Vlatko Vincek - Anti by HDLU

vlatko vincek ANTI Otvorenje izložbe održat će se 18. studenog 2014. u 19:30 sati | Opening of the exhibition on 18th of November at 7:30 pm Galerija Bačva | 18. studenog - 27. studenog 2014. | Bačva Gallery | November 18 - November 27, 2014

Mnema

Iste, 1981. godine kada Tomislav Gotovac izvodi performans Ležanje gol na asfaltu, ljubljenje asfalta (Zagreb, volim te!). Hommage Howardu Hawksu i njegovu filmu Hatari! iz 1961., u kojemu trči gol središtem Zagreba prema glavnome trgu povremeno se saginjući kako bi poljubio asfalt i izvikujući “Zagreb, volim te!”1, Vlatko Vincek svojm ustima također čini vrlo subverzivan i radikalan čin na tijelu drugog bića: zagriza goluba. U svojem prvom performansu Crvena jutra (Omladinski dom Koprivnica, 1981.) Vincek, kako sam vrlo formalno opisuje, čini sljedeće: “Uz zvuke internacionale na lice nanosim crnu boju. Nakon toga iz krletke izvlačim bijelog goluba i pregrizem mu vrat. Mrtvog goluba vješam na žicu u sredini pozornice. U pozadini se čuje monoton i ujednačen ritam bubnjeva.”

In that same year of 1981, in which Tomislav Gotovac performed Lying Naked on the Pavement, Kissing the Pavement (Zagreb, I love you!). Hommage to Howard Hawks’ Hatari! from 1961 running naked through the centre of Zagreb towards the main square, occasionally stooping down to kiss the pavement and shouting “Zagreb, I love you!“1, Vlatko Vincek also performed a very subversive and radical act using his mouth on the body of another being: he bit into a pigeon. Vincek described the performance Crvena jutra2 (Koprivnica Youth Centre, 1981) in his own, very formal words: “I paint my face black to the sound of The Internationale. After that I take a white pigeon out of the cage and bite his neck. I hung the dead pigeon on the wire in the centre of the stage. Monotonous and constant sound of drums plays in the background.“

Već performans Crvena jutra, kao simboličko izražavanje revolta prema tadašnjoj ideologiji, pokazuje temeljne elemente Vincekovog stvaralaštva - dramu organskog koja se veže uz smrt kao postajanje/početak/izvor/rođenje, zatim; primordijalnost koja curi kroz tekućine koje nas sačinjavaju i hrane energijom/toplinom/životnošću i slabljenjem, nestajanjem: krv (koja curi iz umjetnikove glave ili iz dječje usne), mlijeko (koje pljuje ili u koje kapa autorova krv), naftu, vodu; primordijalnost koja se ulijeva i izlazi iz crijeva, crnu boju, vosak, životinjsku kožu, loj... Strah, strepnja, tjeskoba i bol istovremeno su i praiskonski i suvremeni. To su pojmovi koji označavaju osjećaje i doživljaje koje Vincek proizvodi svojim radovima i koristi ih za njihove nazive izražavajući stanja svojeg bića kao i bića s kojma dijeli habitat, socijalne prilike, i naravno – crijeva koja dijeli sa svim ljudima kao i životinjama. Taj sustav probavljanja služi mu kao metafora mogućnosti prerade, apsorpcije, zadržavanja, ali i odstranjivanja, izbacivanja neprestanog ponavljanja izvanrednog stanja na političko-društvenom, subjektivnom i biologijskom području koje kod umjetnika izaziva mučninu, želju za pljuvanjem, destrukcijom, ali i suprotnost – očuvanje u sigurnosti materije.

