Sašo Sedlaček: Supertrash

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Sašo Sedlaček SUPERTRASH

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Sašo Sedlaček Supertrash

Aksioma – Zavod za sodobne umetnosti, Ljubljana, Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti, Slovenj Gradec, 2011 Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts, Slovenj Gradec, 2011

CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana 7.038.54(497.4):929Sedlaček S. SEDLAČEK, Sašo, 1974Supertrash : [11. november - 10. december 2011, Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti, Slovenj Gradec, 27. marec - 13. maj 2012, Galerija Jakopič, Muzej in galerije mesta Ljubljana, Ljubljana] / Sašo Sedlaček ; [besedila Luka Omladič, Petja Grafenauer ; prevod Polona Petek]. - Ljubljana : Aksioma - Zavod za sodobne umetnosti ; Slovenj Gradec : Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti, 2011 ISBN 978-961-92192-2-5 (Aksioma) 259151616

Kazalo Contents Luka Omladič Piknik na smetišču Picnic on a Dump Petja Grafenauer Velika prostovoljna čistilna akcija: Sašo Sedlaček!

The Great Voluntary Cleaning Action: Sašo Sedlaček!

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DELA WORKS Živeti v reklami Living in a Media Hype Just do it!

Zanka Loop No Lego Toilets – Made in India Piknik na deponiji Picnic on a Dump Žicar Beggar Vesoljske smeti Space Junk Spotting Urban Infokalipsa zdaj! Manifest Infocalypse Now! Manifesto Bivši The Ex Grelnik globus Globe Heaters AcDcWc Salami Condoms Veliki izklop The Big Switch Off iSmoke 2

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Luka Omladič PIKNIK NA SMETIŠČU

V Platonovem dialogu Parmenid najdemo slavni del, kjer mladi Sokrat razlaga učitelju Parmenidu prve zasnutke svoje teorije idej. Stvari okoli nas, ki se jih dotikamo z rokami, na primer kamenje ali les, so številne. A vendar obstaja, trdi Sokrat, ena sama ideja stvari, ena ideja človeka za vse mnoštvo ljudi, ena ideja ognja za vse ognje, ki gorijo na svetu. Ta ideja obstaja ločena od otipljivega sveta, v katerem odseva, popolna in paradigmatska. Še preden Sokrat do konca razvije svojo teorijo, ga stari mojster Parmenid spravi v veliko zadrego: »Si v zadregi tudi glede tehle stvari, Sokrat, ki so lahko videti smešne, kot so dlaka, blato ali iztrebek, ali česa drugega nadvse nečastnega in ničvrednega – namreč v zadregi, ali je treba reči, da tudi za sleherno od tega obstaja posebej ideja, ki je drugo od stvari, katerih se dotikamo z rokami.« … »Nikakor,« je odgovoril Sokrat … »Včasih me je sicer vznemirila misel, ali ni nekaj istega v vseh teh stvareh. Toda ko pridem do tega stališča, se umaknem in odidem, ker se ustrašim, da ne bi kdaj padel v kakšno brezno blebetanja in se pogubil.« … »Mlad si še, Sokrat,« je rekel Parmenid, »in ni te še zagrabila filozofija, kot te po mojem mnenju še bo, ko ne boš omalovaževal nobene od omenjenih stvari.«1 Ali imajo tudi dlake, umazanija, iztrebki, vse te »nečastne in ničvredne« stvari, svojo idejo? Kaj storiti z vsemi temi nelepimi in odpadnimi stvarmi – smetmi? Kako bi jih le mogli obravnavati enako? To je Sokratovo brezno, pravzaprav jama s smetmi, od katere odvrača pogled in bi jo najraje pustil pri miru tam, kjer je. A ne gre, ga opomni Parmenid. Modrost se 1 Platon, Zbrana dela I., Mohorjeva družba, Celje 2006, 401, prevedel Gorazd Kocijančič in Platon, Parmenid, Založba ZRC, Ljubana 2001, 15 in 17. [Zaradi smiselnega poudarka v besedilu je avtor uporabil oba prevoda, op. ur.]

Luka Omladič PICNIC ON A DUMP

In Plato’s dialogue the Parmenides, there is a famous section in which the young Socrates explains to the teacher Parmenides the rudiments of his theory of ideas. There are numerous things around us, which we touch with our hands – things like stones or wood, for example. And yet, Socrates claims, there exists a single idea of things, a single idea of man for the entire multitude of people, a single idea of fire for all the fires burning around the world. This idea exists separately, apart from the tangible world in which it is reflected, perfect and paradigmatic. But even before Socrates manages to develop his theory in full, the venerable master Parmenides puts him in a quandary: »And would you feel equally undecided, Socrates, about things of which the mention may provoke a smile? – I mean such things as hair, mud, dirt, or anything else which is vile and paltry; would you suppose that each of these has an idea distinct from the actual objects with which we come into contact, or not?« »Certainly not,« said Socrates. »Visible things like these are such as they appear to us, and I am afraid that there would be an absurdity in assuming any idea of them, although I sometimes get disturbed, and begin to think that there is nothing without an idea; but then again, when I have taken up this position, I run away, because I am afraid that I may fall into a bottomless pit of nonsense, and perish; and so I return to the ideas of which I was just now speaking, and occupy myself with them.« »Yes, Socrates,« said Parmenides. »That is because you are still young; the time will come, if I am not mistaken, when

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v nekem smislu prične prav pri teh preostankih, Sokrat bo filozofsko dozorel, ko bo zmogel misliti smeti.

Metafizična jama odpadkov je za idealizem še nevarnejša, kot se zdi na prvi pogled. Gilles Deleuze je v svojem branju Platona kot ključno izpostavil razliko – ne med Idejo in njenim posnetkom, temveč med posnetkom in posnetkom posnetka, med legitimnim posnetkom in »lažnim pretendentom«, ki ga je imenoval simulaker. V skorajda vsakem Platonovem dialogu nastopi točka, ko iskanje paradigmatskega naleti na takšno oviro (Deleuze: »V Politiku naletimo na neko izhodiščno definicijo, ki pravi, da je politik pastir ljudi. Toda pojavi se cela vrsta rivalov, zdravnik, trgovec, rokodelec, vsi pravijo: ‘Jaz sem pastir ljudi’. V Faidrosu iščemo definicijo zamaknjenosti, točneje, to, kar odlikuje zamaknjenost ali pravo ljubezen. Tudi tam se pojavijo pretendenti, ki pravijo: ‘Jaz sem zamaknjen, jaz ljubim.’«2) Najslavnejši lažni pretendent je sofist, ki ga Platon opisuje kot čudodeja in posnemovalca resničnih stvari, nato pisava kot neke vrste slika živega govora, ki ne proizvaja resnične modrosti, temveč le njen videz, in nazadnje umetnost, ki prav tako ne proizvaja posnetkov resnične narave stvari, ampak njen videz.

Smeti iz Parmenida prav tako iščejo svojo paradigmo, svojo idejo, a so kot simulakri paradigmatske ravno v tem, da je ne najdejo. Za platonistični idealizem so neulovljive kot posnemajoča umetnost; umetnost in smeti so si nelagodno blizu v svoji paradigmatski neumestljivosti.

Naj nas iz metafizičnih meditacij predrami materialnost.

Na Platonovem smetišču se nekaj dogaja. Iz kupov smeti vstajajo oživljene forme. Ko je leta 2004 Sašo Sedlaček s prijatelji organiziral piknik na deponiji odpadkov, so očitno začutili, da odpadki niso mrtvi in neaktivni, ampak – v dobrem in slabem, ali bolje rečeno, nevarnem – živi, aktivni in, zakaj ne, kreativni. Tako je nastalo poročilo o odkritju: »Povabil sem nekaj prijateljev, v glavnem ljudi, ki se ukvarjajo z umetnostjo, na piknik, ki je bil na mestnem smetišču.

Zdelo se mi je, da bo druženje v tako ekstremnem okolju zanimiva in potencialno kreativna izkušnja. Kljub neformalnemu

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Gilles Deleuze, Logika smisla, Založba Krtina, Ljubljana 1998, 237-238.

philosophy will have a firmer grasp of you, and then you will not despise even the meanest things.«1 Do hairs, dirt, excrement, all these »vile and paltry« things, have an idea of their own? What to do with all these unseemly and rejected things – with all this waste? How could we possibly treat them equally? This is Socrates’ abyss, a refuse pit, in fact, from which he diverts his gaze and which he would prefer to leave alone exactly where it is. But this is impossible, Parmenides reminds him. In some sense, wisdom begins precisely with waste; Socrates will have matured philosophically once he is able to reflect upon waste.

A metaphysical refuse pit is even more dangerous for idealism than it seems at first sight. In his reading of Plato, Gilles Deleuze insists that the key difference is not between the Idea and its copy, but rather between a copy and a copy of a copy – that is, between a legitimate copy and a »false pretender«, which Deleuze dubs the simulacrum. In almost every one of Plato’s dialogues, there is a point at which the search for the paradigmatic runs into an obstacle (Deleuze: »In the Statesman, a preliminary definition is attained according to which the statesman is the shepherd of men. But all sorts of rivals spring up, the doctor, the merchant, the laborer, and say: ‘I am the shepherd of men.’ Again, in the Phaedrus, the question is about the definition of delirium and, more precisely, about the discernment of the well-founded delirium or true love. Once again, many pretenders rise up to say, ‘I am the inspired one, the lover.’«2) The most famous false pretender is the sophist (whom Plato describes as a thaumaturge and an imitator of true things), followed by writing (as an image of live speech, which does not produce true wisdom, only its likeness) and finally art (which also does not produce copies of the real nature of things, but only its likeness).

The waste in the Parmenides is also looking for its paradigm, its idea; yet, as simulacrum, waste is paradigmatic pre1 Plato, Parmenides, 130c–130e, in: Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 9, trans. H. N. Fowler. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.

2 Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense, trans. M. Lester with C. Stivale. London and New York, Continuum, 2004, p. 292.

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značaju srečanja je celotni piknik prerasel v pravo umetniško akcijo, najbrž zaradi odurnega smradu, ki ga povzroča uhajajoči metan, ki nastaja ob razpadanju smeti. Vsi povabljeni so začeli raziskovati smetišče in njegove kreativne potenciale, predvsem zato, da bi se zamotili pred smradom, ki se širi po deponiji. Navkljub nevzdržnemu smradu, na katerega se s časom celo navadiš, pa lahko rečem, da je Ljubljanska deponija pravzaprav prav prijetna izletniška točka na obrobju mesta, od koder se razprostira pogled na celotno kotlino in okoliške hribe.«3 Kreativna ironija se giblje na nevarnem robu: navsezadnje veliko najrevnejših prebivalcev našega planeta dejansko živi na smetiščih. Zato umetnost, ki si drzne reflektirati to situacijo, enostavno mora biti aktivistična, če naj bo kaj vredna. Kdor za element vzame smeti, mora biti subverziven, če hoče biti zvest materialu. Smeti namreč nimajo nobene skrite agende, so popolnoma transparentne in za njimi ni nobene metafizične ideje – so čista in neodmisljiva resnica produkcije, proletarci med objekti, kot je Sedlačkov robot Žicar proletarec med avtonomnimi stroji.

Za trenutek dajmo besedo smetem: kakšno je zares življenje smeti danes? Je med smetjo in odpadkom razlika? Morda: smet nas moti, je tam, kjer ne bi smela biti. Kot tujek izstopa iz okolice in me zoprno opozarja, da je ni odpihnil veter ali odplaknil dež. Nazadnje bom verjetno popustil in jo pobral.

Smeti so odpadki, niso pa vsi odpadki smeti. Vsaj ne v smislu, da bi nas prav močno motili: številni, recimo plinasti izpusti, prav diskretno zapustijo rojstno izpušno cev avtomobila in svobodno migrirajo v atmosfero. Vse očiščevalne akcije bi zato najbrž moral spremljati slogan »All waste are equal« ali »Enakost za vse odpadke!« ...

V resnici lahko rečemo, da prav problem migracije odpadkov povzroča realno največje skrito onesnaženje, in to največkrat daleč od razvitih držav, kjer so odpadki proizvedeni. V nekem smislu včasih celotne države tretjega sveta postajajo naša »divja odlagališča« stran od oči, dostikrat nevede ali proti svoji volji.

3 http://www.sasosedlacek.com/shranjeno/projects_ picniconadump.html, ogledano 13. 10. 2011.

cisely in that it cannot find it. Like imitative art, waste cannot be pinned down by Platonic idealism; art and waste are uncomfortably close as regards their paradigmatic slipperiness.

Let’s let materiality yank us out of this metaphysical meditation. Something is happening at Plato’s rubbish dump. Live forms are emerging from piles of rubbish. When, in 2004, Sašo Sedlaček and his friends organised a picnic at a rubbish dump, they obviously realised that waste was not dead or inactive, but rather – in a good as well as bad or, more precisely, dangerous sense – alive, active and (why not?) creative. This is the report on the discovery: I invited some friends, mostly artists, on a picnic that held place on a rubbish dump. I thought that socialising in such an extreme environment would be a nice experience and potentially creative. Despite the informal character of the meeting, the whole picnic turned into a hyper active public art action.

Probably because of the nasty smells that are caused by decaying trash and the methane that derives from it. Everyone started going around doing something, just to divert him or herself from the stink. Despite the nasty smells of the location, the dump turned out to be actually quite a nice spot, just outside the capital city, from where you can see the whole valley and the surrounding hills.3 Creative irony treads on dangerous ground here, for, after all, many of the poorest people on Earth actually live in rubbish dumps. This is why art that dares to reflect upon this situation simply must be activist. Whoever uses waste as their subject matter must be subversive if they want to remain true to their material. For waste has no hidden agenda, it is completely transparent, and there is no metaphysical idea beneath. Waste is the pure truth of production, which cannot be brushed aside; waste is the proletariat in the world of objects, just like Sedlaček’s robot Beggar is a proletarian among autonomous machines.

