JAŠA
UTTER / the violent necessity for the embodied presence of hope
9 May–22 November 2015
Pavilion of Slovenia
Arsenale
Venice
www.utter-project.net
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Curators: Michele Drascek, Aurora Fonda
Executive Producer and Art Director: Rosa Lux
Commissioner: Simona Vidmar, UGM I Maribor Art Gallery
The Pavilion of Slovenia at the 56th International Art Exhibition in Venice is taken over by an ambitious architectural structure and a group of performers, who will inhabit the structure for the entire 28 weeks, in order to embody the violent necessity of hope identified by the artists JAŠA as the most powerful force behind his work and his artistic research. JAŠA’s aim is to create an artwork as both a poetic stance and a dynamic, politicized presence.
The three-level architectural installation, which operates as “kind of agora—the operational and emotional heart” of the Pavilion, is a stage to “moving bodies, clashing objects, intonations of texts and association of sounds.” It plays host to explorations into literature, sculpture, painting, lightning, sound, music and performance and it invites the spectators to enter in its “architecture of action.” A polyphonic situation of visuals, sounds and performances will be submitted to a rigorous weekly script, which will be performed and repeated 28 times, from May 9 until November 22 by JAŠA and his team of artistic collaborators. Through continuous repetitive behaviour, actions, gestures, and the transformation of these gestures into rituals, the group of performers will summon a rebellious force, which by the power of poetry calls upon a pandemic realization of the idea of community and unification. Considering the demands and ecstasies of repetitive durational performance, the project is a structured act of discipline. It is a call toward collective sensibility.
“It is my goal to use the Pavilion of Slovenia as a platform to confront an international audience with the overall project experience as a living functional mechanism driven by the solidarity of all elements involved: installation, visual elements, lighting, projections, sound, and performance. Thus, I intend to create and enable an overall experience of solidarity as an efficient way of operation. I believe in continuous and sustainable collaboration as a basis for the development and communicative value of the project.”
For more information on JAŠA, the project, curators Michele Drascek and Aurora Fonda, art director Rosa Lux or the commissioner Simona Vidmar, visit the website of the Pavilion of Slovenia.
JAŠA (Mrevlje-Pollak) was born in Ljubljana in 1978. He studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice and has since been a unique presence in Europe’s artistic landscape. He is one of Slovenia’s most prolific and influential contemporary artists, driven by his distinctive interpretations of situation, narrative, sculpture and performance; an artist who transforms spaces into experiences and propels them toward their poetic potential. Pushing artistic boundaries through uncompromising vision for almost two decades, JAŠA has created a rich and remarkable body of work that includes multiple critically acclaimed solo shows and projects in Europe and the US. In his two active studios in New York and Ljubljana, Slovenia, JAŠA has created a unique environment, one which allows him to cultivate contextual and visual eventuality that is integral to his work.
Producer: UGM I Maribor Art Gallery; in collaboration with: WEARE Production
Chief Strategist: Ayal Brenner
Editor In Chief: Aimee Walleston
Artistic collaborations: Junzi (Performance & Sound), Michele Drascek (Performance), Meta Grgurevič (Kinetic Elements and Artistic Overview), Bowrain (Music), Etan Nehcin (Writer), Kuno Mayer (Structural & Architectural collaboration)
With support of: Ministry of Culture Slovenia
Sponsors: Arcadia Lightwear, Stratkom, RIKO, GoOpti
For media enquiries and additional information, please contact:
Rosa Lux: T +39 344 206 1814 / rosafinclux [at] gmail.com
Jure Kirbiš: T +386 41 748 991/ jure.kirbis [at] ugm.si
