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The very title Alien both to the position of a foreigner in such a monocultural environment as Serbia is today (after so many years of cultural and social isolation), and the position of contemporary artist in a surrounding that is hostile to non conventional types of artistic practice and which does not provide sufficient institutional support to new and different artistic and cultural projects. The workshop on the Alien topic, included also little local detours, organized in order to familiarize with the local cultural topics and places of cultural and social significance, as well as with the spaces of cultural tension, exclusion, and non excepted otherness (perhaps the most striking example of that is the Chinese immigrants community). The video work ‘Something is eating us’ was developed under the Alien topic, in the form of interview that was taken on the streets and public places with the local people including Chinese working in market halls and flee markets, video gives the knowledge about how the citizens, majority and minority, feel and what do they think living in the city such as Kraljevo. The Chinese community started to be present in Serbia from the late 90’ under the Milosevic government when Serbia was isolated country. That period of 90’ in Serbia made local people alienated and with the coming of Chinese people, settled in Serbia, that fact among others started to change that situation and it influenced on local people to be more open, though in the beginning was like ’Aliens’ look at each other. The video is researching those relations.

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Our experience tells us that there will always be conflicts between desire and loyalty – indeed, life probably has no other place than between these two poles. However, today this experience is conveyed more than ever before through media: Love in the telenovela age.In “next code: love”, three generations of artists explore different aspects of love with the aid of their specific tools, traversing three different cultural regions from which Europe has drawn its identity for centuries: Latinity, Orthodoxy and Islam – represented by participants from Vienna, Graz, Beograd and Istanbul.

Production Steirische Herbst festival, Graz, Austria 2007.

link to the video

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The video is about subway beside Galata bridge in Istanbul, Turkey.

In the shop window is installed TV monitor with very known cartoon Tom & Jerry running on. People who are passing by, mostly men, are looking at guns in shop window of 25 Turkish lira prices and at the same time looking Tom & Jerry cartoon. Video shows comic way of perception by ironic situations that could be seen on streets of Istanbul.

Tom and Jerry is a series of theatrical short subjects (cartoons) created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbara for Metro-Goldwin-Mayer that centered on a never-ending rivalry between a housecat (Tom) and a mouse (Jerry) whose chases and battles often involved comic violence.  Now in this situation cartoon comic violence is juxtaposed to guns in the shop window and represented to the eye of passengers as irony of the real.

link to the video

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In this research process artist is questioning inhabitants moving according to map. Artist is in the role of popular heroes, interrogators, from “X files” TV series, Molder and Scaly. Like the two of them artist ‘’intrude’’ into peaceful village unhesitating to discover the truth: does Aliens visit area of Lipovac Reyon 3? With sketches in her hands artist is showing possible look of Alien to inhabitants. By her own appearance, wearing big dark glasses behaving as FBI agent, artist provokes astonishing reaction. Some of the elements of this fictive scenario, which is transformed into real, talks about humanity and seeks the truth of the universe which is ironically questioned by artist. This work in its very own way investigates connection between the two worlds and close encounters between people and Aliens. Aliens sometimes appear to be like ‘’others’’ who are unknown to us, but at the same time they are like ourselves permanently modifying in interaction through the network.

Thanks to: Mara Prohaska Marković,  Maida Gruden and Aleksandrija Ajduković

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The narrative of this video clip is based on statement of Master Hirokazu Kanazawa, the muster of martial arts, but its twisting sensible touch is in relationship between human skill that is performed by 12 year old boy, Tai Chi Cheng Style, and performance of Machines which simultaneously are repeating movements  in the rhythm like they are dancing.  It opens the question of similarities and differences between human being and machine that is, ironically, made by human. With or without machines the statement of Master Hirokazu Kanazawa is irreversibly dependable which goes like this:

‘My philosophy of success is that throughout our life we humans have many objectives. And as you move closer to this ultimate goal, you must remain satisfied with yourself and try not to have too many disagreements on the way. You must try to be humble in your attitude and, in the spirit of Zen or Budo we call this “Mushin” Mushin means an empty mind which is in a state of total control and concentration, so that you can arrive at your objective in life which is the mental attitude you need in your journey to find success in your life.’

This is one of the aspects of contemporary life which has many ways of appearing in pluralism of stiles and ways of living combining politics, economy, social life, culture and technological development.

link to the video

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The topic presents human senses and how fragile they are. The accent is made on skin, tactility, human eye as the most fragile organ in our body. Tactility is emphasized with touch of ladybird on hand in first plan of video. It speaks about ‘philosophy of the body’ that is changing with the increasing of new digital media and changing of perception and reception of the real through digital incorporation into actual life.