Crvena jutra performance, as a symbolic expression of the revolt against the ideology of the time, already reveals the fundamental elements of Vincek’s work. Those elements refer to the drama of organic associated with death as existence/beginning/source/birth, then to the primordial that flows through fluids that form us and provide us with energy/warmth/vitality and cause weakening, disappearing: blood (running from the artist’s head or from a child’s lips), milk (which the author spits out or into which his blood is dripping), oil, water; primordiality that flows in and out of the intestines, black dye, wax, animal skin, fat…Fear, anxiety, uneasiness and pain are both primordial and contemporary. These are the feelings and experiences that Vincek creates with his works and which he uses for their titles, thus expressing the state of his own being as well as of the beings with whom he shares his habitat, social conditions and of course, the intestines. Because he shares the intestines with all people, as well as animals. He uses the digestive system as a metaphor for the possibility of processing, absorption, retention, as well as for removing, discharging the continuous repetition of the state of emergency on the political and social, subjective and biological level, which make the artist feel nauseous, make him want to spit, arouse the desire for destruction, but the opposite as well – the desire for preservation sheltered by the matter.

Njegov rad stoga obilježava pohranjivanje ostataka bilo organskih ili anorganskih – pohranjivanje materije u formalinu, u sapunima, a najčešće - u crijevima. Pohranjivanje se kod autora izravno odnosi na obilježavanje i očuvanje, odnosno na memoriju. Latinska riječ memoria označava onog koji pazi, koji pamti, kao i moć sjećanja, spomen i uspome1 “Gotovčevi su performansi izazvali subverzije i raskid s uobičajenom rutinom postojećeg društveno-političkog poretka. Kao anarhističke geste koje simboliziraju žudnju za oslobođenjem od svih ograničenja, odbacili su sve nametnute definicije idealnog umjetnika i političkog subjekta kao neprimjetnog, poniznog radnika koji doprinosi društvenom napretku. Umjesto toga, otjelovljeni je umjetnički subjekt proizveo eksploziju čiste i beskorisne radosti, poistovjećujući svoje golo tijelo puno žudnje s glavnim protagonistom radnje. Umjetnik je uhićen zbog remećenja javnog reda i mira.” Vidi: Bago, Ivana; Majcen Linn, Olga; Ostoić, Sunčica. Narančasti pas i druge priče (još bolje od stvarnosti). Zagreb: Kontejner, 2009. Dopstupno na: http://www.kontejner.org/lying-naked-on-the-pavement--kissing-the-pavement-zagreb-i-love-you-homage-to. (8.10.2014.).

His work is thus characterized by storing residues, either organic or inorganic ones – by preserving matter in forma1 “Gotovac’s performances created ruptures and subversions of the everyday routine of the existing socio-political order. As anarchic gestures symbolizing the desire for freedom from all constraints, they renounced the imposed definitions of the ideal artists and political subject as an inconspicuous, humble worker contributing to society’s progress. Instead, the embodied artistic subject performed an explosion of pure and useless joy, identifying his naked and desiring body as the main protagonist of action. He was arrested by the police on the grounds of disturbing public order and peace.“ See: Bago, Ivana; Majcen Linn, Olga; Ostoić, Sunčica. The Orange Dog and Other Tales (Even Better Than the Real Thing). Zagreb: Kontejner, 2009. Available at: http://www.kontejner.org/ lying-naked-on-the-pavement--kissing-the-pavement-zagreb-i-love-you-homage-to. (8/10/2014). 2

