Observatorium
[Venice biennale]
     
Eclipse of the Moon - totalNo solid body is lighter than its image.

Start with a premise that an electronical image is part of a physical world.

Establish a direct relationship between electronical image and physical substance -materia in order to produce a laboratory scaled event which is simultaneously a “story” and physical reality. Measure how much the physical presence of the object affects the narrative, and how much the narrative affects the object.

Statement by the artist:

Observatorium comprises a cycle of works inspired by the notion that electronic image is a part of the physical world. The physical and the metaphysical, the spatial and the narrative, the natural and the artificial – all these ideas are not contradictions; rather, they are coexistent elements of one and the same real world. Contrary to my previous exhibitions, which were mostly collections of works created at different times and for different occasions, Observatorium presents new works created for this particular occasion. (For the exhibition at the Modern Gallery of Rijeka, February/March 1997).

The driving concept behind it all was to bring into direct relation the electronic image and physical substance– “matter” or “physical process”– in order to produce an event that could be measured in laboratory terms; something that is both a “story” and a physical reality. There are times when the physical presence of an object influences the manner in which a story is told. At other times, the narrative has an influence upon the condition of the physical object. This inter-relation itself then influences (we hope) our perception of both.

Dalibor Martinis
(Croatia)

[Venice biennale]
     
[Press release]
[Observatorium]
[Martinis]
[Commissioner]
[Site]
[Croatia]
[cr.net]