If we think about notion of ‘classical’ representative art we could say this is a self-portrait, since picture of authors face appear in video, but the work explors ideas and layers of different meanings and sites of the real and we should not keep attention to the obvious visual representations, but find the  meaning on the level of human senses and sensibilities. The repetitive movements of hand and eye, compulsively fast movements of hand and eye in the video, while the ladybird is standing on the hand and keeps tension. The sensible touch of ladybird on skin of hand is emphasized with the fast repetitive compulsive movement of hand and eye, like ‘unfamiliar’ of digital incorporation into the realm of contemporary time.  Should we consider feelings that makes us human and on the other side feelings of non natural behavior, feelings of new age cyber space being call “Replicant”, exploring different feelings and senses that attach us to the world, and simultaneously lead us to the cyberspace of video games, to the connection between the world, humans in that world, and cyberspace with cyber world that is connected to the real of contemporary reality. The work deals with relation between actual and virtual.

link to the video

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This video leads us to the streets of Istanbul and children who are selling Spinning Top/Topaç on those streets, especially in front of Sulejmanija. It is one of the social issues taking care by the Republic of Turkey Governance of Istanbul Child Protection Team. This fragment shows idea of social performance and play as performing action on streets, both by children playing with spinning top that they are selling and Republic of Turkey Governance of Istanbul Child Protection Team, that is responsible for taking care of children who are selling souvenirs on streets. Spinning Top is traditional toy in Turkey, but is also souvenir for various tourists coming. The work has social existential content. In understanding of human behavior play is one of the essential parts that opens possibilities for new contexts, approach to the real, changing and transforming the real. Here notion of play is one of the aspects of Contemporaniety. Through play people are expressing their life, performing sport or video games; entertaining industries are important part of contemporary societies.

link to the video

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Video work “Stop smoking” is the news about social performance on the main square Trg Republike in Belgrade made in July 2009.

It represents simultaneously two actions performed on the main square. On one side artist is taking cigarettes from hands and mouths of people sitting in cafes and on the other side the group of people is protesting in front of the Stop NATO Fascism words; the protest that could be considered as the echo of protesting on streets of Belgrade, traumatically present during ’90 by millions of people protesting on streets against Socialists regime. Those new social situations of few people standing in front of the STOP NATO FASCISM words for 395 days, could open rethinking of the recent political past. What is the meaning of that? In this work it is ironically underlined by the artist’s action of dragging the cigarettes from hands and mouths of people sitting relaxed in cafes at the very centre of the city, which is ideologically so far but close to the simultaneous social performance of people who are protesting in front of the STOP NATO FASCISM words; even the both situations are happening at the same time and space. The action of dragging the cigarettes, unexpected action of taking the cigarettes from hands of people is surrealistic as the action of protesting in front of the STOP NATO FASCISM words on Trg Republike in Belgrade. It is opening of philosophical, metaphysical, ontological, existential, and ironical question of the society in transition as well as oppression now. It represents a recreation of the real/virtual world experience and the absurdity of history.

The “stage” where the action takes place is the main square Trg Republike, which is the picture of the urban landscape. The monument, equestrian statue of Knez Mihajlo, in the centre of the square, then the National Museum behind the monument with the big advertisement, billboard on the building, which is announcing the exhibition of the well known artists, the national painter of Serbia Paja Jovanovic (1859-1957). In the first plan of this urban landscape are people standing in front of the words Stop Nato Fascism (one of the actual question in political life of Serbia in 2010, the question of entering, integrating into NATO) which is the situation of everyday life in the public space.

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It will probably strike the average viewer as irredeemably degenerate, maybe even perverted, since voyeurism is still considered aberrant behavior. But as far as this film is concerned, that’s the appearance, not the reality. Whereas the drama revolves to a certain extent around the voyeuristic masturbation of an impotent man, the heart and soul of the film is an unrelenting, hard driving psychological siege on the biggest erogenous zone of all: the brain.

This film is about sex. But it’s not about the frothy swapping of fluids and feelings. It’s about honesty, without which one can’t have intimacy, which is to sexual stimulation what the water valve is to the hydrant. From beginning to end, we see this theme brought into focus by the dramatic contrast between two different relationships – the one based on lies and deceit, the other based upon honesty. And guess which one wins out in the long run?

Somehow, the openness about one’s problems renders their bile and poison ineffective. `Lies that fester,’ said Shakespeare, `smell far worse than weeds.’

Those are the words of much known movie Sex, Lies, and Videotapes that this video recalls upon.

This art work represents news which is dealing with memory, movie, visual sensation of nude, the nude as one of the most represented subjects in history of art, the question of gender in representation of nude in art history, potentiality of sexual energy, underlined by Ben E. King’s song ‘Stand by me’ but with its transformed travesty voice. The line of the form of nude appears as drawing with its direct appearing. The voyeurism as subject of the much known movie is present more than ever in ‘contemporary’ of our time, since virtual reality of internet and technical development of digital is allowing using and abusing of sexuality, exposure of vulgar contents in very direct way that is often connected to criminal acts and manipulation of human intimacy. Edge of familiar /unfamiliar behavior is becoming more un-visible and changeable with incorporation of digital pictures, the carnal knowledge is twisting through web tube/ the end of carnality.

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Gay/pride parade in Belgrade and Zagreb beginning of 21st century. The visual material is showed by Igor Grubic on 50th October salon Belgrade based on the archive clips (Zagreb –Fade in, Belgrade-TV B92). This video reconstructs the Igor Grubic’s work by songs Dream Lover and Sabotage of Ben E. King and Beasty Boys (20th century music) and implements new clips with content that goes along side with the story.