Red Mornings, eng. TN

ANTI, fotografija, 2104

nu.2 Memorija se u Vincekovom radu veže na ktonsku, organsku i organičku memoriju kao i na onu kulturološku. Kod njega su materija, objekti i performativni činovi proizvođenje uspomena, stvaranje suvenira, no ne u fetišističkom ili vulgarnom značenju koje ta riječ ima u suvremenom jeziku kao objekt sjećanja na neko mjesto, obično s putovanja, nego u značenju koje donosi latinski korijen subvenire – podsjetiti, prizvati u duh. To prizivanje u duh onog kojeg više nema, onog koji ne postoji kao živo biće doli u sjećanju, tema je Vincekovog rada Anti iz 2011/12. godine kojega u Domu HDLU izlaže kao dvokanalnu videoinstalaciju popraćenu serijom fotografija. Svaka od videoinstalacija prikazuje isti motiv: šetnju grobljem. Kamera kruži oko grobova u ritmu autorovog hoda dokumentirajući u jednome kadru stanje koje zatiče. Na crno-bijeloj slici čuju se zvukovi cipela koje gaze šljunak i lišće, cvrkut ptica i poneki graktaj vrane, a sve je obavijeno spokojem svojstvenim samo groblju. Na jednome groblju pokopana su djeca (Brežice), a na drugome kućni ljubimci (Rijeka). Instinktivno zgražanje i odbojnost koje može izazvati usporedo prikazivanje tih groblja potrebno je nadograditi promišljanjem značenja komparacije te dvije vrste koje su se našle zajedno u Vincekovoj režiji: čovjeka, koji nije imao mogućnost odrasti, i životinje. Dok je video snimljen kao gotovo usputna bilješka groblja, kojemu je glavna funkcija obilježavanje i prenošenje doživljaja i atmosfere, fotografije su zaustavljeni izdvojeni punktovi koji djeluju poput uvećanih detalja proživljenog susreta s grobovima djece i životinja.

lin, soaps, and most often in the intestines. The author uses preservation mostly as the form of marking and preserving, i.e. as memory. The Latin word memoria means the one who takes care, who remembers, as well as the power of memory, remembrance and recollection.3 Memory in Vincek’s work refers to the chthonic, organic and biotic memory, as well as the cultural one. In his work the matter, objects and performative acts are the production of memories, creation of souvenirs. Not in a fetishist or vulgar sense of the word used in contemporary language; as the object of memory of a place, usually from a journey, but in the sense of the Latin root subvenire – remind, come to mind. That evoking of the one who is no more, the one who does not exist as a living being, except in memory, is the topic of Vincek’s work Anti from 2011/12, exhibited in the Home of HDLU (Croatian Association of Artists) as a two-channel video installation accompanied by a series of photographs. Each video installation shows the same motif: walking around the cemetery. Camera circles around the graves in the rhythm of the author’s pace, documenting the existing condition in one take. Looking at the black and white image, one can hear the sound of shoes stepping on gravel and leaves, birds singing, and here and there an occasional caw; everything is wrapped in serenity characteristic of cemeteries. One is children’s cemetery (Brežice) and the other is pet cemetery (Rijeka). Instinctive shock and repulsion, which simultaneous display of those cemeteries can cause, needs to be expanded with the reflection on the meaning of comparison of those two species that were joined under Vicek’s direction: a man who did not have the opportunity to grow up and an animal. While the video is made almost as a side note of a cemetery with the main function to mark and transmit the experience and atmosphere, the photographs are frozen, singled out moments that function as enlarged details of the encounter with the graves of children and animals one has experienced.

Uz već spomenuto i karakteristično za njegov rad spajanje organskog i anorganskog (poput crijeva i ostataka mramorne ploče u performansu Timor, Galerija Kazamat, Osijek i u peformansu Trepidatio, Varaždin, oba: 2004.) prisutno je i miješanje organskog različitog porijekla (krv i mlijeko u performansu Sabguis – Lac, Galerija OK, Rijeka, 2004.). No, Vincek koristi još jednu umjetničku taktiku: miješa vrste. Uvođenje životinja, koje su česti protagonisti njegovih radova, u Vincekovom radu ima kontinuitet. Primjerice, u radu Zukermagen - seriji fotografija iz 1984., pas liže umjetnikovu masku sačinjenu od šećera, zatim, u radu Vlasta ima tijelo (1993/4.) radi asemblaž od mumificiranog goluba, dok u Suočenju (performans, Galerija Miroslav Kraljević, Zagreb, 2000.) preko televizora prikazuje ženski akt koji sjedi u galeriji na postamentu i oblači goveđi želudac. U Crvenim jutrima sudjeluje već spomenuti živi golub kojega autor usmrćuje ugrizom za vrat. Zamrznemo li prizor samoga trenutka ugriza u kojemu Vincekovi zubi stišću i ulaze u golublji vrat, svjedočimo vrlo dramatičnom činu. U tom trenutku golubove smrti vrste se pretaču jedna u drugu te umjetnik i golub postaju jedno tvoreći privremenu kimeru. U sljedećem tre-

