EXHIBITION
Fast Forward III
LOCATION
Museum of Fine Arts, Split, Croatia
DATE
2014
MEDIA
Metal, paper, electric cable, electric motor
Photo: Zorica Bulic ©
The exhibition program “Tuesdays in the Gallery – Fast Forward” was established in 2012 as a collaborative platform to promote cooperation among the youngest participants of the Split visual arts scene. The series of exhibitions presenting the works of the final year students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Split. More
Unknown 2014
In Fast Forward, sculptor Dijana Engelmann introduces herself with a deformed human figure. The figure is both unknown and isolated, yet also universal, representing a face that each of us can find if we look long enough into the mirror of our own existence. The figure is made of a metal structure covered with laminated newsprint. Intentionally designed with double limbs and a unique torso, the sculpture features a human head with no distinct facial features. It is connected to electricity with over 25 meters of cable and constantly revolves around itself, unable to perceive the world around it. In other words, modern man’s inability or refusal to see and recognize the individual becomes apparent when he is torn between his desires, abilities, and societal expectations. This highlights the importance of artistic work. According to the definition, man is a thinking, social, spiritual, and natural being. However, can we truly consider modern humans as free beings? Has the concept of freedom become self-destructive, merely a theoretical concept without practical application? The idea of freedom has been a failed aspiration since the beginning of humanity, when Eve took the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. The first humans recognized that freedom is inherently limited. The artist emphasizes human finitude and limitation by wrapping the figure in an electric cable. This evokes associations with the modern, technologically trapped human being who is lost in the world of virtual social networks and consumes limited, filtered, and served information. Text by Ana Žanko.