Let’s allow waste to speak for a moment. What is the true life of waste like nowadays? Is there a difference between waste and litter? Perhaps. Litter annoys us; it is where it should not be. It stands out from the environment like an 3 http://www.sasosedlacek.com/anglesko/projects_ picniconadumpeng.html, last accessed 13 October 2011.

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Primer, ki je bil v zadnjem času deležen največje pozornosti, je nedavno novinarsko razkritje, da je naftna družbe Trafigura dobro vedela za toksičnost odpadkov, ki jih je leta 2006 izvozila v Slonokoščeno obalo. Se še spomnimo, da je šlo za največje dokazano onesnaženje po Bhopalski katastrofi? Petsto ton v Evropi natovorjenih odpadnih snovi, ki jih je Trafigura prek lokalnih posrednikov odvrgla na različnih krajih okoli glavnega mesta Abidžan, je povzročilo smrt vsaj sedemnajstih ljudi, več deset tisoč pa jih je zaradi opeklin poiskalo zdravniško pomoč. Britanski Guardian, ki je zgodbo o blefu Trafigure razkril, je v analizi po dogodku opozoril, da pravzaprav ne gre za izjemen dogodek, ampak pravilo.

Razlog, da v javnost pride dokaj malo primerov, je deloma naša nezainteresiranost, saj odpadke raje držimo stran od oči, deloma pa aktivno prizadevanje onesnaževalcev – prav v primeru Trafigure je denimo družbi uspelo, da je (vsaj začasno) dosegla popolno prepoved objave zgodbe o prikrivanju ... V nedavni Greenpeaceovi raziskavi je s skrivnim satelitskim sledilnikom opremljen odslužen televizijski sprejemnik, ki so ga odložili v reciklažnem centru v Britaniji, kjer naj bi njegove strupene komponente ustrezno odstranili in deponirali, v resnici kmalu končal na ulični tržnici v Lagosu. Somalijska obala je še vedno polna izredno nevarnih odpadkov, tudi radioaktivnih, ki jih je tja leta 2004 naplavil veliki cunami.

Ustrezna obravnava medicinskih odpadkov lahko v Evropi stane okoli 1000 evrov na tono; če jih odvržejo v morje, je cena le okoli 2,5 evra. Raziskovalni novinarji so dokazali, da so med ladjami, ki jih pred somalijskimi pirati ščitijo naše zavezniške mornarice, zanesljivo ladje iz umazanega posla, ki mednarodne vode Adenskega zaliva spreminja v največje divje odlagališče Evrope.

Nas morda bolj zanima bližnji primer? Poznam vsaj eno podjetje pri nas – in kolikor mi je uspelo ugotoviti, niti ne gre za izjemno prakso – ki odkupuje rabljene avtomobilske pnevmatike in jih izvaža v eno izmed afriških držav. Vzorec je univerzalno evropski. V Evropski uniji imamo dovolj ostro in razdelano zakonodajo o tem, kako ravnati z odpadki, posebno potencialno nevarnimi. A po drugi strani ostri regulaciji doma ni uspelo preprečiti izvoza v tujino, ki je lahko v določenih

alien and it reminds me that it has not been washed or blown away by wind or rain. Eventually, I will probably give in and pick it up. Litter is waste, but not all waste is litter. At least not in the sense of being too annoying. Numerous gases, for instance, are fairly discreetly emitted from their birthplace in the exhaust pipe of a car and freely migrate into the atmosphere. Therefore, all cleaning actions should probably be accompanied by the slogan »All waste is equal«…

We can realistically maintain that waste migration is the greatest hidden cause of pollution, usually transpiring far away from the developed world where the waste is produced. In a sense, entire countries in the third world are becoming – often unknowingly or against their will – our wild »dumping sites«, out of sight.

A case in point, which has recently attracted a lot of media attention, is the oil company Trafigura. News media have revealed that Trafigura knew perfectly well that the waste they had exported to Côte d’Ivoire in 2006 was toxic. Do you recall that this was the worst proven case of pollution after the Bhopal disaster? Five hundred tons of waste, loaded in Europe and dumped by Trafigura with the assistance of local middlemen in various places around the capital Abidjan, caused the death of at least seventeen people, while tens of thousands sought medical treatment because of burns. In its subsequent analysis of the incident, the British newspaper The Guardian, which first published the story of the Trafigura cover-up, pointed out that this kind of handling of waste was in fact the rule rather than the exception. One reason that relatively few cases become known in public is our lack of interest, for we prefer to keep waste out of sight; another reason are the vigorous efforts of those who cause pollution to keep things hushed up – in the case of Trafigura, for instance, the company succeeded (at least temporarily) in a total ban on publishing the story of the cover-up… A recent investigation conducted by Greenpeace revealed that an old TV set – which was equipped with a hidden satellite tracking device and which was disposed of at a recycling centre in Great Britain, where its toxic components were meant to be properly removed and deposited – in fact soon ended up in a street market in Lagos. The coast of Somalia is still full of extremely dangerous waste, including

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primerih povsem zakonit, kakor pri omenjenih afriških gumah.

Zgolj nasmehnemo se lahko ob vprašanju, ali bodo naše rabljene gume, ko bodo v Afriki oddelale drugo izmeno, uničene ali reciklirane v skladu s pravili, ki jih imamo v Evropi.

Odpadek je tako dosti bolj izmuzljiv kot smet. Vpenja nas v globalno mrežo in postavlja pred temeljni izziv: ne smemo čistiti svojih smeti z izvažanjem odpadkov drugim. Ne pozabimo še nečesa. Tisto, kar nas navdaja z nelagodjem, torej smeti okoli nas, je neizogibna resničnosti za številne prebivalce t. i. smetiščnih slumov, naselij pod gorami odpadkov, ki so hkrati vir preživetja in vzrok smrti tamkajšnjih revnih prebivalcev. Če so to naše smeti – in v številnih primerih dokazano so – je to za nas politični in moralni problem vsaj tolikšne velikosti kot problem divjih odlagališč pri nas doma.

Nedavno je veliko pozornost vzbudila državljanska pobuda Očistimo Slovenijo v enem dnevu – več tisoč državljanov je na dogovorjeni dan čistilo svojo okolico in pospravljalo smeti. Ob vsej pozitivni aktivnosti, ki se je ob tem sprožila, pa moramo še bolj opozarjati na globalno naravo onesnaževanja. Ali povedano drugače, če geslo Očistimo Slovenijo implicira kontrast čistega in onesnaženega okolja, je treba zavzeti jasno načelno stališče, da je koncept zgolj »čiste Slovenije« v principu napačen. Dokler je onesnaženo globalno okolje, je govoriti o čisti Sloveniji v najboljšem primeru iluzija, v najslabšem pa lahko zapade konceptu globalnega ekološkega geta, kjer tisti, ki si to lahko privoščijo – bogati –, uživajo v čistem okolju, ostali pa ne. A nazadnje je tudi to iluzija; planet je eden in na koncu bomo živeli ali životarili skupaj.

Pri tem ne gre samo za vprašanje, kje bodo končali odpadki, ki smo jih danes zbrali, saj so številne oblike polucije globalne po svoji naravi. Na prvi pogled ne moremo primerjati slovenskih plinskih izpustov z izvažanjem toksičnih odpadkov v Slonokoščeno obalo. A pomislimo na nekatera dejstva: izpusti ogljikovega dioksida (ki večinoma nastanejo kot odpadek pri proizvodnji energije iz fosilnih goriv) v Sloveniji znašajo več kot sedem ton na prebivalca letno, v Slonokoščeni obali pa manj kot 0,4 tone na prebivalca – mimogrede, po številu je Ivoirianov desetkrat več kot Slovencev, kar pomeni, da je tudi absolutno naš prispevek k onesnaževanju atmosfere večji od

radioactive waste, which was washed ashore in 2004 by the huge tsunami. Proper handling of medical waste in Europe can cost about €1,000 per ton; if they dump it into the ocean instead, it only costs approximately €2.5. Investigative reporters have proven beyond a doubt that among the vessels that our allied marine forces protect from Somali pirates there are ships that make dirty money by dumping waste illegally into the international waters of the Gulf of Aden, thus turning it into the largest European wild dumping site.

Yet perhaps we are interested in a case much closer to home. I know of at least one company in Slovenia – and as far as I can see from my research, this is not an exception – that buys used car tyres and exports them to a country in Africa.

The pattern is universally European. In the European Union, the waste management legislation is sufficiently strict and detailed (particularly as regards potentially dangerous waste).

However, strict domestic regulation has not managed to prevent waste from being exported overseas; in some cases, this exportation may even be perfectly legal, as in the case of the just mentioned »African« tyres. We can merely smile a bitter smile if someone asks whether our used tyres, once they have completed their second shift in Africa, will be destroyed or recycled in compliance with European regulations.

Waste is much more slippery than litter. It implicates us in a global network and it confronts us with a fundamental challenge: we cannot get rid of our litter by exporting waste elsewhere. And let’s not forget something else. The litter that surrounds us and makes us feel uncomfortable constitutes the inevitable reality for numerous inhabitants of the so-called dumping-site slums, settlements under piles of rubbish, which can be a source of survival as well as a cause of death for the poor people who live there. If this is our litter – and in many cases, it has been proven so – then this is our political and moral problem, a problem that is as immense as the problem of wild dumping sites in Slovenia. Recently, the citizens’ initiative Let’s Clean Slovenia in a Day! attracted a lot of attention – several thousands of citizens embarked on a cleaning action on the agreed day. Notwithstanding all the positive activity that this initiative triggered, we must further emphasise the global

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te afriške države. Poleg tega bodo vsaj zaradi razlike v življenjskem standardu podnebne spremembe prizadele povprečnega prebivalca Slonokoščene obale bolj kot prebivalca Slovenije. Če bomo morda čistili okolico Šoštanja, morda razmislek o tem ni povsem neumesten, čeprav priznam, da malo presega smiselni okvir celo največje čistilne akcije.

Vprašanje odpadkov ima, k temu se vselej vračamo, svojo tako rekoč metafizično plat. Če parafraziramo Marxa, je preprost odpadek zelo kočljiva stvar, polna vseh mogočih metafizičnih in teoloških muh. Odkar človek obstaja, proizvaja odpadke: arheologije najbrž ne bi bilo brez tisočletnih plasti kosti in črepinj, ki jih puščamo za sabo kot sled svojega obstoja. Odpadki od vselej pričajo o nas in govorijo, kdo smo.

Ampak v kapitalistično-potrošniškem načinu proizvodnje se je nekaj spremenilo. Smeti so bile včasih preostanek, danes pa jih velikokrat proizvajamo zavestno. To je lahko mišljeno metaforično ali dobesedno, oba vidika pa se na koncu ponavadi ujemata. Izdelek, ki ste ga kupili, je po kvaliteti in uporabnosti takšna smet, da v smeteh tudi hitro konča ter naredi prostor za nov izdelek. To je z vidika ekonomije seveda dobro, saj veča proizvodnjo in potrošnjo in s tem viša gospodarsko rast.

Moderno gospodarstvo torej obvladuje »načelo odpadkov«, kar je hkrati razlog, da smo ujeti v nekakšno dialektiko smetenja in čiščenja.

Eden izmed močnih alternativnih predlogov je ideja »Zero waste« oziroma »brez odpadka«. Pojem ima historični izvor v japonskem industrijskem konceptu popolne kontrole kvalitete (»Total Quality Management«), proizvodnje z najmanjšim možnim deležem odpadnih proizvodov, ki so ga aplicirali na področje obdelave komunalnih odpadkov, torej legendarne japonske učinkovite reciklaže. V študiji, ki jo je leta 2002 za Greenpeace pripravil ekonomist Robin Murray4, je avtor postavil ključno tezo, da gre pri ideji za bistveno več kot le učinkovito tehnologijo reciklaže. Blago živi v nekakšnem kastnem sistemu, pravi Murray, kjer je odpadkom dodeljena najnižja kasta nedotakljivih. Ideja, da so odpadki uporabni, pa sega onstran tehničnega vprašanja, kakšna bi bila možna 4 http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/media/reports/the-environmental-trust-zerowaste, ogledano 15. 10. 2011.

nature of pollution. To put it differently, if the slogan »Let’s Clean Slovenia« implies a contrast between a clean and a polluted environment, we must maintain that the concept of a »clean Slovenia« is, as a matter of principle, misguided. As long as the global environment is polluted, a clean Slovenia is, at best, an illusion; and at worst, it can fall prey to the concept of the global ecological ghetto, in which only those who can afford it – the rich – may enjoy a clean environment. But this, too, is an illusion, as there is only one planet and eventually we will all live well or miserably together.

This is not just about the question of where the waste that we collected today will end up tomorrow. Numerous forms of pollution are global by nature. At first glance, it seems impossible to compare gas emissions in Slovenia with the export of toxic waste to Côte d’Ivoire. But let’s reflect upon some facts: the annual carbon dioxide emission (carbon dioxide is usually produced as waste during the production of energy from fossil fuels) in Slovenia is more than seven tons per capita, whereas in Côte d’Ivoire it is less than 0.4 tons per capita – by the way, the population of Côte d’Ivoire is ten times the population of Slovenia, which means that our contribution to the pollution of the atmosphere is also absolutely bigger than that of this African country. Furthermore, due to different standards of living, the effects of climate change will be much worse for the average inhabitant of Côte d’Ivoire than for the average Slovenian. If we happen to clean the area around Šoštanj, perhaps it is not completely beside the point to think about this – although, I admit, it does exceed the scope of even the biggest cleaning action.

The question of waste – and this is what we always return to – has its metaphysical side, so to speak. To paraphrase Marx, plain waste is a very delicate thing, full of all sorts of metaphysical and theological whims. Ever since humans have existed, they have been producing waste; without age-old layers of bones and shards that we leave behind as traces of our existence, there would probably be no archaeology. Since the beginning of time, waste has borne witness to our existence and identity. However, something has changed with the capitalistconsumerist mode of production. Waste used to be what was left over, whereas now we often produce it consciously. This

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reciklaža tega ali onega odpadka. Je izziv celotnemu načinu, kako ljudje razmišljamo o stvareh in njihovi uporabi, kako s tem, kaj obdržimo in kaj odvržemo, pravzaprav definiramo sami sebe in svoj status.