The merging of organic and inorganic has already been mentioned as a characteristic of his work (like intestines and marble residues in the performance Timor, Kazamat Gallery, Osijek, and performance Trepidatio, Varaždin, both from 2004). There is also the mixing of organic materials of different origin (blood and milk in the performance Sanguis – Lac, OK Gallery, Rijeka, 2004). However, Vincek uses another artistic method: he mixes species. Introduction of animals has a continuity in Vincek’s work and they are often the protagonists of his work. For example, in the work Zukermagen, the series of photographs from 1984, a dog licks the artist’s mask made of sugar, then in the work Vlasta ima tijelo (1993/4) he creates an assemblage of mummified pigeon, while in Suočenje (performance, Miroslav Kraljević Gallery, Zagreb, 2000) Vincek dresses a female nude, sitting on the pedestal in the gallery, together with a TV, in a bovine stomach.

2 pojam memoria vrlo je slojevit. Značeja pojma obuhvaćaju: pamet, moć sjećanja; spomen, uspomenu; misao na budućnost, svijest, vrijeme, na koji način ga se tko sjeća, doba, također; događaj, slučaj, kojeg se čovjek sjeća; usmeno ili pismeno izvješćivanje koje se temelji na sjećanju; pripovijedanje, povjesnički izvještaj, povijest, glas. Vidi: Divković, Mirko. Latinsko hrvatski rječnik za škole. Zagreb: Naprijed, 1997. (reprint). Str. 641.

3 memoria is very complex, so its meanings include intelligence, the power of memory; remembrance, recollection; the thought of the future, awareness, time, how much of it one remembers, period, as well as an event, case, a person remembers; memory-based oral or written report, narration, historical report, history, voice. See: Divković, Mirko. Latinsko hrvatski rječnik za škole. Zagreb: Naprijed, 1997. (reprint). pg. 641.

nutku to su već dva odvojena bića: mrtvi golub i živi čovjek. Veza koju Vincek stvara tim radom ne postaje veza između vrsta, već veza između dvaju bića. To nije dominacija jednoga predstavnika vrste nad drugim, već jednoga bića nad drugim. Za razliku od tog rada temeljna premisa u narednim radovima, u kojima su uključene životinje, jest da su one ravnopravna bića. Ambijent Delatio mortis iz 2002. godine, čiji je jedan dio videoinstalacija koja istodobno prikazuje osobu koja umire i dječje usne koje krvare, jedini je rad dosad u kojemu autor koristi motiv djeteta. Tema smrtnosti, u koju ugrađuje prizor s djetetom, nagovještava da će i za to mlado tijelo jednom uslijediti raspadanje. Smrt koja se i u tom radu uspostavlja kao tema inherentna je Vincekovom radu općenito. Smrtnost ili nevoljkost smrtnosti ili čak voljnost smrtnosti kod nekih proizlazi iz mogućnosti za smrt - nismo svakim danom sve bliže smrti jer starimo, bliže smo smrti jer smo još živi. Življenje može svakog trenutka biti prekinuto nevezano uz našu biologiju - naprosto pukim slučajem, no smrtnost kao življenje bila bi prava definicija Vincekovog senzibiliteta - tematizira trajanje koje je obilježeno nastajanjem i nestajanjem, rastom i propadanjem, transformacijom, a sve to donosi - bol. Njega zanima i način na koji se postavljamo prema prekidu: u odnosu postojanje-nepostojanje, mrtvo-živo te način na koji možemo sačuvati memoriju, sjećanje kroz objekte ili mjesta kao u radu Anti u kojemu dva spomenuta subjekta - djeca i životinje, postaju memorija. Vincek uspoređuje memoriju tijela i memoriju odnosa prema svojoj i drugim vrstama. Usporedno prikazujući groblja Vincek nas je u potpunosti uvjerio da su tuga i bol za onim s kojim je uspostavljen imalo dugoročniji i dublji odnos, onim koga smo voljeli, bilo to dijete ili životinja, vrlo intenzivne i potresne. Izlaganje mrtvosti, onoga biti mrtav kroz memorijalna mjesta isto je spram ljudi i životinja. U oba slučaja postoji potreba za sjećanjem, za mjestom koje je podsjetnik. Autor ni jedan osjećaj gubitka ne umanjuje ili omalovažava, već nam ga predaje kroz kadrove kamere koja se spontano šeće od groba do groba. Na dječjim nadgrobnim spomenicima obično piše samo ime i prezime, ponekad se nađe fotografija, dok životinjski spomenici obiluju fotografijama i vrlo dirljivim epitafima: Ostat ćeš zauvijek s nama, najdraži naš voljeni Zeko; Lordi, bio si nam tako drag, ostala je samo bol, tugujemo za tobom...; Draga moja Loni, voljela si i bila si voljena. Ostala si zauvijek u mojim mislima, tvoja Nena; Mimi, sjećanje na tvoju ljubav budi potočiće suza; Cali, da te ljubav spasit mogla, ti nikada umrla ne bi. Vincekov rad izaziva nelagodu. Ta nelagoda temelji se na misli da se prema zajedništvu s bićem koje nije naše vrste, postavimo jednako snažno kao prema jedinkama vlastite vrste. To je nelagoda spram hibridnih, međuvrsnih odnosa. Sram pred tabuom da žaljenje za životinjom možemo doživjeti i opredmetiti na isti način kao i za čovjekom, u ovom slučaju za djetetom, zbog uvriježenog stava o apsolutnoj solidarnosti spram svoje vrste. Ovdje se javlja osjećaj ugroženosti granica jedne vrste -ljudske vrste, spram druge;

