EXHIBITION: THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE
29 February 2016
THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE
TO THE CRITICS OF SELF-SPECTACLIZATION
international group exhibition
March 10 – April 10, 2016
Home of Croatian Fine Artists – Meštrović Pavilion
Trg žrtava fašizma 16, Zagreb
Bačva Gallery
OPENING
Thursday, March 10 at 7pm
Croatian Association of Fine Artists is organizing a project “The Society of the Spectacle” as a part of an EU project REALISE, coordinated by Heinrich Böll Stiftung Brandenburg from Germany which will take place from March 10 – April 10 in Zagreb, Croatia. The project features an exhibition of nine Croatian and foreign artists in the Bačva Gallery, research on alternative art practices and lecture on the heritage of Guy Debord’s work. Project objective is to redefine and recontextualize the heritage of “The Society of the Spectacle” as an instrument of new theoretical and artistic alternatives through new readings, but also as a criticism of today’s Society of Self-Spectaclization.
Siniša Labrović, Croatia, Stado.org, 2005
Exhibition concept:
“THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE” TO THE CRITICS OF SELF-SPECTACLIZATION
Gintautas Mažeikis and Josip Zanki
Uncritical society self-spectaclization and conscious subjugation of free time to the interests of corporative creative industries and industries of leisure time are conditions and challenge to rethink thoughts and actions of the leader of the French International Situationismand Psychogeography Guy Debord. The project “The society of the spectacle” is dedicated to the program book with the same name, published in 1967. Today, we recognize the situacionist International by student riots in Paris in 1968, but also by Debord’s manifest.
Guy Debord was a public activist, radical artist and critical philosopher deeply involved into first conscious rebellion or even revolution against society of the spectacle. Guy Debord defines the current state under the thesis that “in societies dominated by modern conditions of production, life is presented as an immense accumulation of spectacles.”
The multiplicity of his own ideas, actions and concepts of his circle of activists actually rocked the repressive state apparatus, which has put not only the police, the army, mental hospitals and prisons, but also a new way of control through exploitation of leisure time and imaginary. Debord was one of the first who began to criticize the new forms of exploitation and enrichment of persons through the production, distribution and consumption of images.
The spectacle by Debord is not only a collection of images, but “a social relation among people mediated by images that can not be understood as a mere visual deception produced by mass media because it is a world view that is materialized.” In the global expansion of consumer culture and the world estradisation leisure, society today turned into a series of spectacular events. The moment is no longer lived trough the reality, but trough the world of images, that is documented, memorized and placed in the context of individual mythologies.
Society of the spectacle has become a continual process of self-spectaclization of groups, when the apparatus is no longer necessary to use the repressive character of advertising and erotic images. The groups alienate themselves, brainwash and exploit themselves and for the opportunity to be subordinated servants willing to pay.
Society prefers to be watched, be controlled and chooses to live in the Matrix of deception. Moreover, the society internalizes specialization, learns the forms of control, accept self-exploitation through imaginary, prefer to be one-dimensional.
The whole world has become the world manipulated images by biopolitics. According to Federic Jameson we live in the society devoid of “all historicity, whose alleged past is little more than a set od dusty spectacles”
New reading “The Society of the Spectacle” of G.Debord is relevant and induces criticism of society of self-spectalization. The new reading could help to break voluntarily choosing of the Matrix, to destruct the society’s dreams to subjugate the leisure time for capitalistic industries. Development of public critics, new situations and contextualization, supporting of many artistic alternatives, communicational potlatch and public psychic conditions are the way of G. Debord and his followers.
Khaled Hafez, Egypt, Tomb Sonata in 3 Millitary Movements, 2010
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Siniša Labrović, Croatia
Vlasta Delimar, Croatia
Martina Miholić, Croatia
Zlatko Kopljar, Croatia
Žižić/Kožul, Croatia
Khaled Hafez, Egypt
Gintautas Mažeikis, Lithuania
Luise Kloos, Austria
Giovanni Morbin, Italy
Siniša Labrović is Croatian artist that works in field of performance, body art, video and photograph. He graduated Croatian language and literature at Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, where he occasionaly works as professor. He exhibited at various solo and group exhibition in Croatia and abroad, has performed numerous actions and urban interventions in Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Zadar, Sinj, Rijec, Split, Momjan, Bol, Poreč, Goli otok, Obrovac, Križevci, Pula, Stari Grad, Beograd, Novi Sad, Vršac, Ljubljana, Celje, Graz, Carlisle, Reykjavík, Regensburg, Dundee, Istanbul, Venice, Budapest, Berlin, Łódź… He received 3rd award for scenarium Srce (Hearth) at competition of Imaginary academy Grožnjan and Center for drama art Zagreb. Labrović currently lives and works in Zagreb.
