Potential Energy, 2022
Performance and site-specific installation in the former Svetosavski Ballroom, Pančevo, Serbia.
Mixed media, old textiles from across the world, petroleum coke, genie lamp. Variable dimensions.
Flags made of textiles from all over the world donated to the artists and electronic music are some of the elements which temporarily inhabit the charming and colourful hall. The sound emphasizes the magical atmosphere and energy of the space and evokes memories of the time when the ballroom had its glory days with concerts and young people dancing.
Black petroleum coke forms the focus of the installation. Petroleum coke is a carbon-rich solid material that derives from oil refining. It is widely used as fuel both in the industry and domestically and its global consumption rate is in rapid growth. The product is manufactured at Pančevo oil refinery and distributed across the Balkans.
The black lumps are placed on the floor beneath the trompe l’oeil painting on the ceiling which deceives the eye to perceive a window towards the open sky. The world of reality meets the ideal world of illusions in a mirrored vertical exchange.
During the opening of the biennial, the installation was activated and completed by the two artists through a performative act involving a lit genie lamp and interaction with the petroleum coke.
The work raises questions about how to embrace an imperfect world and how to grasp the conflict between our current dependence on fossil fuels and the nature we need to protect in order to survive.
Music composed for the work by Swedish musician Mika Forsling.
Generously supported by the Danish Arts Foundation.
Included in the the 2022 edition of the Biennial of Art in Pančevo, Serbia, titled refinerymonastery.
Curated by Maja Ćirić.
Photo: Zoran Jovanovic.
Film: Wagner Production.
Curator's statement:
„The 20th Biennial of Art in Pančevo is thematically inspired by a local hybrid phenomenon that reflects the iconic and seemingly contrasting, horizontal and immediate coexistence of the Oil Refinery and the Vojlovica Monastery, and whose interdependence can be symbiotic or conflicting, depending on the point of view. The Biennale "refinerymonastery" raises questions about whether and how it is possible to act outside and over the domains of matrices, patterns and conditions generated by the monastery and the refinery, each for itself and together, and how to resolve the relationship between limited parochial activity and unrestrainable need for openness and inventiveness. The "refinerymonastery" may find temporary answers in art that reconciles speculative imagination and technology. If it is not possible to deviate from both dogmatism and hypercapitalism, then an artistic proposal is possible in the sense of creating a temporary difference".
Artists:
Sanja Andjelković and the “Kurs” Association (Serbia), Mit Borras (Spain- Germany), Luka Cvetković (Serbia-Switzerland), Nikola Damjanov (Serbia), Bogoljub Đoković (Serbia), Hesselholdt & Mejlvang (Denmark), Aleksandra Jovanić (Serbia), Adria Julia (Spain), Natasa Kokić (Serbia), Anuk Kruithof (Netherlands), Catinca Malaimare (Romania-UK), Tony Maslić (Hong Kong), Matrijaršija (Serbia), Michikazu Matsune (Japan-Austria), Darija Medić (Serbia-USA), Jelena Micić (Serbia-Austria), Milica Mijailović (Serbia-Montenegro), Johnathan Monaghan (USA), Muna Mussie (Eritrea-Italy), Nemanja Nikolić (Serbia), Jurgen Ots (Belgium), Milenko Prvački (Serbia-Singapore), Oliver Ressler (Austria), Mykola Ridnyi (Ukraine), Milica Ruzičić (Serbia), Igor Simić (Serbia-USA), Ljiljana Šunjevarić (Serbia), Kristina Tica (Serbia-Austria), Aleksandar Todorović (Serbia), Tribe F 20 (Serbia), Adrienn Újházi (Serbia), Ana Vujović (Serbia) and Veljko Zejak (Serbia-Slovenia).