The aforementioned live pigeon participates in Crvena jutra, and the author kills it by biting its neck. If we freeze the biting moment in which Vincek’s teeth penetrate and squeeze the pigeon’s neck, we witness a very dramatic act. In that moment, and only at the moment of pigeon’s death, the species pour into one another and the artist and the pigeon become one, creating a temporary chimera. In the following moment they are already two separate beings: a dead pigeon and a living man. The connection Vincek enables in this work does not become a connection between species, but the connection between two beings. It is not a domination of one representative of the species over another, but of one being over the other. Unlike in this work, the basic premise in the following works in which he uses animals is that they have equal rights as living beings. His spatial work Delatio mortis from 2002, which includes a video installation that simultaneously shows a dying person and a child’s bleeding lips, is the only work so far in which he uses the motif of the child. The topic of mortality into which he embeds the scene with the child suggests that, one day, this young body will also become susceptible to decomposition. Death is the theme of this work as well, and it is generally inherent in Vincek’s opus. Mortality or unwillingness towards mortality, or even willingness towards mortality in some, arise from the possibility of death. It is not that we are closer to death every day because we are growing older; we are closer to death because we are still alive. Life, as the essence of death, can be interrupted at any moment, regardless of our biology. Simply by chance. However, mortality as the experience of living would be the true order of Vincek’s sensibility. Because he deals with duration characterized by materialization and disappearance, growth and decay, transformation, and what they ultimately bring is pain. He is also interested in our attitude towards the caesura: in the relation of existence-nonexistence, dead-alive, and in the way in which we can preserve memory, remembrance, through objects or places, like in his work Anti in which the two abovementioned subjects, children and animals, become a memory. Vincek compares the memory of the body and the memory of relationships – to his own and other species. By simultaneously displaying cemeteries, Vincek completely managed to convince us that the sadness and grief for the one with whom a long-term and deeper relationship has been established, the one we loved, be it a child or an animal, are very intense and shocking. Exposure to deadness, to being dead through memorial places, is the same in case of people and animals. The need for remembrance, to have a place functioning as a reminder, exists in both cases. The author does not diminish or undermine any feeling of loss, but he delivers it to us through camera shots, spontaneously walking from grave to grave. Children’s headstones usually feature only first and last name, sometimes a photo, while the animal ones are abound in very touching epitaphs: You will remain with us forever, our dearest beloved Zeko; Lordi, you were very dear to us, there is only pain left, we grieve for you…; My dear Loni, you loved and you were loved. You are forever in my thoughts, your Nena; Mimi, the memory of your love brings rivulets of tears; Cali, if love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.