Toda za vsaj delno transparentnimi odpadki, ki jih srečujemo v vsakdanjem življenju, se skriva gora neznanih in nezaznanih. Okvirni podatki so približno takšni: komunalni odpadki, torej odpadki gospodinjstev, predstavljajo okoli 35 odstotkov ali dobro tretjino vseh, ki nastanejo v proizvodnji, trgovini in gospodinjstvih. Velika večina vseh odpadkov nastane v gradbeništvu, rudarstvu, metalurgiji in energetiki: če upoštevamo celotno globalno proizvodnjo, znašajo komunalni odpadki le nekaj manj kot tri odstotke celotne mase odpadkov. In znotraj komunalnih odpadkov je plastičnih vrečk, tega slavnega predstavnika odpadkov v dobrem in slabem, spet le okoli tri odstotke mase. Seveda sta pri oceni bistveni tudi vrsta in toksičnost odpadka; primerjava po masi je gotovo nekoliko omejena. A številka treh odstotkov je vendarle pomenljiva.

Večina truda, ki ga kot posamezniki vlagamo v recikliranje in ločevanje, se giblje zgolj v tej kategoriji.

Nazadnje gre torej za to, da razmislimo o samih sebi in našem odnosu do stvari, ki gredo čez naše roke: kot smeti, kot odpadki, kot dobrine. Klasifikacija ni samoumevna, prav tako ne obravnava. Škotski pisatelj Andrew O’Hagan je svojo osebno izkušnjo z recikliranjem opisal tako: »Navajeni smo bili, da cigareto ugasnemo v pepelnik in nikoli več ne pomislimo na ogorek. Zdaj razmišljamo: kje bo končal filter, kje pepel in kje papir? Vzgojeni smo bili s predstavo, da smeti odnesejo drugam, dokler se nismo zavedeli, da nekaj takšnega, kot je ‘drugam’, ne obstaja.

Stranski proizvodi naših poželenj so skriti v zemlji ali zažgani in spremenjeni v strupen šotor nad nami: tega se sedaj zavedamo in ta zavest je za nas postala nekakšen motor osebne regeneracije. V nekem smislu ne recikliramo zato, da bi rešili planet, ampak da bi osvobodili tisti del sebe, ki je zasužnjen s potrošniškimi dobrinami.«5 5 Andrew O’Hagan, The Things We Throw Away, London Review of Books, Vol. 29 No. 10, 24. maj 2007, tudi na: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n10/andrew-ohagan/the-things-we-throw-away, ogledano 15. 10. 2011.

can be understood metaphorically or literally, but eventually both views usually coincide. The product that you have bought is qualitatively and functionally such a piece of rubbish that it soon ends up in the rubbish bin and thus makes room for a new product. From an economic point of view, this is good, of course, for it increases production and consumption and thus strengthens economic growth. Modern economy is thus dominated by the »principle of waste«, which is also the reason for us being caught in a sort of dialectics of littering and cleaning.

A compelling alternative is the idea of »Zero Waste«.

Historically, the notion derives from the Japanese industrial concept of »Total Quality Management«, production with the smallest possible share of waste products, which has been applied to the field of communal waste management, that is, to Japanese recycling, whose effectiveness is legendary. In a 2002 analysis prepared for Greenpeace, the author, economist Robin Murray, argues that this concept entails much more than just effective recycling technology.4 According to Murray, commodities exist in a caste system of sorts, in which waste belongs to the lowest, the untouchable caste. The idea that waste is useful thus goes far beyond the technical question of how to recycle this or that piece of rubbish. It challenges the whole way of thinking about things and their uses, thinking about how we in fact define ourselves and our status by deciding which things we keep and which ones we throw away.

However, the waste that we encounter in everyday life, and which is at least partially transparent, conceals tons of unknown and undetected waste. Roughly, the situation is as follows: communal waste, that is, household waste, comprises approximately 35%, or a bit over a third, of all waste generated in production, by trade and at home. The majority of all waste is produced in construction, mining, metallurgy and energetics.

If we take into account the entire global production, communal waste represents less than 3% of all waste. Within communal waste, plastic bags – the most (in)famous representative of waste – represent only about 3%. Of course, with estimates like this, it is extremely important to take into account the type 4 http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/media/reports/the-environmental-trust-zerowaste, last accessed 15 October 2011.

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Vrnimo se na Sedlačkov piknik na smetišču, na ljubljansko deponijo leta 2004. Ugibajmo, bolje, zamislimo si, da je družba mladih umetnikov tistega sončnega dne, ko se je z vzpetine odpadkov odpiral čudovit pogled na zelene griče okoli Ljubljane, doživela določeno spoznanje. Smrad naj nas pri tem ne moti. Smrad smeti je pravzaprav koncentrirana esenca naših življenj, odloženega in še enkrat odloženega preostanka tistega, kar smo in kar počnemo. Vonj in ostri robovi odpadkov nas osredotočijo in povzdignejo koncentracijo. Morda iz teh preostankov izhaja Sedlačkova umetniška produkcija, ki prepoznava funkcijo odpadka kot materiala in elementa. Kar nas predvsem zanima, je ekološka estetika, oblika stvari, ki prihajajo in ki jih ne poznamo, njihovo življenje in interakcija z okoljem. Umetnost je tu eksperiment.

and toxicity of waste as well; mass comparison is certainly, to some extent, limited. Nevertheless, 3% is a significant piece of information. The majority of efforts that we, as individuals, put into recycling and waste separation, fall into this category.

Eventually, this is about us thinking about ourselves and our relationship to things that pass through our hands: as litter, waste or goods. Their classification is not self-evident, and neither is their handling. The Scottish writer Andrew O’Hagan describes his personal experience with recycling as follows: We used to stub a cigarette out in an ashtray and never think of it again. Now we think, where will the stub end up, the ash and the foam and the paper? We grew up imagining that rubbish was taken away, only to find there is no such place as »away«. The by-products of our desires are hidden in the earth or burned to make a toxic canopy over our heads: we are aware of that now, and that awareness has grown to feed a spirit of personal regeneration. At some level we recycle not to save the planet, but to free the part of ourselves that is enslaved to the world’s goods and the body’s functions.5 Let’s go back to Sedlaček’s picnic on a dump in Ljubljana in 2004. Let’s speculate, or rather, let’s imagine that on that beautiful sunny day, when standing on top of those piles of rubbish and watching the green hills surrounding Ljubljana, the group of young artists experienced an enlightenment of sorts. We should not be distracted by stench. The bad odour of waste is in fact the thick essence of our lives, the essence of the rejected (and rejected again) remains of what we are and what we do. The smell and the jagged edges of waste make us focus and they heighten our concentration. Perhaps Sedlaček’s artistic production derives from these remains, for it recognises the function of waste as material and element. What we are interested in, above all, is ecological aesthetics, the shape of things that are coming and that are as yet unknown to us, their life and their interaction with the environment. Art is an experiment here.

5 Andrew O’Hagan, »The Things We Throw Away«, London Review of Books [online] Vol. 29, No. 10, pp. 3–8. Available from http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n10/ andrew-ohagan/the-things-we-throw-away, last accessed 15 October 2011.

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Petja Grafenauer VELIKA PROSTOVOLJNA ČISTILNA AKCIJA: SAŠO SEDLAČEK!

Zdi se, kot da je recikliranje vstopilo v Ljubljano skozi glavna vrata, ko je ekspeditivni župan po centru zgradil tiste koše, ki zasedajo že tako primanjkujoče parkirne prostore.

Pa ni čisto tako. Tudi pri nas se reciklira že od nekdaj, toda do prav pred kratkim smo reciklirali, ker ni bilo dovolj, zdaj pa moramo, ker je preveč, nekateri pa tudi zato, ker se jim splača. Predindustrijska družba je reciklirala zato, ker dobrin ni bilo moč dobiti hitro in poceni, in skorajda vsakdo je nekako recikliral. Ko pa je bilo dobrine mogoče pridobiti (in kupiti), hkrati pa si je to človek lahko tudi finančno privoščil, se je kmalu zdelo bolj ekonomično stvari preprosto pometati stran in kupovati nove in nove. Ta kultura potrošnih dobrin pa je kaj kmalu pričela povzročati številne težave, med njimi tudi tiste, povezane z varovanjem okolja. Moderni koncept recikliranja je tako v sedemdesetih letih prerasel v družbeno gibanje.

Toda že prej, pred drugo svetovno vojno, med njo in po njej, sta recikliranje in shranjevanje postala pomemben del družbene aktivnosti. Pomanjkanje je reciklažo privzdignilo med eno od preživetvenih početij, saj si mnogi sploh niso mogli privoščiti artiklov, če jih je bilo že mogoče dobiti. V štiridesetih letih so pričeli v ZDA celo industrijsko reciklirati najlon, gumo in nekatere kovine. Povojni gospodarski razvoj je recikliranje začasno potisnil v pozabo, vse dokler niso glasu dvignili varuhi okolja. Ko je prvi dan Zemlje leta 1970 podprl Unesco, je recikliranje znova postalo mainstream.

Saša Sedlačka so odpadki prevzeli, še preden so nam v supermarketih vzeli zastonjkarske plastične vrečke in nam v roke pomolili lepo oblikovane papirne, tkane ali pa biorazgradljive, s katerimi trgovske verige zaslužijo še dodaten evro, še preden je tudi v Sloveniji reciklaža postala zani-

Petja Grafenauer THE GREAT VOLUNTARY CLEANING ACTION: SAŠO SEDLAČEK!

It seems as though recycling first entered the front gates of Ljubljana when the expeditious mayor crammed the city centre with all those bins that now take up even more of the already lacking parking space. Yet, this is not precisely the case. We have always – including throughout all of Slovenia – practised recycling; however, up until recently, we had done so because of shortages, whereas now we have to recycle because of overabundance, because there is too much stuff and, for some people, because recycling pays. Pre-industrial societies practised recycling because goods were not readily available and/or cheap, and nearly everybody recycled something in one way or another. However, once goods became available (to have and to buy) and one could also afford them, it seemed more economical to throw stuff away and buy ever new products. Yet this culture of nondurable goods soon created numerous problems, including those concerning environmental protection. Hence, in the seventies, the modern concept of recycling became a social movement.

Yet, recycling and storage had already become an important aspect of social activity during, after and even before the Second World War. Poverty turned recycling into one of the survival strategies; for many goods, even when they were available, were simply too expensive. In the 1940s, a whole industry emerged in the USA for the recycling of nylon, rubber and certain metals. The post-war economic development then pushed recycling into oblivion – for a while, that is – until the environmentalists began to raise their voices.

When UNESCO backed the first Earth Day in 1970, recycling once again became part of the mainstream.

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miva za trg in se mnogi že sprašujejo, kdo ima od ločenih odpadkov večjo korist, narava ali Snaga6. Ampak da bi se to zgodilo, je bilo treba Javna skladišča7 spremeniti v BTC City. Sedlaček in kipar Boštjan Kavčič sta že leta 2002 razmišljala o ideji, kako bi velikanske oglasne table, ki so tam zrasle, izkoristila za bivalne namene, saj imajo nekatere od njih poleg tretje dimenzije za svoje potrebe napeljano celo električno energijo. Rodil se je projekt Živeti v reklami, ki pa ni pridobil vlagatelja, da bi lahko zaživel v realnem slovenskem vsakdanu. Za takšne velike projekte je umetnik potreboval producentsko podporo.

Takrat so nas vsi na novo vseljeni trgovski centri pričeli zasipati z letaki o najcenejših, najboljših, najbolj akcijskih in sploh naj naj naj izdelkih. Količina papirja v naših nabiralnikih je prerasla spodobno mejo in na drug papir so na Pošti natisnili plačljive nalepke, s katerimi smo poštarja opozorili, da ne želimo prejemati reklam.

Toda zakaj si ne bi želeli brezplačne surovine, ko pa je danes vse tako drago? Sašo Sedlaček je potrošnikom pokazal, kaj storiti. V produkciji Galerije Kapelica je nastal projekt Just do it! (2003). Tiskane reklame iz nabiralnikov je umetnik namočil, zmlel v papirnato kašo in iz njih napravil papirnate zidake. Kar sedemsto jih je nastalo, v javni akciji pa je z njimi ob pomoči sodelavcev zgovorno zaprl vhode v tri največja ljubljanska nakupovalna središča. V galeriji je bil projekt postavljen v obliki materialnih ostankov – papirnih zidakov in videa, v naslednjem letu pa ga je nadgradil z imenom Zanka (2004), ko je v BTC mestu ob njihovi kvadrasti reklami To je 6 Javno podjetje Snaga že več kot osemdeset let skrbi za čistočo Ljubljane in njenih okoliških občin.

7 Leta 1975 je podjetje postalo največji blagovno-transportni center v bivši Jugoslaviji in tega leta so se Javna skladišča preimenovala v Blagovno-transportni center Ljubljana (BTC).

Živeti v reklami, 2002 Living in Media Hype, 2002

Sašo Sedlaček had already become fascinated with waste before those free plastic bags disappeared from the supermarkets and we began being offered those beautifully designed bags made of paper, fabric or some other biodegradable material with which chain stores earn yet more money. Sašo Sedlaček had also become interested in waste before recycling in Slovenia began attracting attention on the market and many people started wondering who benefits more from waste separation – nature or the public company Snaga6? For this to happen, however, Javna skladišča7 had to become BTC City first. As early as 2002, Sedlaček and sculptor Boštjan Kavčič considered the idea of using jumbo billboards, which appeared in BTC City, for housing purposes, as some of them are not only three-dimensional but also supplied with electrical power. Thus, the project Living in Media Hype (Živeti v reklami) was born; however, it did not attract the investors it would need to enable it to materialise in the reality of Slovenian everyday life. For such large-scale projects, the artist needed the support of producers, which he was offered the following year for a limited time by the Kapelica Gallery.

