Category Archives: solo performances

Caressing

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Exhibition The Visible Ones, Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, performance Caressing, in collaboration with artist selma banich and Art Gallery Split

In the context of the continuous attack on our lives and the normalization of increasingly frequent attempts at social fascism that subordinates us to the violence of gender and moral supremacy – those who kneel and pray, the call to caress puts sensation and touch into experiential focus as a feminist act of rebellion and resistance. We placed the intervention of the “affective” in the broader social and spatial context of Peristyle, as the scene of numerous encounters, conflicts and demonstrations of power, dominated by the performances of politicians, artists, fans, supplicants and tourists. Starting from the experiences of multiple asymmetries, especially those of gender, class and status that define our position in relation to the centers of power, with this intervention we questioned the imposed social norms. Combining the critique of power relations in the sphere of artistic work with the critique of social regimes that, deepening the existing asymmetries, continue to subjugate us, we created a tactile, sensory and edible mobilization of the embodiment of defiance and pleasure.

By caressing, accompanied by eat-art poetry in prose, we called for the empowerment of the multi-layered reality of female energies present in us and around us.

The Probability of Effort

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Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb (outer part of the entrance)

2020

Alongside the topic of emigration, in this processual work I now also address the topic of city authorities and their actions following the earthquake in Zagreb on 22 March 2020. The people whose homes were severely destroyed have been left with practically no assistance, financial or advisory, on part of the City and its authorities. There are no instructions on further action, and they are left to fend for themselves.

I have designed a six-question survey, which I shared with people through social networks. I was interested in the strategies and ways of coping with the fact that your home is severely damaged, as well as the people’s emotional state and their vision of the city’s future renovation. Some of the questions are as follows: “Can you describe the emotions you felt after the earthquake had damaged your home?” “Can you briefly describe your vision of the city’s future; Do you think that the buildings will be renovated with reinforcement and protection from future earthquake damage, will most of them remain uninhabitable crevices in time, or something else?”

From the collected material, I created an installation and a performance. I engraved the text I had received from people onto some plates and cups that had fallen from the kitchen cabinets after the earthquake. I quote some of the citizens who have opted for anonymity in the survey: “Cracked walls, and fear that a stronger earthquake may destroy them completely. The ceiling is in the worst condition, and I avoid looking at it.” “Politicians! Either renovate the city, or leave!” “Most of them will be patched up; some cultural facilities will be renovated for years to come, and the demolished ones will be sold as parcels, and the criminals will profit once again.” “The renovation of Zagreb will be delayed and mystified, as are most things in Croatia. The politicians and construction companies will deal with this opportunistically, as is the case with everything we have seen so far.”

I collected debris from my building in Novi Zagreb, and several smaller tiles that had fallen from downtown façades. This material has become an artefact that makes up the installation, in the centre of which is the video of the performance. In a performative act, I verbalise the selected parts of the text, while my body is in plank position. Little by little, I start trembling; the strain of the exercise and the gravity of the spoken words can be felt in my voice.

Youtube video available with English subtitles.

transmitted vibrations

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Rovinj- public space of the city

2019

The installation and performance refer to a person’s ability to raise their environmental consciousness so as to think differently and accept responsibility for their actions. The work consists of soil heaped at the point of passage, and papers with ecological terms such as “environmental justice,” “simplicity of life,” “local environmental care,” “clean technology,” “waste minimisation,” etc. There is a microphone in close proximity of the soil, which amplifies the internal vibrations and the external sounds-reactions of viewers. The sounds I am making are directed towards the soil; their intensity varies from very quiet ones, to loud sounds of pain and grief. I am inviting the viewers to join me – two children and an adult come from the audience and make sounds with me. At the end, I give each of them one of the ecological terms with written date and location, as a material performative artefact. Event: Grisia Youth , summer 2019.

Absorbed Home

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Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb

2019

In this performance, I describe on a microphone what my imaginary home and atelier would look like and how I could live from my work: selling artefacts and photographs of the performances, and practicing contemporary art methods with primary school children, so that one day they could understand and purchase contemporary art. I seek to emphasise how very important it is to have a working space separate from the sleeping area, which many young artists today do not have. At one point, I start addressing the audience, asking them to draw the floor plan of their imaginary home or atelier. According to their sketches, I “sculpt” their homes from a mixture placed on the table (coconut, cocoa, ground nut, cranberries, dates, corn rose, apple juice), and serve them on paper plates to be consumed.

The performance is dedicated to all young people who work abroad and cannot do their art as much as they want (need) to.

 

Artifacts of Shame and Pain—-Behind the Red

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Location: Filodrammatica, Korzo 28, Rijeka & Kazamat Gallery Osijek

2018

By performing, I materialize my stiffness in the environment and society that is mostly indifferent to contemporary creative expressions. Shame comes from trying to introduce myself to someone and tell him what I’m doing. Shame is also due to the fact that I find it difficult to find a job in my profession. In this work I create artifacts of shame and pain by imprinting in my own blood all that makes my identity – things on me and in my bag such as identity card, student index, employment record book, health card, condoms, arts association membership card, as many coins as I have in the wallet, the food I carry in the bag, etc. Some prints will be clear, but most of them will become bloody abstract stains. During the printing I will try to present myself to the audience and describe the themes and the focus of my artistic creation.

Notes on scent

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City Museum of Umag

2016

The work consists of a series of performances before an audience, in which my collaborator Darko Brajković and I lie down covered in a mixture of bay leaves, sage, lavender and lemongrass. Our breathing is slowing down, we are sinking into a dream and focusing on the smell of herbs. The herbs cover our heads, chests, torsos, and legs. We are relaxing and waiting for a particular memory to be awakened by the smell of herbs. We are lying in this position for 15-20 minutes. Then we get up and write down our experience in a blank book, while also inviting the audience to do the same.

I found inspiration for this work in Proust’s reflections on time and memory; he said that time relived is not lost forever and can be summoned through our senses. In this performance, we recall our memories with the sense of smell.

 

Ashamed

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City of Opatija

2014

Feeling shame, showing signs of shyness, shame.
Description of the intervention:
The basic idea of the project is a space installation on the Walk of Fame in the city of Opatija. The installation consists of plants forming the word “shame” or “sram” in Croatian. With this word, I ask myself and the public: “What does it mean to feel shame?” “We were ashamed of something in puberty and while growing up, but is shame a virtue or a flaw of an adult human being? If it is a virtue, shouldn’t every person have a dose of shame in themselves?” Surrounded by the media and politicians that constantly lie without a shred of shame, this question seeks to encourage passers-by to define by themselves as to what the word shame means to them at present.

 

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