životinjske vrste, granice koja se postavlja u filozofiji, teologiji, biologiji, politici, pravu, a uspostavlja se kao razlika između čovjeka i životinje. Giorgio Agamben u svom eseju Otvoreno: Čovjek i životinja3 taj rascjep razmatra kroz koncept antropološkog stroja modernih i starih (predmodernih), odnosno animalizaciju ljudskoga i humanizaciju životinjskog. “Podjela življena na vegetativno i relacijsko, organsko i životinjsko, životinjsko i ljudsko odvija se […], prije svega, kao pomična granica unutar živoga bića i možda sama odluka o tome što je ljudsko, a što nije bez te posljednje cenzure, ne bi bila moguća.”4 Antropološki stroj modernih “iz sebe isključuje kao (još) neljudsko nešto već ljudsko, odnosno animalizira ljudsko time što odvaja ne-ljudsko od čovjeka… Točno je simetrično djelovanje antropološkog stroja starih. Ako u antroploškom stroju modernih izvanjsko nastaje isključenjem nečega što je unutar, a neljudsko animalizacijom ljudskoga, onda je ono unutar zadobiveno uključivanjem nečega izvanjskoga, a ne-čovjek humanizacijom životinje… Oba stroja mogu funkcionirati samo ako u svojem središtu uspostave područje neodređenosti u kojemu se mora dogoditi – nekakv missing link koji uvijek nedostaje, jer je već virtualno nazočan – artikulacija između ljudskog i životinjskog, čovjeka i ne-čovjeka, govorećeg i živog bića. Kao i svaki prostor izvanrednosti to je područje posvema prazno. Čak i ono doista ljudsko, koje bi se moralo u njemu događati, prije svega je mjesto neke odluke koja se neprestano dopunjava i u kojoj su cenzure i njihova ponovna artikulacija svagda iznova dislocirane i premještene.”5 Nadalje, suvremena bioetička razmatranja bave se pravima životinjama, poput australskog filozofa Petera Singera koji se protivi specizmu definirajući ga u knjizi Oslobođenje životnja6 u okviru predrasuda, stavova i pristranosti koji djeluju u korist članova stanovite vrste, a nauštrb interesa članova drugih vrsta. Eliminiranje etičke diskriminacije životinja i njihova emancipacija uključuje stavljanje životinja u područje moralne brige i priznavanje njihovih prava, budući da pripadnost određenoj vrsti ne bi trebala biti relevantna na razini etike s obzirom da su sve životinje jednake - bilo da su ljudske ili ne-ljudske. “Osnovni princip jednakosti ne zahtijeva jednak ili istovjetan tretman - on zahtijeva jednako uvažavanje”7, a budući da i ne-ljudske životinje, kao i ljudske, osjećaju bol i posjeduju sposobnost za patnju i uživanje, trebaju imati jednaka prava. 3 Agamben, Giorgio. Otvoreno: Čovjek i životinja. Europski glasnik, 17/2012. 4 Agamben nastavlja: “Samo zato jer je unutar čovjeka bilo odijeljeno nešto poput životinjskog života, samo zato jer su bili izmjereni i priznati udaljenost i blizina sa životinjom, ponajprije u najintimnijem i najbližem, moguće je čovjeka suprostaviti drugim živim bićima i ujedno oblikovati zapletenu – i ne svagda uzornu – ekonomiju odnosa između ljudi i životinja.” Ibid., str. 47. 5 Agamben, Giorgio. Otvoreno: Čovjek i životinja. Europski glasnik, 17/2012. Str. 60. i 61.