This was the time when all of the new shopping centres started plying us with leaflets advertising the cheapest and in general the best products at the most reduced prices. The amount of paper in our letterboxes exceeded all levels of decency; and the post office used yet even more paper to print purchasable stickers that one could put on their letterbox to inform the postman that they did not want to receive any advertising material.

But why would one not want raw material free of charge, especially at a time when everything was becoming so dear?

Sašo Sedlaček showed the consumers what to do – in the project Just Do It! (2003), which was produced by the Kapelica Gallery (producers are a necessary link in the chain of Sedlaček’s often rather substantial projects). The artist soaked 6 The public company Snaga has been cleaning Ljubljana and its surrounding municipalities for more than eighty years.

7 In 1975, the company became the largest goods and transport centre in former Yugoslavia. In the same year, Javna skladišča changed its name to Blagovno Transportni Center Ljubljana (Ljubljana Goods and Transport Centre, BTC).

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moje mesto iz zidakov zgradil objekt in se naselil vsaj ob reklamo, če že ni mogel prebivati v njej. Objekt je parazitiral na obstoječih konstrukcijah, bil je mobilen in vsakič ga je bilo mogoče postaviti v drugačni obliki. Napajala ga je sončna energija, za kritino pa so služile plastične nakupovalne vrečke. V njem je obiskovalec lahko zvokom svojega mesta tudi prisluhnil, saj so bile v zidake vgrajene radioamaterske komponente, tako da je zaslišal telefonske pogovore someščanov, policije, taksistov, reševalcev in radioamaterjev.

Istega leta je umetnik popotoval po Indiji z umetnico in partnerico Lado Cerar in rezultat njunega popotovanja je bil projekt Toilets/Made in India (2004). Pet okroglih ročno tkanih gobelinov je nosilo podobe raznolikih straniščnih školjk. Iz tega, kakšen je odnos naroda do odplakovanja dreka, če obnovimo eno od Žižkovih domislic, lahko razberemo ne le narodni odnos do dreka, ampak tudi do življenja nasploh. Umetnika sta trem znanim tipom (anglosaškemu, nemškemu in francoskemu) dodala še dva nova: »indijski 'čučavac' in evro-indijski tip školjke«8, podobe in opise stranišč pa je za njun projekt v gobeline stkala tuja, indijska delovna sila. Video, ki je prikazoval izdelavo umetniškega objekta izpod njenih rok, je nastal kot del projekta in je razstavljen skupaj z gobelini z napisi. O indijskem stranišču preberemo: »Indijsko stranišče je preprosto, enostavno in naravno po svoji obliki in načinu uporabe.« (»Indian squat toilet is basic, simple and natural by its form and its way of usage.«) 9 Objekti dajejo vtis, kot da je kdo s kredence, sodobne, srednjemu sloju prilagojene različice nekdanjih »Wunderkammern«, postavil pred nas enega izmed razstavljenih spominkov. In to pravzaprav je spominek. Čeprav z netipično podobo, 8 http://www.sasosedlacek.com/shranjeno/projects_wc.html, ogledano 22. 9. 2011.

9

Ibid.

Zanka, 2004 Loop, 2004

the printed advertising material in water, ground it into pulp and then used it to make paper bricks. There were no less than seven hundred of them; in a telltale public action, the artist and his collaborators used the bricks to close the entrances to three of the largest shopping centres in Ljubljana. At the gallery, the project was on display in the form of material remains – paper bricks and video footage; whereas, in the following year, the artist developed this idea further in a new project, Loop (Zanka, 2004), in which he used paper bricks to construct an object next to BTC City’s squarish advertisement This Is My City (To je moje mesto); thus, even though it was not possible for him to inhabit the advertisement itself, he was at least able to inhabit the space adjacent to it. The object existed parasitically; that is, it latched onto other constructions, it was mobile and it could be reassembled in ever new ways. It was fuelled by solar energy and covered with plastic shopping bags. It could also be used for listening to the sounds of the city, as amateur radio equipment was installed inside the paper bricks themselves, which enabled the visitors to hear telephone conversations of their fellow citizens, the police, taxi drivers, rescue teams and radio amateurs.

The same year, the artist and his partner, artist Lada Cerar, travelled around India and the result of their trip was the project Toilets/Made in India (2004). Five handmade roundshaped needlework sketches displayed the images of various lavatories. To reiterate one of Žižek’s ideas, a nation’s attitude to shit disposal gives us an insight into that nation’s relationship not only to shit but also to life in general. To the three already familiar types of lavatories (Anglo-Saxon, German and French), the artists added two new ones – »Indian squat toilet and Euro Indian lavatory«8 – whereas the images and the descriptions of the lavatories were produced by foreign, Indian labour. The making of video footage showing the manufacture of these art objects was part of the project and it is on display together with the needlework sketches. The Indian

8 http://www.sasosedlacek.com/anglesko/projects_wceng.html, last accessed 7 October 2011.

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je to gobelin, ki so ga stkali podplačani delavci v daljni deželi. Podoba na njem pa Indiji ni daleč. Diskretna odprava dreka je pravzaprav eden izmed dosežkov starodavne civilizacije, ki je pred tisočletji živela v dolini reke Ind, zdaj pa popularnemu filozofu služi za definiranje zahodnega sveta. Tisti, ki danes živijo ob Indu in uporabljajo najpreprostejša stranišča, tkejo izdelke, ki jih kupujejo v državah obilja, katerih prebivalstvo trenutno išče odrešitev v vračanju k preprostosti.

Katero stranišče bo odplaknilo ta drek ali pa ga bo v prihodnje moč celo prodati? Celo drek je namreč lahko odpadek, in ne zgolj smet, kot nam bo Sašo Sedlaček pokazal v enem izmed kasnejših projektov. Še prej pa je nastalo do Žicarja najbolj znano Sedlačkovo delo, ki sprva sploh ni imelo umetnostnih intenc in je morda prav zato eno izmed njegovih najbolj večplastnih del. V želji po raziskovanju kreativnega potenciala, tema katerega so bili že dlje efemerni objekti naše civilizacije, je umetnik na ljubljanskem smetišču priredil neformalno druženje prijateljev, povečini umetnikov.10 Leta 2004 organizirani Piknik na deponiji je danes moč videti kot videozapis, ki ga je umetnik šele kasneje določil za umetniško delo. Priča o neki civilizaciji in tistem, kar ostaja za njo, o kreativnosti, ki se razvije v neznanem in potenciala polnem okolju, hkrati pa je privatni dokumentarni zapis o intimi prijateljskega kroga umetnikov.

Kljub v tem času še občasnim skokom na področji dreka in smeti se je umetnik še vedno najčvrsteje držal papirnatega zidaka, ki se je znova pojavil v projektu No Lego (2005), tokrat v različici, primerni za domači DIY (do it yourself – naredi sam). Na skladovnici iz papirnatih zidakov je v galeriji počival mini reciklažni laboratorij, ki ga je za publiko ustvaril 10 Na pikniku so avtorsko sodelovali: Vesna Bukovec, Jure Breceljnik, Lada Cerar, Matjaž Rebec, Marjan Stanić, Željko Stevanić in Jernej Trampuš.

Toilets/Made in India, 2004

Piknik na deponiji, 2004 Picninc on a Dump, 2004

lavatory is described as follows: »Indian squat toilet is basic, simple and natural by his [sic] form and the way of usage.«9 The objects give the impression that someone has taken some of the exhibited souvenirs from the dresser, the more recent middle-class version of the bygone Wunderkabinett, and placed them in front of us. And in fact, this is a souvenir. It does show an uncharacteristic image; however, this is needlework made by cheap labour in a far away land. And the image displayed is rather familiar in India. The discreet disposal of shit was in fact one of the achievements of the ancient civilisation that lived in the Indus River valley thousands of years ago, whereas today it has become a popular philosopher’s tool for defining the Western world. The people who live by the Indus River today and use the simplest of lavatories manufacture products that are purchased in the lands of plenty, whose inhabitants are currently looking for redemption in a return to simplicity.

Which of these lavatories will dispose of this shit – or will it too even be sold in the future? For even shit can be waste and not just litter, as Sašo Sedlaček demonstrated in one of his later projects. But before he did this, Sedlaček had created his best known work prior to Beggar (Žicar). Initially, this project had no artistic intentions; and perhaps this is precisely the reason for it being one of his most multi-faceted works.

Wishing to explore creative potential – and he had long been interested primarily in the ephemeral objects of our civilisation – the artist organised an informal gathering of friends, mostly artists, at the Ljubljana rubbish dump.10 Picnic on a Dump (Piknik na deponiji), which was organised in 2004, can 9

Ibid.

10 Creative participants at this picnic were: Vesna Bukovec, Jure Breceljnik, Lada Cerar, Matjaž Rebec, Marjan Stanić, Željko Stevanić and Jernej Trampuš.

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kipar. Potencialno bi vsakdo lahko postal izdelovalec papirnatih zidakov, narejenih iz neželene pošte, tudi brez nakupa Sedlačkovega dela, saj je bil tudi laboratorij sam v celoti sestavljen iz recikliranih odpadkov in ga je bilo prav tako mogoče napraviti doma.

Besedna igra iz naslova je merila na popularno antiglobalistično uspešnico in hkrati na znanega proizvajalca že narejenih igralnih kock. Za Sedlačkove zidake se je bilo treba potruditi malo bolj, vendar je materialni vir zanje vsaj navidezno neizčrpen, njihovo izdelovanje pa je v trendu s potrošniško logiko domače reciklaže.

Trendovski in retro je videti tudi odlični Žicar, za katerega je umetnik prejel več nagrad v tujini pa tudi slovensko nagrado OHO11. Robot za žicanje in pomoč socialno ogroženim je nastal v produkciji Galerije Kapelica. Kot številni Sedlačkovi projekti je tudi Žicar iz odpadne tehnologije. Kipar je zbral stare tri-osem-šestke, črno-beli zaslon, nekaj žic in dva delujoča cd-predvajalnika in jih sestavil v prisrčnega robota. A še preden je Žicar našel svoj prvi dom v Galeriji Kapelica, se je za nekaj dni nastanil na bleščavih hodnikih Cityparka. V polomljeni slovenščini, ki jo je zanj sintetiziral Jure Leskovec, je mimoidoče prosil za denar. Akcija, v kateri je svetleče tehnološko Žicarjevo telo nadomestilo zgrbljena in na pogled žalostna telesa klošarjev, je bila uspešna. Robot se je izkazal in na uro nabral tudi več od takratnega dobrega jurja. Mimogrede je še dokazal, da je tehnološki vmesnik več kot primeren za prosjačenje. Ko prosjači prisrčni robot, se okrog njega takoj zbere kopica mamic z otroki, ko pa to počne pijan in mnogokrat tudi ne preveč dišeč klošar, mamic z otroki ni na spregled. Funkcija zbiranja denarja seveda ostane ista. Zakaj denar iz potrošniškega žepa raje skoči 11 Nagrada OHO je lokalna verzija YVAA – Young Visual Artist Awards ameriške fundacije The Foundation for a Civil Society, ki skrbi za države centralne Evrope in Balkana. Več na www.yvaa.net. 22

No Lego, 2005

now be seen as a video record, which the author only later designated as an art work. It bears witness to a civilisation and what this civilisation leaves behind; it bears witness to creativity that develops in an unfamiliar environment that is full of potential. At the same time, it is also a private record documenting the closeness of a circle of artist friends.

Notwithstanding the occasional forays into the sphere of shit and rubbish, the artist has been most consistent in his use of paper bricks, which appeared again in the project No Lego (2005), this time in a version suitable for DIY. A miniature recycling laboratory, created for the public by the artist, was placed on a stack of paper bricks at the gallery. Potentially, anybody could become a manufacturer of paper bricks made of unwanted mail even without purchasing Sedlaček’s work, for the laboratory itself was made entirely of recycled waste and could also be assembled at home.

The pun in the title was aimed at the popular anti-globalist best-seller and at the famous producer of toy bricks.

Sedlaček’s bricks require a bit more effort; however, the material resources for them seem inexhaustible and their manufacture is in line with the consumer logic of domestic recycling.

Beggar (Žicar) also appears trendy and retro. For this work, the artist received several international awards and the Slovenian OHO Award.11 The robot designed for begging and helping the materially deprived was produced by the Kapelica Gallery. Like many of Sedlaček’s other projects, the Beggar is made of discarded technology. The sculptor collected old 386s, a black-and-white monitor, some wires and two functioning CD players and used them to assemble an amicable robot. However, even before the robot found its first home at the Kapelica Gallery, it had spent a few days roaming the shiny halls of BTC City. In broken Slovene, synthesised for the Beggar by Jure Leskovec, it begged passersby for money. The action, in which the shiny technological body of the Beggar replaced the stooped, sad-looking bodies of

11 The OHO Award is a local version of the YVAA – Young Visual Artist Awards administered by the American Foundation for a Civil Society (FCS) with affiliates in several countries in central Europe and the Balkans. More at www. yvaa.net.

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v roko iz integriranih vezij kakor pa v toplo človeško dlan?