Vlasta Delimar is the first Croatian female performer. First coming to prominence in the late seventies, Delimar has helped to define Croatian multimedia and performance art over the last three or four decades. In many ways her career should be viewed in parallel with that of her lifelong friend Tomislav Gotovac (1937-2010), the pioneer of making-a-spectacle-of-oneself-in-public, who famously ran naked down Zagreb’s main street in his 1981 performance Zagreb, I Love You!, periodically lying down to kiss the asphalt as he went. She is an Art Menager of the Art organization „My land, Štaglinec“. Delimar exhibited and performed in Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova Ljubljana, Neue Galerie, Graz, MUMOK Wien, Galerie Moretti & Moretti Paris, Art Complex Kyoto, Performance Art Platform Tel Aviv… www.performer-delimar.hr
Martina Miholić was born in Zagreb, Croatia and by now she received two MA degrees, from fine arts at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design – London in 2011 and the other was from graphic at Academy of Fine Arts – Zagreb in 2004. Since 2006 she was a part of the artistic collective ‘Projekt6’. In the same year she has became creative director of ‘Test! International Student Festival. In 2012 in colaboration with Croatian Embassy in London she was running an international project EXPORT-IMPORT. She was awarded as best grduant at the Academy of fine arts Zagreb.
Zlatko Kopljar is a contemporary artist living and working in Zagreb, Croatia. He works in a variety of different media including photography, video and performance. The artist always maintains a performative element, either in the production or presentation of the artwork. Kopljar exhibited on many group and solo exhibitions in Croatia and abroad. He has exhibited at the São Paulo Art Biennial, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka, the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, The Kitchen New York, Gallery Manes Prague and the exhibition From the K Series was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Novi Sad. His works are kept in the collections of the Museums of Contemporary Art in Zagreb and Rijeka, as well as in many private collections. He won the Franklin Furnace Grant for Performance in New York (2002).
Žižić/Kožul is an artistc tandem (Damir Žižić and Kristian Kožul) active from 2013. They have exhibited on numerous solo and group shows, such as Karas Gallery (HDLU), Lauba and Museum of contemporary art Zagreb, T-HT@MSU.HR Award Zagrebu and Apocalypse / Rohkunstbau in Schloss Roskow, Potsdam. Tandem received the 3rd award T-HT@MSU.HR in 2014.
Khaled Hafez is born in Cairo, Egypt where he currently lives and works. He studied medicine and followed the evening classes of the Cairo School of Fine Arts (Faculty of Fine Arts) in the eighties. After attaining a medical degree in 1987 and M.Sc. as a medical specialist in 1992, he gave up medical practices in the early nineties for a career in the arts. He later obtained an MFA in new media and digital arts from Transart Institute (New York, USA) and Danube University Krems (Austria). Hafez practice spans the mediums of painting, film/video, photography, installation and interdisciplinary approaches. His work was shown at 56th and 55th Venice Biennale, Italy; 15th Fotofest Biennale, Houston, USA; 11th Havana Biennale, Cuba; Uppsala Museum of Art, Uppsala, Sweden; Art Sonje Center, Seoul, Korea; British Museum, UK; Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan; State Museum of contemporary art, Thessaloniki, Greece; Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde, Denmark; Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Sao Paolo, Brazil; Yuchengco Museum, Manila, Philippines; Saatchi Gallery, London, UK; Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany; Tate Modern, London; Centre George Pompidou, Paris, France; 41st Rotterdam International Film Festival; 15th International Short Film Festival Winterthur, Switzerland; CPH:DOX/ Copenhagen Film Festival, Denmark… His awards include: Fulbright Fellowship, (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, PA), USA; Rockefeller Bellagio Fellowship, Italy; Francophonie Prize, 6th Dakar Biennale, Senegal; Fondation Blachere Prize, 9th Bamako Photo Biennale, Mali His work is part of following public collections: The British Museum, London, UK; The Saatchi Collection, London, UK MuHKA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium; Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art, Sarajevo, Bosnia; Horcynus Orca Foundation, Messina, Italy; Mali National Museum, Bamako, Mali; Maraya Art Centre, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE; State Museum of Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
Gintautas Mažeikis is a Lithuanian cultural anthropologist, theoretician and a doctor of philosophy. He is one of the most influential philosophers of the younger generation. He is head of department for Social and political theory, Vytautas Magnus university, Kaunas. He is also supervisor of postgraduate and doctoral studies in Social and political critique; Member of committee of postgraduate studies in Creative industries; Head of researches in the field of Contemporary Critical Theory; Member of European Cultural Parlament, Area of scholarship: Continental Social and Political Philosophy, Analysis and critics of Propaganda, Critics of Creative Industries and Visual; Analysis and critics of forms and functions of thinking, Critical Theory.
