OTROCI / KIDS

Johanna Billing, Matija Brumen, Andreja Džakušič, Priscila Fernandes, Eden Mitsenmacher, Franc Purg, Pilvi Takala

19.12.2018 – 20.1.2019, Galerija Škuc

Vljudno vabljeni na otvoritev razstave v sredo, 19. decembra, ob 20. uri.

Kustosinja: Maja Hodošček

Naslov razstave se nanaša na delo Kids (2002)  umetnika Franca Purga, ki je nastalo med njegovim rezidenčnim bivanjem v Belfastu in New Yorku. Umetnik je usmeril pozornost in pogled kamere na presunljivo nasilno igro skupine otrok z obrobja mesta. V delu zunajinstitucionalno okolje ulice, ki otrokom z naključnimi razpoložljivimi materiali ponuja številne možnosti preizkušanja in delovanja, predstavlja prostor učenja. Otroci s posegom v realno okolje in s poskusom spreminjanja le-tega oblikujejo sebi lastne izkušnje in pomene, a hkrati z igro razkrivajo lasten položaj v družbeni strukturi. Umetnik v njihovo aktivnost ne posega, z opazovanjem spoznava skupinsko obliko interakcije znotraj kompleksne socialne situacije.

Izhajajoč iz dela Kids si razstava zastavlja vprašanje, na kakšen način lahko umetnost sodeluje v razširjenem prostoru vzgoje in izobraževanja, kjer se odvijajo posredne oblike učenja z izjemnim učinkom ponotranjanja družbenih struktur in normativnih vedenjskih oblik. Predstavljena dela izhajajo iz neinstitucionalnih kontekstov in raziskujejo vire, možnosti in sredstva učenja  onkraj programskih smernic in enoznačnih preverjanj znanj.

Ključni razvojni psiholog, Jean Piaget, poudarja, da je temeljni princip, ki prispeva k razvoju posameznika, ki je sposoben samoodločanja in spoštovanja svobode in pravice drugega, omejena moč odraslega, le-ta zagotovi pogoje, znotraj katerih  obstaja možnost izraza, samousmerjevalnega učenja, preizkušanja in improvizacije. V takšnih pogojih otroci lahko razvijejo lastne oblike vedenja in pridobijo občutek odgovornosti do družbe. Umetniki, predstavljeni na razstavi, v svojih delih  ustvarjajo tovrstna horizontalna okolja, kjer otroci sami usmerjajo tok dogajanja, hkrati pa opozarjajo, da so tovrstni odprti pogoji v času vsesplošne instrumentalizacije pedagoških procesov  redki. Osvetljujejo subtilne pojavne oblike procesa  indoktrinacije in okolja, kjer se tovrstni procesi odvijajo. Razmišljajo o odprtih didaktičnih prijemih in zaznavajo značilnosti, ki prispevajo k formiranju sistemov, kjer se pravila oblikujejo spontano, znotraj procesa izkušnje, brez vnaprejšnje, vsiljene strukture. Temeljijo na opazovanju, improvizaciji, skupinskem delovanju in izmenjavi, ali ustvarjajo situacije, kjer se odvija določena aktivnost, ki poudarja sodelovanje, soodločanje, samoiniciativnost in neodvisno razmišljanje.

Priscila Fernandes v delu For a Better World (2012) raziskuje, s kakšnimi mehanizmi se otroka pripravlja na ekonomsko življenje in obstoječo obliko delitve dela. Video je posnela v majhnem, umetno narejenem mestecu z nakupovalnim središčem, bolnico, kavarnami, restavracijami, itd., kjer se otroci igrajo tako, da zavzamejo različne družbene vloge in z njimi povezane aktivnosti. Kompleks so postavile združene korporacije, da bi otrokom ponudile izkušnjo realnega sveta. Izkušnjo procesa politične spremembe in njenih učinkov na vsakodnevne prakse raziskuje Johanna Billing v delu Magical World (2005), posnetim v Zagrebu. Prikazuje skupino otrok pri kolektivnem petju na rednih pevskih vajah. Otroci, rojeni po koncu balkanskih vojn, so predstavniki novega začetka, zaznamovanega s politično usmeritvijo,  ki v procesu preoblikovanja sistema nakazuje vdanost neoliberalni paradigmi. Koliko prostora bodo lahko zajeli znotraj tega »magičnega prostora«, ki obljublja preskrbljeno prihodnost? Možnost prihodnosti kot produkt skupnih odločitev izpostavlja umetnica Pilvi Takala v delu The Committee (2014). Otrokom podari 7000 funtov, ki jih je prejela kot dobitnica nagrade Emdash (2013) in jih prosi, da kot skupina porabijo celoten denar, kako, pa je prepuščeno dogovoru in odločitvi otrok. Možnost sooblikovanja umetniškega dela ponuja Franc Purg v novem projektu, sestavljenem iz dveh enot; videa in plakatov. V projektu raziskuje značilnosti, ki vodijo otrokovo obnašanje, predvsem radovednost in volja do preizkušanja, ki se izraža v zgodnjih letih in se skozi razne vzgojne mehanizme v času odraščanja izgublja. Na razstavi bodo otroci lahko posegali v plakat in ga preoblikovali po lastni volji, brez vnaprej danih napotkov ali sugestij o vsebini samih vizualij.