Robotu plačamo. Plačamo mu za zabavo, za užitek, ki nam ga ponuja njegova tehnologizirana človeškost. Revščina in beda ostajata daleč stran od našega sveta. Povsem drugače je, če se pred nami znajde realnost. Žicar je vmesnik na enak način kakor televizijski zaslon. Obvaruje nas pred grozečo resničnostjo. Naše skakljanje po razprodajah poteka nemoteno. Ne sramujemo se lastne razsipnosti, saj je drugi, revni konec družbe daleč stran. Sašo Sedlaček je nažicani denar namenil za to, da so se azilanti lahko odpravili na izlet. »Leta 2007 je projekt še nadgradil (Rent a Žicar) in Žicarja posodil ljubljanskim brezdomcem za 'žicanje' v prostorih BTC, kamor sami sicer nimajo vstopa in kjer jim ni dovoljena niti prodaja lastnega časopisa Kralji ulic, ki je bil ustanovljen ravno kot alternativa neposrednemu 'žicanju'.«12 Od žicanja se je umetnik znova vrnil k smetem, vendar tokrat na veliko večjem poligonu. Natančno evidentirane smeti, ki jih je človeštvo izstrelilo v vesolje, so postale središče projekta Vesoljske smeti. Spočet je bil na rezidenci IAMAS (Institute and Academy for Advanced Media Art and Science) na Japonskem, dokončan pa kot razvojni projekt za U3, trienale slovenske sodobne umetnosti, v produkciji Galerije Kapelica. Njegov namen je tematizirati »stopnjo onesnaženosti v uporabnih orbitah okoli Zemlje, lastništvo grozečih odpadkov in posledično odgovornost zanje ter možnosti njihovega recikliranja. Registriranih je več javnih in zasebnih iniciativ za ponovno uporabo teh odpadkov, ki pa vedno znova trčijo ob problem lastništva posameznih kosov. Tako se na vesoljski ravni srečujemo s paradoksom, ko se lastniki odpadnega materiala enkrat otepajo odgovornosti zanj in drugič uveljavljajo pravico do lastništva, s tem pa onemogočajo reševanje odprtega vprašanja recikliranja materiala, utirjenega v krožnicah okoli Zemlje. Vedeti moramo, da je do zdaj evidentiranih 38 milijonov kosov odpadkov v velikosti od nekaj milimetrov do največjih – glavnih rezervoarjev nosilne rakete za 'space shuttle', ki merijo v dolžino neverjetnih 47 12 Polona Tratnik, »Brkljanje, ki sproti rešuje probleme. Pogovor s Sašem Sedlačkom«, Maska, Strategije proti zankam nadzora – nekaj ljudi in trenutkov taktične resničnosti, XXIV, 119–120, zima 2009, 18.

Žicar, 2006 Beggar, 2006

homeless people, was a success. The robot excelled and collected more than a grand per hour. Incidentally, it also proved that a technological interface is more than suitable for begging. When an amicable robot does the begging, it is immediately surrounded by a bunch of mothers with young children, whereas when a drunk and often smelly homeless person does it, this kind of audience is nowhere in sight.

The function of collecting money, however, remains the same. Why does the money from the consumer’s pocket pass more easily into the hand made of integrated circuits than into a warm human hand? We give money to the robot. We pay the robot for entertainment, the pleasure afforded by its technologised humanity. Poverty and misery remain far away from our world. It is totally different when we are faced with reality. The Beggar is an interface akin to a TV monitor. It protects us from threatening reality. Our sales shopping spree can continue undisturbed. We are not ashamed of our own squandering, for the other, poor part of society is far away.

Sašo Sedlaček used the money thus collected to send asylum seekers on a trip. In 2007, he developed the project further (Rent a Beggar) by lending the Beggar to the homeless people of Ljubljana to use for begging on the premises of BTC City, where they are otherwise not permitted to enter and where they are not even allowed to sell their own magazine Kings of the Street (Kralji ulice), which was established precisely as an alternative to straight begging.12 After this exercise in begging, the artist returned to waste; however, this time, on a broader scale. The carefully documented waste that humankind has discharged into space became the centre of the project Space Junk Spotting (Vesoljske smeti). It was conceived during a residency at 12 Polona Tratnik, »Bricolage that saves problems along the way: A conversation with Sašo Sedlaček«, Maska, Strategies Against Control Loops – Some People and Moments of Tactical Reality, Vol. XXIV, Nos. 119–120, Winter 2009.

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metrov in imajo premer šest metrov. Predpostavka, da vesolje pripada vsem, ne le vesoljskim velesilam, vedno znova vzpostavlja dilemo lastništva, privilegijev in odgovornosti ter ne nazadnje tudi primernih vsebin, za katere ni nikjer napisano, da morajo biti le v zvezi z vojaškimi nameni in znanstvenimi projekti. Telekomunikacije in opazovanja našega planeta različnih resolucij so se že prerinili med privilegirane in po našem mnenju je zdaj čas tudi za kreativnost. Od tod naprej pa je potrebno imeti že izoblikovan odgovor na vprašanje, ki meri na vsebine in dimenzije človeškega duha.«13 Po dolgotrajnem projektu je sledila samostojna razstava v Miklovi hiši v Ribnici, kraju, ki je znan predvsem kot center slovenske etnološke posebnosti, suhe robe14, ki jo v pesmih in vicih prodaja Ribn’čan Urban. Po Žicarju je bil Urban – avtomat za suho robo že drugi do ljudi prijazni in nadvse uporabni Sedlačkov avtomat. Kot ostali samopostrežni avtomati za napitke, hrano, kondome, zobne ščetke je bil še pred mlekom in mlečnimi izdelki, ki so postali stalnica slovenske potrošniške folklore, Urban prvi prodajni avtomat, ki je prodajal slovensko posebnost tako, kot Amerika ponuja kokakolo.

Seveda se je to zgodilo v manjšem merilu in nakladi ter pred manjšimi nakupovalnimi središči. Z Urbanom se je potrdila 13 http://www.sasosedlacek.com/shranjeno/projects_spacejunk_slo.htm, ogledano 23. 9. 2011.

14 »Izdelovanje suhe robe predstavlja vrsto lesnih rokodelskih in obrtniških opravil: žličarstvo in kuhalničarstvo, posodarstvo, obodarstvo, strugarstvo, pletarstvo, rešetarstvo, sodarstvo, zobotrebčarstvo, izdelovanje igrač, (turističnih) spominkov, daril in okrasnih predmetov iz lesa itd. Domovina suhe robe je ribniško-kočevsko območje Slovenije, izdelovali pa so jo tudi na Črnem Vrhu nad Idrijo, delno na Trnovski planoti, v Bohinju, na Pohorju, v Poljanski in Selški dolini, na Idrijskem in Cerkljanskem. Cesar Friderik III. je 1492. izdal odlok, po katerem so lahko kmetje na kočevskem in ribniškem območju trgovali tudi z lesnimi izdelki lastne, hišne izdelave. Leta 2002 so v Ribnici zaščitili geografsko poreklo suhe robe in izdelali Pravilnik o označbi porekla blaga 'Ribniška suha roba'.« http://www.suharoba.si/?page_id=9, ogledano 23. 9. 2011.

Vesoljske smeti, 2007 Space Junk Spotting, 2007

IAMAS (Institute and Academy for Advanced Media Art and Science) in Japan and completed as a developmental project for U3 – Triennial of Contemporary Slovenian Art, produced by the Kapelica Gallery. Its aim was to thematise »the extent of the pollution in the usable orbits around Earth, the ownership of the threatening waste and, consequently, the responsibility for it, and the possibilities of recycling it. There are already a number of registered public and private initiatives for reusing this debris, but they always come up against the question of who owns the individual pieces of junk. Thus, on the level of space, we encounter a paradox in which the owners of the waste material first shirk their responsibility for it and then enforce their ownership rights, thus making it impossible to resolve the open question of how to recycle all the junk circling the Earth in fixed orbits. It is important to know, too, that so far, some 38 million pieces of waste material have been documented, ranging in size from those of a few millimeters to the biggest – the main tanks of space shuttle launch vehicles, which measure an incredible 47 meters in length and six meters in diameter. The presupposition that space belongs to everyone, and not just the space superpowers, creates endless dilemmas of ownership, privilege, and responsibility, and also raises the important question of what constitutes suitable content; for nowhere is it written that it must be linked only to military purposes or scientific projects.

Telecommunications and the observation of our planet at various resolutions have already pushed their way into the privileged categories, and we believe it is high time for artistic creativity to join them. Once this happens, it is essential to have an already formulated answer to the question that aims at the content and dimensions of the human spirit.«13 The long-lasting project was followed by an independent exhibition at the gallery Miklova hiša in Ribnica, the town known primarily as the centre of a Slovenian ethnological peculiarity, woodenware (suha roba),14 which, in songs and 13 http://www.sasosedlacek.com/anglesko/projects_Spacejunk_eng.htm, last accessed 7 October 2011.

14 »Woodenware production encompasses a series of activities related to the trades and crafts of wood cultivation: the manufacture of wooden spoons, ladles

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teza, da Sedlačkova dela velikokrat presegajo meje sveta umetnosti: že od prvih projektov so mnogokrat v resnici le prototip. Sedlaček ga ponuja podjetnim DIYustvarjalcem in vsem tistim, ki si želijo boljšega sveta.

Simona Vidmar je v spremnem besedilu k razstavi označila »mašino« Urbana za »kopijo, posnetek uspešne forme in prepoznano prednost izbrane skupnosti, ki jo s pomočjo modernizacije in tehnologije (paradoksalno) prenaša v sodobni kontekst, oblikuje orodje za preseganje vase zaprte situacije ter odpiranje lokalnega in avtohtonega sodobnemu svetu in novim pogojem. Sedlaček je z Urbanom ponovno ustvaril 'doma narejeno' strategijo upora in izdelal dostopen prototip, odprt za nadaljnjo nadgradnjo in razmnoževanje.«15 Leta 2007 je Sedlaček pri produkciji svojih projektov pričel sodelovati z Aksiomo, produkcijsko hišo pod vodstvom umetnika Janeza Janše. Nastala sta projekta Infokalipsa zdaj! in Manifest, ki sta pravzaprav le različici iste problematike.

Vesoljske smeti so se spraševale tudi, kdo je lastnik materiala, ki bi ga bilo moč reciklirati in s tem morda celo uspešno tržiti, v Infokalipsi – besedni igri na znano filmsko adaptacijo romana Srce teme – pa je tematika znova postala lokalna.

Med pripravo prehoda na digitalne frekvence, ki se je končal v letošnjem letu, si je Sedlaček zastavil vprašanje, ki si ga je tedaj zastavljal le malokdo. Kdo bo 15 Simona Vidmar, Japonci slutijo božanstvo v vsakem industrijskem objektu, Sašo Sedlaček, Urban – avtomat za suho robo, Galerija Miklova hiša, Ribnica 2007.

Urban – avtomat za suho robo, 2007 Urban – Woodenware Vending Machine, 2007

Infokalipsa zdaj!, 2007 Infocalypse Now!, 2007

jokes, is sold by Urban, a man from Ribnica. After Beggar, Urban – Woodenware Vending Machine (Urban – Avtomat za suho robo) was Sedlaček’s second people-friendly and very useful automaton. Functioning like other self-service machines selling beverages, food, condoms or toothbrushes, and appearing even before the so-called mlekomat (milkvending machine), which has become a regular feature of Slovenian consumer folklore, Urban was the first vending machine to sell this Slovenian national peculiarity, in the same way that America sells Coca-Cola. Of course, this happened on a smaller scale in front of smaller shopping centres.

Urban was a confirmation of the thesis that Sedlaček’s work often transcends the boundaries of the world of art; ever since the very first projects, his works have often been just prototypes, which Sedlaček offers to enterprising DIY creators and everyone else who desires a better world. In her introduction to the exhibition, Simona Vidmar described the Urban machine as »a copy, an imitation of a successful form and a recognised advantage of a chosen community, which [the artist] transposes into the contemporary context (paradoxically) by means of modernisation and technology, creating the tools for transcending a closed situation and for opening up the local and the autochthonous to the contemporary world and new conditions. With Urban, Sedlaček has again created a ‘homemade’ strategy of resistance and produced an accessible prototype open to further development and reproduction.«15

and kitchenware, wood turning, wickerwork, sieve-making, cooper’s trade, the production of toothpicks, the manufacture of wooden toys, (tourist) souvenirs, gifts and decorative objects, etc. The homeland of woodenware is the area around Ribnica and Kočevje in Slovenia; however, it was also produced in Črni Vrh nad Idrijo, Trnovska planota, Bohinj, Pohorje, the Poljanska and Selška valleys, Cerkljansko and Idrijsko. In 1492, the emperor Frederick III issued a decree which allowed peasants in the area around Kočevje and Ribnica to sell homemade wooden products. In 2002, the geographical origin of woodenware was protected in Ribnica and the regulation about designating the origin of goods as ‘Woodenware from Ribnica’ was adopted.« http://www.suharoba.si/?page_id=9, last accessed 8 October 2011.

15 Simona Vidmar, »Japonci slutijo božanstvo v vsakem industrijskem objektu«, Sašo Sedlaček, Urban – avtomat za suho robo, Galerija Miklova hiša, Ribnica, 2007.

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novi lastnik in uporabnik velikega dela spektra, ki je tako kot voda, zrak ali zdravstvo še vedno del javnih dobrin. Te frekvence so, podobno kakor analogna tehnologija, z digitalizacijo postale neke vrste odpad, vendar pa je to odpad, ki ga je moč uporabljati in zasesti, še preden si ga prilasti kapital: »Večja dostopnost do 700 MHz spektra – izredno uporabnega nizkofrekvenčnega pasu – bi poleg ponudbe nekomercialnih televizijskih vsebin in neodvisne produkcije spodbudila razvoj inovacij na področju brezžičnega interneta, izboljšala lokalno komunikacijsko omrežje, pripomogla k razvoju malega podjetništva in ne nazadnje zagotovila, da gospodinjstva, posamezniki in skupine z nizkimi dohodki ne zaostanejo za razvojem, medtem ko tehnologija napreduje.«16 Namera Sedlačkovega projekta je bila znova jasna: ponudil je spodbudo, ki bi jo lahko izkoristil vsakdo. V Galeriji Kapelica je leta 2007 med razstavo deloval tudi »gverilski studio«, v katerem je Sandra Bašić Hrvatin spregovorila o raziskovani problematiki, hkrati pa je Sedlaček ponudil uporabnikom navodila, kako sami ustvarijo mobilni televizijski oddajnik. Za razstavo je nastal tudi poetični video Rekviem za umirajoči medij, slovo od analogne televizije s končnim zasedanjem gorskega vrha s televizijskim oddajnikom.

Interes za tehnološke odpadke je Sedlačka vodil v The Ex, izdelavo dveh reklamnih panojev, ki ju je leta 2010 produciral za novi U3 v Moderni galeriji. Takratnega je kuriral Charles Esche in je bil posvečen realizmom v slovenski umetnosti. Sedlaček je pokazal realnost in njeno zahodno podobo. Panoja sta združila podobi »tretjega sveta«, kjer revni sloj prebivalstva reciklira naše tehnološke odpadke 16 http://www.sasosedlacek.com/shranjeno/projects_infokalipsa.htm, ogledano 23. 9. 2011.

