Sel (8.3.-19.4.2024)

Lokacijsko specifična instalacija / mešana tehnika

Razlika med naravo in tehnologijo je globoko zakoreninjena v tradicionalnem zahodnem razumevanju civilizacijskega napredka, čeprav je bila ta razlika zavrnjena že v evropski dobi romantizma. S povečanjem ozaveščenosti o podnebnih spremembah se razprave polnijo s polarizirajočim zavračanjem znanosti in tehnologije, vse bolj utrjen dualizem naravno = dobro, umetno = slabo pa še dodatno povečuje občutek nemoči in »tehnopessimizma«, ki zavrača idejo, da bi ista tehnologija, ki je pospešila spremembe v naravi, lahko pomagala preprečiti najhujše. Pogledi družbe na tehnologijo se s časom spreminjajo, odvisno od lokacije. Ludizem in ekofuturizem sta le dva primera skrajnih ideologij, ki sta se uveljavili v zvezi z napredkom, in v sedanjem času in okolju se zdi, da nismo pripravljeni v celoti priznati obsega naše odvisnosti od tehnologij, ki omogočajo delovanje družbe. Brezžičnost in življenjska doba baterij sta postali sinonim za avtonomijo (paradoksalno še vedno v povezavi z napravami, ki nam omogočajo, da smo nenehno „priključeni“), medtem ko so kabli, žice in prevodniki – kadar je to mogoče – skriti v stenah in zakopani pod zemljo, prepuščeni naravi. V svoji ustvarjalni praksi se umetnica ukvarja z vrednostjo ter simboličnim in estetskim statusom vsakdanjih predmetov in materialov, ki nas obdajajo. V kontekstu razstavljenih del raziskuje, kako so položeni kabli in z njimi povezana infrastruktura v določeni meri odraz gospodarskih, estetskih in geografskih okoliščin. Z združevanjem tehnologije in narave umetnica poudarja pomen funkcije v povezavi z (estetično) obliko; z združevanjem kablov in delov dreves na asociativni ravni najde stično točko dveh različnih entitet v okviru njune komunikacijske funkcije.

Dela v Sel/The Messenger poskušajo vzpostaviti komunikacijo, ki se vse bolj izgublja v hrupu sodobnega diskurza o naravi in tehnologiji. Iščejo vzporednice med naravnimi evolucijskimi prilagoditvami in tehnološkimi, poskušajo ponovno vzpostaviti povezavo med umetnim in organskim s cepljenjem kablov in žic na debla dreves in tako poskušajo odpreti komunikacijske kanale med človekom in naravo. Skrita, implicitna vzporednica med materiali, ki jih uporablja umetnik, in njihovo simboliko je implicitna tudi v destruktivnosti skoraj kirurških presaditev; tako kot je nebrzdan tehnološki napredek odgovoren za izginjanje živalskih in rastlinskih vrst, je današnja tehnologija sama žrtev hitrega napredka, saj jo bo jutri nadomestila nova, medtem ko stara pogosto ostane zapuščena v naravi, kjer brez vzdrževanja vzpostavi nove interakcije z naravo, ki umetne artefakte bolj ali manj vključi vase. Podobno kot ti tehnološki izdelki z neznano funkcijo so tudi razstavljena dela odkrita skoraj po naključju in brez vmesnika ali »naprave«, ki bi gledalcem pomagala razvozlati, kaj točno teče skozi vzpostavljeno mrežo. Komunikacijske poti morajo zato z vsebino in funkcijo napolniti uporabniki sami.

S kiparsko instalacijo v razstavnem prostoru umetnica abstrahira nevidno medcelinsko mrežo podatkovnih kablov, katere žilni sistem bolj ali manj neprekinjeno oskrbuje globalni družbeni organizem. S tem razširja idejo komunikacijske mreže v naravnem okolju na globalne razsežnosti in raziskuje, ali je narava pri premagovanju velikih razdalj naš zaveznik ali grožnja krhki komunikacijski mreži, ki povezuje sodobni svet v času tektonskih geopolitičnih premikov. Kot komunikacijsko sredstvo razstava razmišlja o načinih sobivanja v hipertehnološkem svetu in postavlja vprašanje, ali lahko v naši potrebi po razvoju in napredku še vedno upamo, da bomo naravo spoštljivo obravnavali kot enakovredno entiteto, od katere je odvisno naše obstoj.

Avtorica teksta kuratorica Anja Seničar

Drevesa niso bila posekana s strani avtorice. Deli dreves so v prvotni obliki bili najdeni v gozdu.

Sel / The Messenger (8.3.-19.4.2024)

Site-specific installation / mixed media

The divide between nature and technology is deeply rooted in the traditional Western understanding of civilizational progress, even though this divide was rejected as early as in the European era of Romanticism. As awareness of climate change grows, discourses are becoming saturated with a polarising rejection of science and technology, and the increasingly cemented dualism of natural = good, artificial = bad, adds to the sense of helplessness and “techno-pessimism”, rejecting the notion that the same technology that has accelerated change in nature could also help us prevent the worst.Society's views on technology change over time, depending on the location. Luddism and ecofuturism are just two examples of the extreme ideologies that have been established regarding progress, and in the current time and environment, it seems as if we are unwilling to fully acknowledge the extent of our dependence on the technologies that make society function. Wirelessness and battery life have become synonymous with autonomy (paradoxically still in connection to the devices that enable us to be constantly “plugged in”), while cables, wires, and conductors – whenever possible, stay hidden in walls and buried underground, given over to nature. In her creative practice, the artist is concerned with the value and the symbolic and aesthetic status of everyday objects and materials that surround us. Through the context of the displayed works, she explores how laid cables and associated infrastructure are to some extent a reflection of economic, aesthetic, and geographical circumstances. By combining technology and nature, the artist highlights the importance of function in relation to (aesthetic) form; by combining cables and tree parts on an associative level, she finds the meeting point of two different entities within their communicative function.

The works in Sel/The Messenger attempt to establish a communication that is increasingly lost in the noise of contemporary discourse on nature and technology. They look for parallels between natural evolutionary adaptations and technological ones, attempting to re-establish the conduit between the artificial and the organic by grafting cables and wires onto tree trunks and thus trying to open up channels of communication between man and nature A hidden, implicit parallel between the materials used by the artist and their symbolism is also implied in the destructiveness of the almost surgical transplants; just as unbridled technological progress is responsible for the displacement of animal and plant species, today's technology is itself a victim of rapid progress, as tomorrow it will be replaced by a new one, while the old one often remains abandoned in nature, left to establish, in the absence of maintenance, new interactions with nature, which more or less incorporates the artificial artifacts into itself. Like these pieces of technology with an unknown function, the works on display are discovered almost by chance and without any interface or “device” offered to the viewers to help them decipher what exactly is flowing through the established network. The communication channels offered must therefore be filled with function and content by the users themselves.

With a sculptural installation in the exhibition space, the artist abstracts the invisible intercontinental network of data cables, whose vascular system more or less seamlessly supplies the global social organism. In doing so, she extends the idea of a communication network in the natural environment to global dimensions and explores whether, in overcoming vast distances, nature is our ally or a threat to the fragile communication web that connects the contemporary world in a time of tectonic geopolitical shifts. As a communication medium, the exhibition reflects on the ways of coexistence in a hyper-technological world and raises the question of whether, in our need to evolve and progress, we can still hope to treat nature respectfully as an equal entity on which our existence depends.

From the text by curator Anja Seničar

No trees were cut by the artist for this work. Most tree parts were found in exact form and state as shown in exhibition.