Vincek’s work causes discomfort. It is a discomfort of forming companionship with someone of different species as strongly as with the individuals of our own species. It is a discomfort towards hybrid, interspecies relationships. Shame because of breaking the taboo which prevents experiencing and materializing grief for an animal in the same way as grief for a person, in this case a child, due to the ingrained attitude of absolute solidarity with one’s own species. This causes the feeling that the borders of one species, in this case of human species, are being endangered by of the other, animal species. These borders are defined in philosophy, theology, biology, politics, law, as the difference between humans and animals. In his essay The Open: Man and Animal4 Giorgio Agamben views this caesura through the concept of anthropological machine of modern and old (pre-modern), i.e. the animalization of man and humanization of the animal. “The division of life into vegetative and relational, organic and animal, animal and human therefore passes first of all as a mobile border within living human, and without this intimate caesura the very decision of what is human and what is not would probably not be possible.“5 The anthropological machine of the moderns “ functions by excluding as not (yet) human an already human being from itself, that is, by animalizing the human, by isolating the nonhuman within the human... The machine of earlier times works in an exactly symmetrical way. If, in the machine of the moderns, the outside is produced through the exclusion of an inside and the inhuman produced by animalizing the human, here the inside is obtained through the inclusion of an outside, and the non-man is produced by the humanization of an animal... Both machines are able to function only by establishing a zone of indifference at their centers, within which—like a “missing link” which is always lacking because it is already virtually present – the articulation between human and animal, man and non-man, speaking being and living being, must take place. Like every space of exception, this zone is, in truth, perfectly empty, and the truly human being who should occur there is only the place of a ceaselessly updated decision in which the caesurae and their rearticulation are always dislocated and displaced anew.“6 Contemporary bioethical perspectives further deal with the animal rights issue, like the Australian philosopher Peter Singer who opposes speciesism by defining it, in his book Animal Liberation7, in the context of prejudice, attitudes and biases that work in favour of the members of a certain species, and at the expense of the interests of the members of other species. The elimination of ethical discrimination of 4 Agamben, Giorgio. The Open: Man and Animal. Stanford University Press. 2004 5 Agamben continues: “It is possible to oppose man to other living things, and at the same time to organize the complex—and not always edifying—economy of relations between men and animals, only because something like an animal life has been separated within man, only because his distance and proximity to the animal have been measured and recognized first of all in the closest and most intimate place.“ Ibid, pg. 15, 16.

Singer, Peter. Oslobođenje životinja. Zagreb: Ibis grafika, 1998.

6 Agamben, Giorgio. The Open: Man and Animal. Stanford University Press. pg. 37, 38

Ibid., str. 2.

Singer, Peter. Animal Liberation. Pimlico; 2nd edition, 1995

Iako prava životinja i njihov moralni status nisu izravno tema Vincekovog rada, diskriminacija među vrstama jedan je od mogućih učinaka njegove instalacije ne samo jer je umjetnik smrt i ožalošćenost prema preminulim ljudima i životinjama pokazao kao jednako vrijedne već je u ovom slučaju napravio taktički višak. Usporedio je djecu i životinje. Ljudski život tradicionalno smatran svetim, a dječji posebice, s obzirom da imaju status potencijala i nasljeđa vrste postaju područje zaštitničkih instinkta. Vincekov rad upravo otvara teme kako moguće diskriminacije boli tako i emancipacije boli koja obuhvaća sva bića bez obzira koje su vrste. Bol, tuga i memorija jesu centralna područja ovoga rada. Bol i tuga se tijekom vremena preobražavaju u sjećanje: mogućnost da prizovemo u pamćenje prošle osobe i događaje. Sjećanje je u starogrčkom anamnēsis (aná – natrag, unatrag i mimnēskō – prizvati na um), a srodno je riječi mnema8, spomen, uspomena, koja također znači: otvarajući vezu upravo s preminulima – grobni spomenik, grobni humak, grob. Grobni spomenik kao sjećanje jedan je od načina upisivanja i reguliranja odnosa i stvaranje sjećanja na nekoga takvim da živima omogući spokoj. Upravo je s tom potrebom povezan spokoj na grobljima kao preslika unutrašnjega nastojanja. Vincek u radu Anti bol, tugu, memoriju i spokoj otvara kao temeljne procese vezane uz preminule bilo da su - singerovskom termilologijom izraženo - ljudske ili ne-ljudske životinje.