Bivši, 2010 The Ex, 2010

Since 2007, Sedlaček has been producing his projects in collaboration with Aksioma, the production house under the direction of the artist Janez Janša. Two projects have been created thus far – Infocalypse Now! (Infokalipsa zdaj!) and Manifesto (Manifest) – which are, in fact, merely variations on the same theme. While Space Junk Spotting raised the question of ownership in regard to the material that could be recycled and could thus perhaps become profitable, in Infocalypse Now! – the title is a pun alluding to the famous cinematic adaptation of the novel The Heart of Darkness (Srce teme) – the subject matter is again local. During the preparations for the transition to digital frequencies, which was completed this year, Sedlaček raised a question that only a handful of people had thought about at the time. Namely, who is going to own and use the major part of the spectrum, which is still part of the common good, like water, air or health care? Similar to what happened to analogue technology, digitalisation has made these frequencies a sort of waste; however, this is the kind of waste that can be used and appropriated before capital seizes it: »A greater accessibility of the 700 MHz spectrum – a very useful low-frequency band – would, besides offering non-commercial television contents and independent production, stimulate the development of innovations in the field of wireless Internet, improve the local communication network, contribute to the development of small enterprise and, last but not least, prevent households, individuals and groups with low incomes from lagging behind development while technology advances.«16 The aim of Sedlaček’s project was again very clear: he provided an incentive that could be taken up by anyone.

The exhibition at the Kapelica Gallery in 2007 also included a »guerrilla studio«, in which Sandra Bašić Hrvatin spoke about research topics, while Sedlaček instructed the users how to assemble a home-made mobile television transmitter.

A poetic video entitled Requiem for a Dying Medium (Rekviem za umirajoči medij) was also created for the exhibition; it bade farewell to analogue television as the mountain peak 16 http://www.sasosedlacek.com/anglesko/projects_infocalypse.htm, last accessed 9 October 2011.

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s starima logotipoma proizvodov največjih računalniških podjetij (Apple Computer in Windows '98), ki pa sta že odslužila rok uporabe in so ju, kakor stare računalnike na naših mizah, že zamenjali novejši in lepši znaki.

Ob ponoreli uporabi novih mobilnikov, dlančnikov, namiznih in prenosnih računalnikov, digitalnih fotoaparatov, prenosnih pomnilnikov in še in še, ki jih menjujemo skorajda na mesečni ravni, nas preprosti Sedlačkovi reklami opomnita, da odslužene tehnološke igračke pristanejo daleč od »razvitega sveta«, kjer nudijo material, ki omogoča ponovno izkoriščanje človeka po človeku.

Sedlačkovi projekti so raznoliki, čeprav gre tematsko in sporočilno za ponavljanje povezljivih idej. Včasih so le podoba ali objekt, ki gledalca nagovarja s sporočilom, drugič mu nudijo prototipe, ki ponujajo konkretne možnosti za akcijo, tretjič pa lahko vključujejo kar akcijo samo in takrat iz galerije vstopijo v realni svet. Skorajda praviloma združujejo estetsko-kiparsko in praktično raven in vedno so zabeljeni s kancem humorja.

Sedlaček prilagodi vsebine, ki jih raziskuje, okviru, v katerem se znajde kot umetnik. Za razstavo v MGLC sta tako nastala dva objekta, ki sta se s svetom znova ukvarjala na globalni ravni, hkrati pa sta bila povezana s tiskom in tiskarnami. Grelnik globus (2010) je resnični grelec in obenem globus, pri katerem, ko ga priklopimo na električno energijo, toplota in svetloba pronicata skozi luknje, ustvarjene na mestih, ki najbolj segrevajo modri planet. Globus je hkrati taktilni potiskani in naluknjani kiparski objekt, funkcionalna naprava, ki v eno združi ogrevanje in poučevanje, ter del informacijskega okoljevarstvenega boja.

Drugi objekt, Svet zemljevidov po Buckminster Fullerju, nas pouči, da je prav izbrani objekt – globus – pravzaprav tudi sam orodje v rokah premožnejših, saj so njihova ozemlja upodobljena manj popačeno kakor drugi teritoriji sveta. Prvi globus je leta 1492 izdelal nemški geograf Georg Behaim, bolj znan pa je Mercatorjev iz leta 1541, na katerem so Evropejcem bolj znani deli sveta gosto popisani z imeni, medtem ko so ostali severnejši in južnejši »še neraziskani deli sveta« večinoma prazni in potisnjeni na manj vidne

Grelnik globus, 2010 Globe Heaters, 2010

was at last conquered by the television transmitter.

His interest in technological waste led Sedlaček to The Ex, the production of two billboards, which he produced in 2010 for the new U3 at the Museum of Modern Art (Moderna galerija). The 2010 U3 was curated by Charles Esche and it was dedicated to realisms in Slovenian art. Sedlaček showed reality and its Western incarnation. The billboards combined the images of the »Third World«, where the poor recycle our technological waste, with the old logos of products made by the biggest computer companies (Apple Computer and Windows ’98) – the logos that have reached their expiration date and have been, like the old computers on our desks, replaced by newer and nicer logotypes. Given the frenzied use of new mobiles, PDAs, PCs and laptops, digital cameras, portable storage devices, etc., which we change almost every month, Sedlaček’s simple ads remind us that technological toys end up far from the »developed world«, where they become material that enables renewed human exploitation.

Sedlaček’s projects are diverse despite the fact that they reiterate ideas that could be linked in terms of themes and messages. Sometimes they are merely an image or an object that addresses the viewer with a message; at other times, they furnish the viewer with prototypes that offer concrete possibilities for action; at yet other times, they encompass the action itself and, in this case, they leave the gallery and enter the real world. Almost as a rule, they combine an aestheticsculptural aspect and a practical one, and they are always spiced with a dash of wit.

Sedlaček adapts the content that he explores to the framework in which he happens to be as an artist. For the exhibition at the International Centre of Graphic Arts (Mednarodni grafični likovni center), he thus produced two objects that dealt with the world on a global level while at the same time were

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dele globusa. S to težavo se je spoprijel Buckminster Fuller in leta 1946 ponudil karto Dymaxion, poliedrično obliko, ki jo sestavlja dvajset trikotnikov. Na njegovem zemljevidu je površina sveta predstavljena veliko bolj pravično kot na Mercatorjevem, zemljevid pa je iz poliedra moč sestaviti tudi v dvodimenzionalno površino.

Zdi se, kot da je interes za nečisto, umazano in odvrženo, za izločanje in možnost odplakovanja dreka ena od stalnic v opusu Saša Sedlačka. AcDcWc, ki je nastal v produkciji Aksiome v lanskem letu, je realistična demonstracija možnosti energetske predelave človeških izločkov v električno energijo, v Sedlačkovih kipih največkrat takšno, ki nas bo zabavala na tronu. To je lahko premikajoči se psiček igračka, ki ga poganja otrokovo blato, ali pa nam kakanje več družinskih članov osvetli domačo kopalnico. Ne gre pa seveda pozabiti na javni prostor in javni mobilni WC, ki zaradi večjih količin dreka razsvetli celoten okoliš.

Ko poskrbimo za samooskrbno energijo, sledi zabava.

Vendar od osemdesetih in Rocka Hudsona prav vsi vemo, da mora biti tudi zabava varna. In zakaj si je ne bi zagotovili z reciklažo? Kondomi, izdelani iz raznih ovitkov Poli, Ave in Pivka, morda niso najnežnejši na tržišču, so pa doma pridelani, brezplačni in, vsaj na prvi pogled, zelo varni. Salami Condoms (2010) spomni na otroštvo, ko smo se razposajeno nasmihali ob vsaki malici, ki je vključevala hrenovko, in vsaki lučki, v katero je katera od nas preveč navdušeno zagrizla. Hudomušna interpretacija DIY-strategij postane bolj prepričljiva, če se spomnimo še na doma sešite vložke in plenice, ki jih v delo ponuja že vsaka progresivna začetna vadnica šivanja. Kdo ve, morda pa je velikost Ave, Pivka ali Poli pravšnja prav za vašega.

AcDcWc, 2010

related to print and printing houses. Globe Heaters (Grelnik globus, 2010) is a genuine heater and at the same time a globe in which, when the globe is plugged in, heat and light seep through the holes created in spaces where the blue planet is experiencing the most intense warming. The globe is simultaneously a printed tactile and punctured sculptural object as well as a functional device that brings together heating, teaching and a part of the informational environmental struggle.

The second object, The World of Maps According to Buckminster Fuller (Svet zemljevidov po Buckminster Fullerju), informs us that the chosen object – the globe – is itself a tool in the hands of the rich, for their territories are depicted in a less distorted manner than the rest of the world. The first globe was made in 1492 by the German geographer Georg Behaim; however, Mercator’s globe from 1541 is more famous; the latter depicts in detail those parts of the world that were then familiar to the Europeans, whereas the »uncharted territories of the world« in the North and the South are left blank and buried in the less visible parts of the globe. This was the problem tackled by Buckminster Fuller, who in 1946 produced the Dymaxion map, a polyhedral form which consists of 20 triangles. In Fuller’s map, the surface of the world is depicted more impartially than in the Mercator projection, and the map can be unfolded and flattened into two dimensions.

It seems that the interest in the impure, the unclean and the rejected, the interest in excretion and the possibility of shit disposal, is a regular feature of Sašo Sedlaček’s oeuvre.

AcDcWc, which was produced by Aksioma last year, is a realistic demonstration of the possibilities of transforming human excrement into electrical power – in Sedlaček’s statues, this is most often electrical power of the kind that entertains us on a throne. For instance, a mobile toy dog is fuelled by a child’s faeces, or the lighting for a bathroom is produced from the excrement of the older family members. And, of course, we should not forget the public space and the public mobile toilet, which can light up an entire district due to the larger quantities of shit at its disposal.

Once energy self-supply is secured, fun follows. However, ever since the eighties and Rock Hudson, we have known that

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In za konec. Ves svet je še vedno doma na televiziji.

Tisti, ki smo morali pred kratkim zavreči staro zaradi prehoda na digitalni signal, bi lahko sodelovali v najnovejšem Sedlačkovem projektu, ki ga je producirala Aksioma. To je Veliki izklop iz letošnjega leta. Večina nas je zamudila javni poziv k skupinskemu razbijanju starih analognih televizij, ki smo jih Slovenci letos množično vozili na odpad.

Kam gredo naše televizije, ko jih ne potrebujemo več?

Nekam izginejo, za nas jih proti plačilu varno skrijejo kot vse druge odpadke, ki jih proizvedemo. Morda je prav moj TV odpotoval na zadnjo pot v dežele tretjega sveta na reciklažo.

Toda kako bi bilo videti, če bi, kakor v srednjem veku, svoje odpadke preprosto zmetali skozi okno? V odlično zmontiranem potencirajočem ritmu stanovalci bloka mečejo skozi okna vse več televizijskih sprejemnikov. Kar na cesto jih vržejo in tam se spreminjajo v kup smeti. Niso več odpadki, neuporabni so. V koščkih. Razbiti. Smeti, ki se po reciklaži kopičijo v tretjem svetu, so kar naenkrat spet tu. Pred domačim pragom.

Zelo jasno je, kaj zanima umetniška dela Saša Sedlačka.

Reciklaža. Uporaba zavrženega. Izboljšanje sveta in opozorilo, da na Zahodu živeči nismo edini, ki tlačimo ta planet.

Njegovi projekti nihajo med lokalno in globalno problematiko odpadkov. Umetnika zanimajo aktualne teme, ki sodijo v kategorijo tisočletnega prizadevanja za izboljšanje življenja človeka. Te problematike se na srečo ne loteva naivno,

Veliki izklop, 2011 The Big Switch Off, 2011

Salami Condoms, 2011

fun, too, must be safe. And why not secure safety through recycling? Condoms made of Poli, AVE or Pivka wrappers may not be the most delicate on the market, yet they are home-made, free and, at least at first sight, very safe. Salami Condoms (2010) remind us of childhood, when every brunch including sausages and every ice cream or lollipop that one of us licked a bit too enthusiastically brought mischievous smiles to our lips. The roguish interpretation of DIY strategies becomes even more compelling if we remember the home-made sanitary towels and diapers whose making is now described in every progressive sewing textbook for beginners.

Who knows? Perhaps the size of AVE, Pivka or Poli is perfect for your member.

To conclude. The entire world is still at home on television.

Those of us who were forced to reject the old technology due to the transition to the digital signal could participate in Sedlaček’s latest project, The Big Switch Off (Veliki izklop), produced this year by Aksioma. Most of us missed the public call for mass destruction of the old analogue television sets, which Slovenians drove to rubbish dumps en masse this year. Where do our TV sets end up once we no longer need them? They disappear somewhere; for a suitable fee, they are safely stowed away and concealed like all other waste that we produce. Perhaps it was precisely my TV set that embarked on its final trip, to the Third World, to be recycled there. However, what would it look like if we simply threw our waste out through the window, as they did in the Middle Ages?

In a superbly edited escalating rhythm, the residents of an apartment block throw more and more TV sets through their windows. They simply throw them out and there, in the street, they become a pile of rubbish. They are no longer waste, they have become useless. They are in pieces. Shattered. The litter that accumulates in the Third World after having been recycled is suddenly here again. On our own doorstep.

