up in pain. It was not an immediate pain, the one you can track right away and give it a name. I noticed it while on my laptop, eating a pie for breakfast, and some radishes on the side. I was watching the last season of Dead to me, one of the things I watch to have some time pass while my brain shuts off. One of the two main characters now has cancer in the show and, involuntarily, I keep on simulating the sensation of that information mentally. They call this 'mirror empathy' but I'm sure many would find it obnoxious and self-centerred: my body tries to imitate how it must feel to be turned against oneself. [continue reading]
Thinking about the exhibition text - Mother is a Bitch by Šejla Kamerić
//introductory text for the upcoming publication on witches and brooms, in collaboration with Šejla Kamerić
Sometimes it feels as if the text needs to contain certain words, structure and references in order to pass as a legitimate exhibition text, even if written in a way that’s seductive and unconventional. This is not to say that I’ve not fallen into that same trap; I, too, frequently mention post-structuralism, juxtaposition, the Anthropocene, and similar platitudes, even though I wasn’t pronouncing one of these words correctly in Serbian, which I found out later in a formal conversation about it. Should I be ashamed of this, or is it only easy for me to admit it because, as a former professor of mine said: women are allowed to be clumsy [continue reading]
Pussy Deluxe
//part of an upcoming publication in 2023, on speculative writing in art, love, magic, theory, sex, delusion
[...] Sometimes i fantasize about a huge insect coming out from behind the wall, next to my bed, coming to take me, like that creature takes Sigourney Weaver in ‘Alien’. 'Member when you posted pictures from remote islands during the pandemic?
Albania
//travel journal, 2022
Melons and watermelons are displayed in orthogonal grids beside the road. Everything else is random: men sit on horses sideways, like you’d imagine an elegant historical drama female protagonist would, because they’d be wearing skirts made of flannel, or goat skin, in this case. The trust these men give to horses along the serpentines is beyond. [continue reading]
News, prologue
//written in 2019, in the context of NEWS Issue 0 independent publication, with contributions by Barbara Kapusta, Julija Zaharijevic, Tamara Spalajkovic, Julius Pristauz. Published by Open Space, London
I sat down to write a poem about an idea, but then a friend of mine, an artist, sent me something Philippe Parreno said: talking around things is much more interesting than talking about things. I thought about cigarettes. It’s an object with so much content, the cigarette: a perfectly ironic consumerist item that literally disappears into air. That thing you hold when you don’t know what to do with your hands has also been described as a slow, deadly weapon, yet as you stand outside and smoke, you somehow make new friends. It’s an interface, really, even if poisonous [continue reading]