V sodelovanju z otroki Andreja Džakušič razvija doživljajski park, ki temelji na urbanem vrtnarjenju. Po postavitvi visoke grede v celjski mestni soseski razmišlja o nadaljnjih možnostih rabe zelenih površin in preko delavnic z najmlajšimi raziskuje osnovne principe vrtnarjenja. Matija Brumen v delu Marko, Ivo, skozi fotografski objektiv spremlja svoja nečaka od rojstva,  ju portretira v različnih življenjskih obdobjih in ustvarja dokument spreminjajočega se časa.  Eden Mitsenmacher več let prek dopisovanja spoznava deklico iz Anglije, s katero si delita skupni interes zanimanja za petje in  si izmenjavata posnetke. Umetnica jo je v eni izmed izmenjav prosila, če ji lahko zapoje pesem, ki jo navdihuje z upanjem. V pričakovanju izbora s širšim družbenim sporočilom je deklica presenetila s skladbo, ki govori o zasebni ljubezenski stiski.

*Vizualija: Priscila Fernandes, Za boljši svet, video still, 2012

KIDS

Johanna Billing, Matic Brumen, Andreja Džakušič, Priscila Fernandes, Eden Mitsenmacher, Franc Purg, Pilvi Takala

19.12.2018 – 20.1.2018

You are kindly invited to the opening of the show on Wednesday, 19^th December, at 8 pm.

Curator: Maja Hodošček

The title of the exhibition refers to the work Kids (2002) by artist Franc Purg, produced during his residency in Belfast and New York. The artist focused his attention and the camera lens on a harrowing game of violence by a group of children from the outskirts of the city. In the work, the non-institutional street environment – which provides the children with randomly available materials, offering numerous possibilities of testing and acting out – represents a learning environment. By reaching into the actual environment and trying to change it, the children shape their own experiences and meanings, while at the same time disclosing their own position within the social structure. The artist does not intervene in their activities. Rather, he observes the group form of interaction within the complex social situation.

Taking the work of Kids as a starting point, the exhibition raises the question of how art can participate in an expanded area of education, where indirect forms of learning take place with the extraordinary effect of internalizing social structures and normative behavioural forms. The works presented stem from non-institutional contexts and explore the resources, possibilities and means of learning beyond programme guidelines and other run-of-the-mill ways of testing knowledge.

Jean Piaget, a key developmental psychologist, emphasizes that the fundamental principle that contributes to the development of an individual capable of self-determination and respect for the freedom and right of another is the limited power of the adult, providing the conditions within which there is the possibility of expression, self-directed learning, testing and improvisation. Under such conditions, children can develop their own forms of behaviour and gain a sense of responsibility towards society. The artists presented in the exhibition create such horizontal environments in their works, where children themselves direct the course of events, but they also point out that such open conditions are in fact rare at a time of a general instrumentalisation of pedagogical processes. They illuminate the subtle existing forms of the process of indoctrination and the environment, where such processes take place. They consider open didactic approaches and perceive those elements that contribute to the formation of systems, where rules are formed spontaneously, within the process of experience, without any advance, imposed structure. They are based on observation, improvisation, teamwork and exchange, or else create situations where a certain activity takes place that emphasizes cooperation, joint decision-making, self-initiative and independent thinking.

In her piece For a Better World (2012), Priscila Fernandes explores the mechanisms used to prepare the child for economic life and the existing form of the division of labour. The video was filmed in a small artificially constructed town with a shopping centre, hospital, cafés, restaurants, etc., where children play by taking on a variety of social roles and related activities. The complex was set up by merged corporations so as to offer children a real world experience. The experience of the process of political change and its effects on everyday practices is explored by Johanna Billing in her piece Magical World (2005), filmed in Zagreb. It shows a group of children singing together at regular singing practice. The children born after the end of the Balkan wars are the representatives of a new beginning, marked by a political orientation that, in the process of transforming the system, is indicative of a neo-liberal paradigm. How much space will they be able to capture within this “magical space” that promises a secure future? The possibility of the future as a product of joint decisions is highlighted by artist Pilvi Takala in The Committee (2014). She gives a group of children 7000 pounds, which she received as the winner of the Emdash Award (2013), and asks them to spend all the money as a group, with the decision of how to do this being left up to the children. The possibility of being a collaborator in the artwork is offered by Franc Purg in his new project, composed of two parts – a video and posters. The project explores the characteristics that guide the behaviour of the child, especially the curiosity and will to test things out, which is expressed in the early years, and becomes lost through the various educational mechanisms during the time of growing up. At the exhibition, children will be able to interact with the visual material and transform it at will, without pre-given instructions or suggestions on the subject matters of the visual material itself.

Collaborating with children, Andreja Džakušič is developing an adventure park based on urban gardening. After the installation of raised beds in a neighbourhood of the city of Celje, she is considering further possibilities of using green spaces and exploring the basic principles of gardening through workshops with young children. In the work of Marko, Ivo, Matija Brumen uses the photographic lens to follow his nephews from birth, portraying them in different periods of life and creating a document of changing time. Eden Mitsenmacher has been getting to know a girl from England over many years through correspondence, sharing a common interest in singing and exchanging footage. In one of the exchanges, the artist asked her to sing a song that inspired her with hope. Anticipating a selection with a wider social message, the girl surprised her with a song about a private anguish of love.

*Image: Priscila Fernandes, For a better world, video still, 2012