Luise Kloos is a versatile Austrian artist who works in the media of painting, drawing, graphics, installations, interactive performance. She deals with exhibitions design and holds workshops and lectures. She has exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions around the world, and has won several prestigious awards such as Kleiner Josef Krainer Award for outstanding cultural achievements. In her work she is often engaged in education and educational methods, and since 2009 is the Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Children’s Museum. She is a member of several renowned cultural bodies such as the European Cultural Parliament, a cultural advisory body to the City of Graz, NUROPE-Nomadic University for Arts, Philosophy and Enterprise.
Giovanni Morbin, a reknown Italian artist, has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice after following the course of Emilio Vedova. Since his debut his research is related to the behavior and performance, and focuses on objects that can be used as functional tools. He exhibited and performed at MMSU, Rijeka; Museo Marino Marini, Florence; Centrale Fies – Ambienti per la produzione di Performing Arts, Trento; Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Villa Croce, Genova; Museo MaGa, Gallarate, Artericambi, Verona; Gallerija Gregor Podnar, Ljubljana; Istituto Svizzero, Roma; Mart, Rovereto, ViaFarini, Milano…
SIDE-PROGRAMME:
Lectures are organized by Josip Zanki, while the research project is led by Gintautas Mažeikis. Mažeikis will lecture about G. Debord and contemporary perception of Debord’s book “The society of spectacle”. Giovanni Morbin’s lecture will refere to political performances inspired with the concept of spectacle. Neo associazione Udine will hold a lecture about engaged art in general. Artist talks, lead by Josip Zanki, are an opportunity to get introduced to exhibitors and their work.
Zlatko Kopljar, Croatia, K18, 2014
DATES AND TIMINGS:
Exhibition opening:
March 10, 2016 at 7pm
Exhibition duration:
March 10 – April 10, 2016
Artist talks:
March 11 at 5pm
Club HDLU, Home of Croatian Fine Artists – Meštrović Pavilion
Trg žrtava fašizma 16, Zagreb
Moderator: PhD Josip Zanki
Lectures:
March 11 at 2pm
Giovanni Morbin – Performances and concept of spectacle
Academy of Fine Arts, Zagreb
Ilica 85, Zagreb
March 12 at 12pm
Gintautas Mažeikis – Contemporary perception of G. Debord’s “The society of spectacle”
Club HDLU, Home of Croatian Fine Artists – Meštrović Pavilion
Trg žrtava fašizma 16, Zagreb
March 12 at 1pm
Neo associazione Udine – Activistic and political topics in the art projects organized by Neo associazione Udine
Club HDLU, Home of Croatian Fine Artists – Meštrović Pavilion
Trg žrtava fašizma 16, Zagreb
Working hours of the exhibition:
Wednesday to Friday 11am – 7pm
Saturday – Sunday 10am – 6pm
Monday and Tuesday and holidays – closed
Organizer:
Supported by:
MEŠTROVIĆ PAVILION CLOSED DUE TO RENOVATION
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