The starting point of the exhibition by academic sculptor and media artist Zoran Srdić Janežič, titled Postcards, presents the placement of artworks in public space, which has been one of the central themes that have interested the author over the past two decades. Among his developed works are urban interventions, or as he calls them, sculptural walks, actual proposals for the placement of monuments, as well as monitoring of artworks in public space, reflections (essayistic writings), and dealing with public installations.

More specifically, the author develops the idea that proposals or models for sculptural installations in public spaces (either monuments or art installations) are already artworks in themselves. Art history is full of examples of good models that have not become public works: for example, the model for the Prešeren Monument by Berneker or the proposal for the Cankar Monument by Bulovec Mrak. If we leave aside what a possible placement of a monument would look like, what remains is the model itself, which often represents a valuable artistic idea. In the author’s starting point, the form of the draft does not appear only as a study, but as an independent work of art. Berneker’s or Bulovec’s draft is not treated as a separate sculpture, but as a starting point for reflection on a modern new artistic form, as the proposal for a work of art in public space can also act as an independent artwork even if it is not realized in the proposed space, size, and material. In this concept, we must read Srdić Janežič’s media-oriented direction. The artwork Postcards appears as an idea and in a virtual environment with the theme of the Kokra Canyon.

As an entry point into understanding the idea of the exhibition, Zoran Srdić Janežič presents both study material and four proposals that he developed for public tenders (together with architects Cvet Kuneševič and Lidija Dragišič), which he sees as artistic solutions for the visual impression, as well as the functionality of public space and which he develops further as independent works in his work. The studies include various maps, historical sources, and literature: a copy of the brochure Art Equipment of Urban Space, in which Kranj artists, in collaboration with the then director of the Gorenjska Museum, Dr. Cene Avguštin, prepared proposals for art installations in public space in Kranj.

The Kokra Canyon was very active in the late 1960s and 1970s, both because of the actions of the OHO group and because of public art interventions and works by Vinko Tušek, which is another intersection in the exhibition’s study field.

The main part of the exhibition consists of a study of the Kokra Canyon, which the author presents in a virtual field with four proposals prepared by architect Kuneševič as augmented reality that viewers can experience through an AR code in the Kokra Canyon. Additional studies of the canyon include photogrammetry, computer-generated images, as well as plans for a future mobile unit, with which Srdić Janežič will gather data on Kokra and assemble them into a developmental model of empowering the canyon and obtaining a status of being for the canyon-river. The artist does not determine this being with legal status as the New Zealand river Te Awa Tupua, which was recognized as an indivisible and living entity among the first in 2017, but as a cybernetic entity that could take care of itself in the future, collaborate with Kranj artists, and integrate art into its environment.

Martina Marenčič

Raz-glednice

2. – 20. avgust 2022
Mala galerija Društva likovnih umetnikov Kranj

Avtor: Zoran Srdić Janežič
Soavtorji arhitekturnih predlogov: Cveto Kunešević, Lidija Dragišič
3D modeliranje: Cveto Kuneševič
3D print in elektronika: Erik Krkač
Fotogrametrija in programiranje: Matic Potočnik
Tisk: Artiko
Ulivanje maket iz brona: Livartis
Kustosinja: Martina Marenčič

Zahvala: David Klemenčič, Dušan Zidar, Barbara Ravnik, Narodna galerija, Mestna občina Kranj – Urad za okolje in prostor: Janez Ziherl, Gorenjski Glas: Igor Kavčič, Jure Kamšek

Produkcija: Zavod za sodobne kiparske raziskave, 2022
Koprodukcija: Likovno društvo Kranj
Podpora: Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije