RELATIONS 1
Relations are intrinsic to all our lives, living spaces and environments. Without them, nothing would exist. The word ‘relations’ also has numerous meanings and there are countless examples. In modern science, (physical) relations start at the atomic level and end in infinite space. In the humanities, something similarly infinite would be non-physical relations.
From our earthly perspective, relations exist in the environment, between living beings, and among everything we know that exists. In a physical sense, they manifest themselves through interactions, coexistence, and communication. Among humans, they arise in the relations we have with ourselves, others and the environment. In terms of our perceptions, they flow through our notions, experiences, emotions, thoughts, plans, fears, memories – and towards the past, present, and future. Relations represent us and our existence – and how we see others. They are based on viewpoints, opinions, perspectives, prognoses, visions, analyses and anomalies, all of which exist in both a physical and spiritual sense; after all, the absence of any relations is a relation in itself. They are an eternal and unfinished subject.
- Nika Furlani,
- Maša Lancner,
- Matija Brumen,
- Andrej Furlan,
- Boštjan Pucelj in Jernej Skrt
Kurator: Denis Volk
KŠTM Šempeter-Vrtojba
Razstava je bila del festivala Dnevi fotografije na Goriškem, ki jih organizira zavod iManaLAB.
In this exhibition, six photographers present their visions of relations: Nika Furlani and Andrej Furlan come from the Slovene environment in the neighbouring Italy, Maša Lancner and Jernej Skrt come from the Goriška region, Boštjan Pucelj and Matija Brumen are from the Slovenian hinterland – from Novo mesto, Maribor and Ljubljana respectively.
Nika Furlani directs her photographic research towards reflection and experiencing herself. We can exchange numerous images in our thought in a matter of moments and perceive ourselves in different ways, since our feeling and concentration on our feelings last only a moment. Our thoughts and attention change constantly, they skip and exchange each other. Similar as in thoughts, Nika tries to capture in her photographs different states of herself, which represent physical or corporal and psychical or spiritual at the same time.
Andrej Furlan captured his photographic motifs of Beirut using camera obscura. He connected his selection to the memory of the narrator. Writer Rana Haf described her childhood and growing-up in Beirut, memories and events in connection with civil war, which fatally changed her hometown. Under the influence her experience and thoughts from the past, her current relation towards places and object in Beirut formed inside of her. Her memories and thoughts are represented as a constituent part of his photographs.
Matija Brumen has been taking photos of his nephews since their childhood. Brothers Marko and Ivo are growing up, maturing, getting older and changing, however, they are still keeping their brotherly relations, share common moments and events, some of which are depicted in the photographs. This project in progress is not only biographical, but it also unveils the family relation of the photographer and his inclusion in the recorded moments of mutual events.
Jernej Skrt considers the contrast between dark and light, which led him to creating series of photographs Nočne poti (Night paths) in the time before the pandemic, between 2015 and 2020. According to his words: “When you are in the dark, you seek the light.” We can understand this literally or figuratively, because we always want the opposite of what we have. During his photographic walks, he captured moments, random details in the environment, he recorded the present of that time and with it his own emotions. Later, in the time of pandemic, he combined the chosen photographs in compositions and by doing that, showed his reflection about that time: “Back then, that time seemed unnatural; however, now, in the time of pandemic, we declare it as normal. During trouble, when it is time to take measures, we postpone this to the future and we seek comfort in thoughts by turning back to the idealized past, which is the opposite of the reality we live in.”
Maša Lancner recorded plants, vegetable saplings, raised in facial masks. These have become a compulsory part of our lives. An intruding foreign object in our clothing at the beginning has become an everyday necessity, but not from our desire to make it a fashion accessory. The consequences are visible also in the environment, where the discarded masks have become its constituent part and at the same time an ecological problem, but the plants have always been adapting to the new environment.
Boštjan Pucelj enters an intimate place of an individual, his home, which is partly uncovered by the depicted bookshelf. This reveals the history and the present of this resident and his family. The books were chosen or received by individual family members according to their interests in different periods, most probably at the time of books’ issue, some perhaps later. The book titles unveil topics, direct into thinking about professions or interests and free time activities. Even the bookshelf carries its own story.
The Covid-19 epidemic has drastically interfered in the lives in current time, namely with restrictions, turning our focus away, changed way of life as well as influence on the environment, where a facial mask has suddenly become a constituent part and a symbol of this time. The epidemic has also influenced on artists and their work. New relations have been established and they are constantly changing.
- Zavod iManaLAB
- Maša Lancner, fotografinja
- Zavod za kulturo, šport, turizem in mladino Šempeter-Vrtojba (KŠTM Šempeter-Vrtojba)
- Kulturno društvo za umetnost KONS iz Trsta
- Občina Šempeter-Vrtojba
