SPOTS OF CRITICAL INTIMACY

One of never completely realized works. The original idea was to create 7 commemorative plaques about insignificant situations and scenarios, involving either an artist or art as the subject.
The text was engraved on granite slabs, each about the size of A4 paper, and was part of my application for a young artist award in Bosnia, together with a video installation, all titled "Critical Intimacy".
The idea was to place the commemorative plaques in the city of Banja Luka overnight, but it never happened as I was prevented from attending the vernissage and taking the action. Organizers of the exhibition rejected showing this part of the work anyway.
However, the plates were left in the museum's exhibition venue and soon disappeared. Thirteen years later, I had the opportunity to sneak into the museum's storage basement and search every corner, but found no trace of the work.
The plaques were just insignificant whispers in space and time, just like fictional situations they pretended to mark. As they disappeared, they were completed.

Six out of the seven dates were placed in the past, and one event was placed in the future:

1. At this place, September 3, 1921, the artist complained about the heavy stomach ache he had.
2. At this place, December 17, 1971, the artist heard the words "conceptual art," spoken by a casual passerby.[Hommage to the work of Braco Dimitrijević]
3. At this place, 1993, the word "art" was not pronounced for 749 hours.
4. At this place, December 1, 1983, the artist lost a 1000 Dinar bill.
5. At this place, May 7, 2005, the artist is...
6. At this place, June 14, 2010, the artist thought of traveling to the seaside with friends.
7. At this place, March 7, 2019, the artist got sick after having a discussion on ethics, art, and politics in a nearby pub.



Integral text from 2010:
"Natpisi svojom strukturom podsjećaju na memorijalne ploče. Sadržaj natpisa, svojom običnošću je u funkciju destrukcije posebne važnosti događaja kojim se ispunjava uslov za obilježavanje mjesta. Kao subjekti su postavljeni umjetnik ili umjetnost kao idealizovane intelektualne kreacije, dok je njihova radnja - intimizam u suprotnosti sa karakterom njihovih socijalnih identiteta. Intimizmi su postavljeni u različitim vremenima. U pojedinim slučajevima oni naslućuju geopolitičku situaciju postajući ekstrovertni intimizmi konstelacija (primjer: Na ovome mjestu 1992. riječ umjetnost nije izgovorena 798 časova), dok su u drugim slučajevima unutar situacionih okvira (primjer: Na ovome mjestu 03.09.1921. umjetnik se požalio supruzi na jake bolove u stomaku). Dio ploča ostavljene su nedorečene, sa pisaljkom pored, nudeći mogućnost interakcije sa slučajnim prolaznikom, čiji nam zapisi daju uvid u metaretoričke kontekste i društvene ugovore."

  • Medium: Objects (Commemorative plaques)
  • Year: 2010
  • Dimensions: Seven plaques around 20x30cm each