It is very clear where the interest of Sašo Sedlaček’s art works lies. Recycling. (Re)use of the rejected. The improvement of the world and a warning that people in the West are not the only inhabitants of this planet. His projects shift between local and global problems of waste. The artist is

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pobožnjakarsko ali moralizatorsko, temveč s humorjem in ponudbo. Njegove domislice so duhovite, kreativne in predvsem uporabne. Kako da v Ribnici še ne proizvajajo Urbana, se vprašam. Bolj jasno mi je, zakaj brezdomci še niso naredili cele vrste Žicarjev, ki bi jih krvavo potrebovali. Čisto nič čudno se mi ne bo zdelo, če bom čez nekaj let pohajkovala po BTC – takrat bo morda Ljubljana le še njegov okraj – in se globoko zamislila nad ceno stranišča s samopridelovalno razsvetljavo.

interested in topical themes that fall into the category of ageold efforts to improve human life. Fortunately, he does not tackle these issues in a naïve, bigoted or moralistic manner, but rather with humour and incentive. His ideas are witty, creative and, above all, useful. I wonder why Ribnica has not yet started producing Urban. It is, of course, less inexplicable why homeless people have not yet assembled a whole series of Beggars, which they could use so badly. I shall not be surprised at all if, in a few years, while strolling around BTC City – Ljubljana may well be just one of its districts by then – I happen upon a pricey lavatory that produces its own lighting.

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Dela Works

Živeti v reklami Living in a Media Hype

Naslednji dve strani: Živeti v reklami 2002/2006 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček Zasnova projekta je iz leta 2002, ko sva z Boštjanom Kavčičem začela razmišljati, kako bi parazitirala eno od reklamnih tabel. Na sliki je naseljeni reklamni pano v Queensu, New York, 2006.

Next two pages: Living in a Media Hype 2002/2006 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček The project was first conceptualised in 2002, when Boštjan Kavčič and I started thinking about exploiting parasitically one of the exhisting billboards. The photo shows an inhabited billboard in Queens, New York, 2006.

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Just do it!

Just do it!

2003 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Just do it!

2003 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Reciklirani papirnati zidaki iz reklamnih tiskovin, ki nam jih na dom pošiljajo nakupovalna središča.

Recycled paper bricks made of printed propaganda materials sent to our homes by big shopping malls.

Produkcija: Galerija Kapelica, Ljubljana Production: Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana

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Levo: Just do it!

2003 FOTO: Jure Breceljnik Prva faza projekta.

Dvotedensko recikliranje reklamnih sporočil in izdelovanje papirnatih zidakov v galeriji.

Naslednji dve strani: Just do it!

2003 FOTO: Luka Dekleva Druga faza. Zapiranje vhodov v ljubljanska nakupovalna središča s papirnatimi zidaki.

Left: Just do it!

2003 PHOTO: Jure Brecelnik The first phase of the project. The twoweek recycling of propaganda materials and the manufacture of paper bricks at the gallery.

Next two pages: Just do it!

2003 PHOTO: Luka Dekleva The second phase.

The closing of the entrances to shopping malls in Ljubljana using paper bricks.

Zanka Loop

Zanka 2004 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Loop 2004

Parazitski paviljon iz papirnatih opek in drugega recikliranega materiala na reklamnem panoju To je moje mesto pri vhodu v največje slovensko nakupovalno središče.

The parasitic pavilion made of paper bricks and other recycled materials on the billboard This is My City at the entrance to the biggest shopping centre in Slovenia.

PHOTO:

Sašo Sedlaček

Produkcija: Galerija Kapelica, Ljubljana Production: Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana

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Levo: Zanka 2004 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Zgoraj: Zanka 2004 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Left: Loop 2004

Pogostitev ob odprtju paviljona (zgoraj) in piknik (spodaj) v nakupovalnem središču, kjer so obiskovalci ob vstopu lahko prisluhnili elektronskemu hrupu mesta.

V papirnate zidake vgrajen skener frekvenc je omogočal prisluškovanje pogovorom policije, taksistov, gasilcev, stacionarnim telefonom in drugim napravam, ki delujejo na določenem frekvenčnem pasu.

Reception at the opening of the pavilion (above) and the picnic (below) in the shopping centre, during which the visitors could listen to the electronic noise of the city.

PHOTO:

Above: Loop 2004 Sašo Sedlaček

PHOTO:

Sašo Sedlaček

Frequency scanner installed inside the paper bricks enabled eavesdropping on the conversations of the police, taxi drivers, fire brigades, landlines and other devices that operate within a certain frequency band.

Zanka 2004 FOTO: Lada Cerar

Loop 2004

Jutro po odprtju v nakupovalnem središču, ki mu je sledil popoldanski piknik z žarom.

The morning after the opening at the shopping centre, which was followed by an afternoon barbecue party.

PHOTO:

Lada Cerar

No Lego

Levo: No Lego 2005 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Left: No Lego 2005 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Postavitev instalacije v galeriji: kovček No Lego na podstavku iz papirnatih opek in z navodili.

Setting up the installation at the gallery: the No Lego suitcase on a paper brick pedestal and instructions.

Naslednje štiri strani: No Lego 2005 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Next four pages: No Lego 2005 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Izdelovanje papirnatih zidakov s kovčkom No Lego je primerno za vsako gospodinjstvo.

The manufacture of paper bricks with the No Lego suitcase is suitable for every household.

Z dovoljenjem galerije Hilger contemporary, Dunaj, Avstrija.

Courtesy of: Hilger Contemporary gallery, Vienna, Austria

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Toilets Made in India

Toilets Made in India 2004 FOTO: izsek iz videa Cenena delovna sila izdeluje gobeline v Mumbaju, Indija.

Toilets Made in India 2004 PHOTO: still from video footage Cheap labour producing needlework sketches in Mumbai, India.

Avtorja: Sašo Sedlaček in Lada Cerar Z dovoljenjem Koroške galerije likovnih umetnosti, Slovenj Gradec.

Authors: Sašo Sedlaček and Lada Cerar Courtesy of: Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts, Slovenj Gradec

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Toilets Made in India 2004 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček, Lada Cerar, Tomo Jeseničnik Gobelini različnih tipov evropskih in anglosaških stranišč, ki so po Žižku oblikovani glede na nacionalni karakter.

Z dodanim indoevropskim in indijskim straniščem.

Toilets Made in India 2004 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček and Lada Cerar and Tomo Jeseničnik Needlework sketches of different types of European and Anglo-Saxon lavatories, which, as Žižek maintains, are shaped according to national character. With added Indian and Euro Indian lavatories.

Piknik na deponiji Picnic on a Dump

Piknik na deponiji 2004 FOTO: Željko Stevanić

Picnic on a Dump 2004 PHOTO: Željko Stevanić

Obiskovalce je na smetišču pričakala pogostitev, sendviči in šampanjec.

Refreshments, sandwiches and champagne awaited the visitors at the rubbish dump.

Avtorsko sodelovali: Vesna Bukovec, Jure Breceljnik, Lada Cerar, Matjaž Rebec, Marjan Stanić, Željko Stevanić in Jernej Trampuš.

Collaborating authors: Vesna Bukovec, Jure Brecelnik, Lada Cerar, Matjaž Rebec, Marjan Stanić, Željko Stevanić, and Jernej Trampuš.

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Piknik na deponiji 2004 FOTO: izsek iz videa Obiskovalci so se poleg hranjenja zamotili z različnimi dejavnostmi: nogometom, bobnanjem, umivanjem zob, razgaljanjem, brskanjem po smeteh, postavljanjem instalacij, verjetno zaradi neznosnega smradu, ki se je širil po smetišču.

Picnic on a Dump 2004 PHOTO: still from video footage In addition to food, the visitors were busy performing various activities: football, drumming, brushing their teeth, stripping, rummaging through litter, setting up installations, probably due to the unbearable stench that spread through the rubbish dump.

Piknik na deponiji 2004 Željko Stevanić, Matjaž Rebec

Picnic on a Dump 2004 PHOTO: Željko Stevanić, Matjaž Rebec

Zadnja večerja.

Last supper.

FOTO:

Žicar Beggar Robot

Žicar 1.0 2006 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Beggar 1.0 2006 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Žicar, postavljen v galeriji z videom nadzornih kamer iz nakupovalnega središča v ozadju.

The Beggar at the gallery with video footage from surveillance cameras in the shopping centre in the background.

Produkcija: v. 1. 0, Galerija Kapelica, 2006 v. 2.0, IAMAS – Institute for Advanced Media Art and Science, Ogaki, Japonska, 2006 v. 1.01, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Tajvan, 2008 Z dovoljenjem: KD Group, Ljubljana Muzej savremene umjetnosti Republike Srpske, Banja Luka, BIH Production: v. 1. 0, Kapelica Gallery, 2006 v. 2.0, IAMAS – Institute for Advanced Media Art and Science, Ogaki, Japan, 2006 v. 1.01, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taiwan, 2008 Courtesy of: KD Group, Ljubljana Museum of Contemporary Art Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Levo zgoraj: Žicar 1.01 2008 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Left, above: Beggar 1.01 2008 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Del prosto dostopnih navodil, kako robota iz odpadne in poceni elektronike sestaviti sam.

A part of the freely available instructions on how to assemble a robot on your own using discarded and cheap electronics.

Levo spodaj: Žicar 2.0 2006 FOTO: Yu Fukui Izdelovanje druge, na Linuxu temelječe verzije Žicarja na Japonskem, ki je imel zaradi dodatnih senzorjev tudi nekatere dodatne funkcije, kot je zahvala ob prejemu denarja.

Desno: Žicar 1.01 2008 FOTO: Olga Chang Tretja internacionalizirana verzija robota je bila prilagojena vsem svetovnim električnim standardom.

Left, below: Beggar 2.0 2006 PHOTO: Yu Fukui The production of the second, Linux-based version of Beggar in Japan; thanks to additional sponsors, this robot had some extra functions, such as expressing gratitude upon receiving money.

Right: Beggar 1.01 2008 PHOTO: Olga Chang The third, internationalised version of the robot was adjusted to all global electric standards.

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Strani 86 in 87:

Strani 90 in 91:

Strani 92 in 93:

Levo zgoraj: Žicar 1.01 2008 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Levo zgoraj: Žicar 1.01 2008 FOTO: izsek iz videa

Levo zgoraj: Žicar 2.0 2006 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Del prosto dostopnih navodil, kako robota iz odpadne in poceni elektronike sestaviti sam.

Video prikazuje situacijo iz centra Tajpeja, kjer je bil Žicar postavljen poleg berača, ki jih sicer policija preganja iz mestnega središča.

Ob prihodu policista je moral berač oditi, medtem ko je robot po fotografiranju lahko ostal.

Otroci so Žicarjeva najboljša stranka.

Levo spodaj: Žicar 2.0 2006 FOTO: Yu Fukui Izdelovanje druge, na Linuxu temelječe verzije Žicarja na Japonskem, ki je imel zaradi dodatnih senzorjev tudi nekatere dodatne funkcije, kot je zahvala ob prejemu denarja.

Desno: Žicar 1.01 2008 FOTO: Olga Chang Tretja internacionalizirana verzija robota je bila prilagojena vsem svetovnim električnim standardom.

Levo spodaj: Žicar 2.0 2006 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček Premierna predstavitev Žicarja 2.0 ob dnevu odprtih vrat na IAMAS, kjer je nastal.

Desno zgoraj: Žicar 2.0 2006 FOTO:

Levo spodaj: Robottino mendicante/Žicar/Beggar Robot 2010 FOTO: Bert Theis & Mariette Schiltz Učenci milanske srednje šole Rosa Govone so po navodilih izdelali svojega robota in ga predstavili na ulicah Milana.

Desno zgoraj: Žicar 1.01 2008 FOTO: Olga Chang Na vročih tajpejskih ulicah.

Hiromitsu Murakami Žicar v družbi najrazličnejših avtomatov.

Desno spodaj: Žicar 2.0 2006 FOTO:

Hiromitsu Murakami Žicar na ulicah Tokia.

Desno spodaj: Žicar Kasparja Königa 2011 FOTO: Kaspar König, Nienke Deutz Kaspar König iz Luksemburga sestavi svojega Žicarja.

pp. 86 and 87:

pp. 90 and 91:

pp. 92 and 93:

Left, above: Beggar 1.01 2008 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Left, above: Beggar 1.01 2008 PHOTO: still from video footage

Left, above: Beggar 2.0 2006 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

A part of the freely available instructions on how to assemble a robot on your own using discarded and cheap electronics.

Left, below: Beggar 2.0 2006 PHOTO: Yu Fukui The production of the second, Linux-based version of Beggar in Japan; thanks to additional sponsors, this robot had some extra functions, such as expressing gratitude upon receiving money.

Right: Beggar 1.01 2008 PHOTO: Olga Chang The third, internationalised version of the robot was adjusted to all global electric standards.

Video footage shows a situation from the centre of Taipei, where the Beggar (robot) was placed next to a beggar (human); the latter are otherwise banned from the city centre. When a policeman arrived, the beggar had to leave, whereas the robot – after photos had been taken – could stay.

Left, below: Beggar 2.0 2006 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček The first showing of Beggar 2.0 on the occasion of Open Day at IAMAS, where the robot was created.

Children are the Beggar’s best customers.

Left, below: Robottino mendicante / Žicar / Beggar Robot 2010 PHOTO: Bert Theis & Mariette Schiltz Following the instructions, the students at the Rosa Govone high school in Milan assembled their own robot and presented it in the streets of Milan.

Right, above: Beggar 1.01 2008 PHOTO: Olga Chang In the hot streets of Taipei.

Right, above: Beggar 2.0 2006 PHOTO: Hiromitsu Murakami The Beggar in the company of various automata.

Right, below: Kaspar König’s Beggar 2011 PHOTO: Kaspar König, Nienke Deutz Kaspar König from Luxembourg assembles his own Beggar.

Right, below: Beggar 2.0 2006 PHOTO: Hiromitsu Murakami The Beggar in the streets of Tokyo.

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Vesoljske smeti Space Junk Spotting

Vesoljske smeti 2007 Kunstlerhaus, Gradec, Avstrija FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček Vesoljske smeti v programu Google Earth.

Space Junk Spotting 2007 Kunstlerhaus, Graz, Austria PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček Space junk in the programme Google Earth.

Produkcija: IAMAS – Institute for Advanced Media Art and Science, Ogaki, Japonska, 2006 Galerija Kapelica, Ljubljana, 2007 Production: IAMAS – Institute for Advanced Media Art and Science, Ogaki, Japan, 2006 Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana, 2007

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Zgoraj: Vesoljske smeti 2006 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček Predelana kamera za opazovanje vesoljskih smeti na kupu pločevink.

Spodaj in desno: Vesoljske smeti 2006 Ogaki House, Ogaki, Japonska FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček Skozi kukalo z računalnikom povezane in predelane kamere je mogoče opazovati vesoljske smeti, ki v tistem trenutku letijo nad našimi glavami.

Above: Space Junk Spotting 2006 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček A remodelled camera for space junk spotting on top of a pile of cans.

Below, and right: Space Junk Spotting 2006 Ogaki House, Ogaki, Japan PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček Through the visor of a remodelled camera connected to a computer, it is possible to observe space junk flying above our heads at this moment.

Urban – avtomat za suho robo Urban – Woodenware Vending Machine

Levo: Urban – avtomat za suho robo 2007 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček V avtomatu je mogoče kupiti lokalno izdelano originalno suho robo, ki jo sicer izpodrivajo izdelki s Kitajske in Balkana.

Left: Urban – Woodenware Vending Machine 2007 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček The vending machine sells locally produced original woodenware, which is otherwise being displaced by products from China and the Balkans.

Produkcija: Miklova hiša, Ribnica Z dovoljenjem Miklove hiše, Ribnica Production: Miklova hiša, Ribnica Courtesy of: Miklova hiša, Ribnica

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Urban – avtomat za suho robo 2007 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček Urban v ljubljanskih nakupovalnih središčih.

Urban – Woodenware Vending Machine 2007 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček Urban in shopping centres in Ljubljana.

Zgoraj: Infokalipsa zdaj!

2007 FOTO: Miha Fras V gverilskem studiu so se zvrstili številni gosti in razpravljali o alternativni rabi izpraznjenega frekvenčnega pasu, ki se je zgodil po prehodu na digitalno oddajanje.

Naslednji dve strani: Levo zgoraj: Infokalipsa zdaj!

2007 FOTO: izsek iz videa Rekviem za umirajoči medij

Desno zgoraj: Manifest 2008 FOTO: Lada Cerar Sandra Bašič Hrvatin, avtorica Manifesta, in Sašo Sedlaček v parlamentu.

Pohod z mini oddajnikom na oddajnik Nanos.

Next two pages: Left, above: Infocalypse Now! 2007 PHOTO: still from video Requiem for a Dying Medium Expedition with a mini-transmitter to the transmitter at the top of Nanos.

Above: Infocalypse Now! 2007 PHOTO: Miha Fras

Levo spodaj: Infokalipsa zdaj!

2007 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Desno spodaj: Manifest 2008 FOTO: Lada Cerar

Left, below: Infocalypse Now! 2007 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Various guests visited the guerrilla studio and discussed alternative uses of the vacated frequency band, which happened after the transition to digital broadcasting.

DIY-oddajnik je bil predstavljen v številnih multimedijskih centrih po Sloveniji, kjer smo poskušali zainteresirati tamkajšnjo javnost za uporabo praznega frekvenčnega spektra.

Predsednik Državnega zbora Pavel Gantar nagovori poslance ob predstavitvi projekta v parlamentu.

The DIY transmitter was presented at several multimedia centres in Slovenia, where we tried to motivate the public to use the vacated frequency spectrum.

Infokalipsa zdaj!

Manifest Infocalypse Now! Manifesto Next two pages: Right, above: Manifesto 2008 PHOTO: Lada Cerar Sandra Bašič Hrvatin, the author of Manifesto, and Sašo Sedlaček in the parliament.

Right, below: Manifesto 2008 PHOTO: Lada Cerar President of the National Assembly Pavel Gantar addresses other MPs on the occasion of the project presentation in the parliament.

Produkcija: Aksioma – Zavod za sodobne umetnosti, Ljubljana Koprodukcija: Galerija Kapelica – Zavod K6/4, Ljubljana Production: Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana Co-production: Kapelica Gallery – K6/4 Institute, Ljubljana

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Infokalipsa zdaj!

2007 FOTO: Miha Fras Televizije sprejemajo signal z DIY-televizijskega oddajnika.

Infocalypse Now! 2007 PHOTO: Miha Fras TV sets receiving the signal from the DIY television transmitter.

Bivši The Ex

Levo: Bivši 2010

Left: The Ex 2010

Antireklamna panoja za stare Microsoftove in Applove računalnike na fasadi Moderne galerije.

Anti-billboards advertising old Microsoft and Apple computers on the façade of the Museum of Modern Art (Moderna galerija).

Naslednje štiri strani: Bivši 2010

Next four pages: The Ex 2010

Naši bivši računalniki v deželah tretjega sveta: ljubezen do novih tehnologij in napredka ima dobro skrito temno plat.

Our former computers in third-world countries: the passion for new technologies and progress has a well hidden dark side.

Produkcija: Moderna galerija, Ljubljana Production: Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana

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Grelnik globus Globe Heaters

Levo: Grelnik globus 2010 FOTO: Tomo Jeseničnik Grelnik globus je perforiran na vseh mestih sveta, skozi luknje puha topel zrak, ki ogreje naše domove.

Naslednja stran: Grelnik globus 2010 FOTO: Tomo Jeseničnik Grelnik globus je razstavljen skupaj z zemljevidi Dimaxion Buckminster Fullerja, ki pričajo o krivičnem prikazu sveta, kot ga prikazujejo običajni zemljevidi, kjer so dežele prvega sveta manj popačene od drugih delov.

Left: Globe Heaters 2010 PHOTO: Tomo Jeseničnik The Globe Heater is perforated in all cities of the world, warm air is blowing through the holes and making our homes warm.

Next page: Globe Heaters 2010 PHOTO: Tomo Jeseničnik The Globe Heater is on display together with the Dymaxion maps by Buckminster Fuller, which bear witness to the unjust representation of the world, as represented by common maps, in which first-world countries are less distorted than the rest of the world.

Produkcija: Mednarodni grafični likovni center, Ljubljana Production: International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana

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AcDcWc

Levo: AcDcWc 2010 FOTO: Dare Sintič

AcDcWc 2010 PHOTO: Dare Sintič

Prenosno stranišče AcDcWc z lestencem.

The portable AcDcWc lavatory with a chandelier.

Naslednji dve strani:

Next two pages:

Levo: AcDcWc 2010 FOTO: Dare Sintič

Left: AcDcWc 2010 PHOTO: Dare Sintič

Javna kabina AcDcWc.

AcDcWc public cubicle.

Desno: AcDcWc 2010 FOTO: Dare Sintič

Right: AcDcWc 2010 PHOTO: Dare Sintič

Maketa kanalizacijskega sistema z vsemi stranišči, ki jih najdemo na križišču dveh ulic, ki napajajo ulično razsvetljavo.

A model of the sewage system, with all the lavatories that can be found at the intersection of two streets and which fuel street lighting.

Produkcija: Aksioma – Zavod za sodobne umetnosti, Ljubljana Koprodukcija: galerija ŠKUC, Ljubljana; galerija Simulaker, Novo mesto; MMC Pina, Koper Production: Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana Co-production: ŠKUC Gallery, Ljubljana; Simulaker Gallery, Novo mesto; MMC Pina, Koper

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Levo: AcDcWc 2010 FOTO: Dare Sintič

Naslednja stran: AcDcWc 2010 FOTO: Dare Sintič

Left: AcDcWc 2010 PHOTO: Dare Sintič

Next page: AcDcWc 2010 PHOTO: Dare Sintič

Lažne razglednice iz Indije, ki prikazujejo različne aplikacije tehnologije imenovane Deenbandhu, v prevodu prijatelj revnim, ki je bila inspiracija za projekt AcDcWc.

Otroška kahla AcDcWc napaja električnega kužka.

Fake postcards from India showing various applications of the Deenbandhu technology. Deenbandhu inspired the AcDcWc project.

AcDcWc potty fuels an electric puppy.

Desno spodaj: AcDcWc 2010 FOTO: Dare Sintič Predelane Manzonijeve kantice Merda d'artista z električnimi osvežilniki zraka.

Right, below: AcDcWc 2010 PHOTO: Dare Sintič Remodelled Manzoni’s cans Artist’s Shit (Merda d’artista) with electric air fresheners.

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Salami Condoms

Levo: Salami Condoms 2011 FOTO: Tomo Jeseničnik Okvirjen print iz postavitve v Koroški galeriji likovnih umetnosti.

Left: Salami Condoms 2011 PHOTO: Tomo Jeseničnik Framed print from the exhibition at the Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts.

Naslednja stran: Salami Condoms 2011 FOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Next page: Salami Condoms 2011 PHOTO: Sašo Sedlaček

Doma narejeni kondomi iz odpadne embalaže.

Home-made condoms made of discarded wrappers.

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Veliki izklop The Big Switch Off

Veliki izklop 2011 Marko Sedlaček

The Big Switch Off 2011 PHOTO: Marko Sedlaček

Skupinsko razbijanje analognih televizorjev.

Mass destruction of analogue TV sets.

FOTO:

Produkcija: Aksioma – Zavod za sodobne umetnosti, Ljubljana Production: Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana

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iSmoke 2

iSmoke 2 2011 FOTO: Dare Sintič

iSmoke 2 2011 PHOTO: Dare Sintič

Projekt tematizira vse bolj družbeno zavrženo dejanje kajenja in njegove akterje, kadilce. Predelan prenosni računalnik z ustnikom ima v stanju pripravljenosti na zaslonu izpisan ukaz: »Prižgi mi cigareto!«, in to v prostoru, kjer je kajenje obiskovalcem prepovedano.

The project thematises the socially increasingly outcast act of smoking and its agents, the smokers.

When on standby, a remodelled laptop with a mouthpiece displays the order “Light a cigarette for me!”, and this is taking place in a room where the visitors are forbidden to smoke.

Produkcija: MGLM, Muzej in galerije mesta Ljubljane Production: MGLM, Museum and Galleries of the City of Ljubljana

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Sašo Sedlaček Supertrash www.aksioma.org/supertrash 11. november–10. december 2011 Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti Slovenj Gradec, Slovenija 27. marec–13. maj 2012 Galerija Jakopič, Muzej in galerije mesta Ljubljane Ljubljana, Slovenija

Razstava Kurator za Koroško galerijo likovnih umetnosti: Jernej Kožar Kuratorka za Galerijo Jakopič: Marija Skočir Produkcija: Aksioma – Zavod za sodobne umetnosti, Ljubljana Koprodukcija: Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti Izvršna producentka: Marcela Okretič Tehnični vodja: Atila Boštjančič

Knjiga Izdala: Aksioma – Zavod za sodobne umetnosti, Ljubljana in Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti Zastopnika: Janez Janša in Marko Košan Urednica: Petja Grafenauer Besedila: Luka Omladič, Petja Grafenauer Prevod: Polona Petek Lektoriranje: Eric Dean Scott, Nataša Simončič Grafično oblikovanje: studiobotas Tisk: Studio Print Naklada: 600 izvodov Natisnjeno v EU. Ljubljana, november 2011 © Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti, Aksioma

Sašo Sedlaček Supertrash www.aksioma.org/supertrash 11 November – 10 December 2011 Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia 27 March – 13 May 2012 Jakopič Gallery, Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana Ljubljana, Slovenia

Exhibition Curator for Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts: Jernej Kožar Curator for Jakopič Gallery: Marija Skočir Produced by: Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana Co-produced by: Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts Executive producer: Marcela Okretič Technician: Atila Boštjančič

Book Published by: Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana and Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts Represented by: Janez Janša and Marko Košan Edited by: Petja Grafenauer Texts: Luka Omladič, Petja Grafenauer Translation: Polona Petek Proofreading: Eric Dean Scott, Nataša Simončič Graphic design: studiobotas Printed by: Studio Print Print run: 600 copies Printed in the EU. Ljubljana, November 2011 © Contributors, Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts, Aksioma

S podporo: Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Mestna občina Ljubljana in Mestna občina Slovenj Gradec Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti, Glavni trg 24, 2380 Slovenj Gradec, Slovenija, tel.: +386 2 8822 131, fax:+386 2 8822 130, galerija@glu-sg.si, www.glu-sg.si Aksioma – Zavod za sodobne umetnosti, Ljubljana Neubergerjeva ulica 25, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija, tel. +386 590 54360, fax. +386 590 17010, aksioma@aksioma.org, www.aksioma.org Zahvale: Hilger Contemporary, Dunaj, Avstrija IAMAS, Institute of Advanced Media and Science, Ogaki, Japonska KD Group, Ljubljana Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti, Slovenj Gradec Muzej in galerije mesta Ljubljane, Ljubljana Mednarodni grafični likovni center, Ljubljana Miklova hiša, Ribnica Moderna galerija, Ljubljana Muzej savremene umjetnosti Republike Srpske, Banja Luka, BIH Taipei Fine Art Museum, Tajpej, Tajvan Zavod K6/4-Galerija Kapelica, Ljubljana Posebna zahvala: Pavle Sedlaček za tehnično pomoč pri večini projektov.

AKSIOMA Zavod za sodobne umetnosti Ljubljana

Supported by: The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the Municipality of Ljubljana and the Municipality of Slovenj Gradec Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts, Glavni trg 24, SI-2380 Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia, tel.: +386 2 8822 131, fax: +386 2 8822 130, galerija@glu-sg.si, www.glu-sg.si Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana Neubergerjeva 25, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, tel.: +386 5 9054 360, fax: +386 5 9017 010, aksioma@aksioma.org, www.aksioma.org Thanks to: Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, Austria IAMAS, Institute of Advanced Media and Science, Ogaki, Japan KD Group, Ljubljana Gallery of Fine Arts Slovenj Gradec, Slovenj Gradec International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, Ljubljana Miklova hiša, Ribnica Museum of Modern Art, Ljubjana Museum of Contemporary Art Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei, Taiwan Zavod K6/4-Galerija Kapelica, Ljubljana Special thanks: Pavle Sedlaček for technical assistance on the majority of the projects.

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