Sunčica Ostoić Zagreb, listopad 2014.

8 Senc, Stjepan. Grčko-hrvatski rječnik za škole. Zagreb: Naprijed, 1991. (reprint). Str. 616.

animals and their emancipation require the inclusion of animals in the sphere of moral concern and recognition of their rights, because belonging to a specific species should not be relevant at the level of ethics, since all animals are equal, human and nonhuman ones. “The basic principle of equality does not require equal or identical treatment; it requires equal consideration“8, and since nonhuman animals, as well as the human ones, feel pain and have the ability to suffer and feel pleasure, they should have the same rights. Although Vincek’s work does not directly deal with animal rights and their moral status, the discrimination among species is one of the possible effects the installation might have, not only because the artist portrayed the death and grief for the deceased people and animals as being of equal importance, but because he has created a tactical surplus. He compared children and animals. Human life, traditionally considered sacred, and especially a child’s life, since children are seen as a potential and the heritage of species, enter the area of protective instincts. Vincek’s work raises the topics of possible discrimination of pain, as well as of emancipation of pain that affects all beings, regardless of their species. Pain, grief and memory are the central areas of this work. In time, pain and grief transform into memory, into the possibility to recall past persons and events. Memory in Old Greek is anamnēsis (aná – back and mimnēskō – bring to mind), and it is related to the word mnema9, memorial, memory, which also means – opening precisely the communication channel with the deceased – headstone, burial mound, grave. Headstone as a memory is one of the ways to inscribe and regulate the relation and keep the memory of someone in such a way to bring peace to the living. The serenity of cemeteries is related to that need, as the projection of inner efforts. In the work Anti, Vincek introduces pain, grief, memory and serenity as the fundamental processes related to the deceased, whether they are, in Singer’s terminology, human or nonhuman animals. Sunčica Ostoić Zagreb, October 2014

Ibid, pg. 2

9 Senc, Stjepan. Grčko-hrvatski rječnik za škole. Zagreb: Naprijed, 1991 (reprint). pg. 616

BIOGRAFIJA

BIOGRAPHY

Vlatko Vincek rođen je 10.6.1959.g. u Koprivnici. Godine 1983. diplomirao je na Akademiji likovnih umjetnosti u Zagrebu. 1983/84 suradnik je Majstorske radionice Reiser-Ivančić. Godine 2007. u izdanju „Pastorale“ o njegovom radu objavljena je monografija pod nazivom: Vlatko Vincek-Radovi (autori: Silva Kalčić, Ivica Župan, Marijan Špoljar). Član je i suosnivač umjetničke organizacije „Moja zemlja“ i „Pleh“, te udruge AK. Također je i član HDLU-a. Do sada je imao pedesetak samostalnih izložbi i nastupa. Živi i radi u Zagrebu.

Vlatko Vincek was born on 10th June 1959 in Koprivnica. In 1983 he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. In the period 1983/84 he worked in the master class of Ljubo Ivančić and Nikola Reiser. In 2007 his monography was published in „Pastorale“ publication (authors: Silva Kalčić, Ivica Župan, Marijan Špoljar). He is a member and co-founder of the artistic organization “Moja zemlja” and “PLEH” and associations AK. He is also a member of the Croatian Association of Artists (HDLU). He had fifty solo exhibitions and performances. He lives and works in Zagreb.

Kontakt / Contact Address: Kneginečka 10, Zagreb e-mail: vlatko.vincek@zg.t-com.hr GSM: 00385 91 504 44 57

Hrvatsko društvo likovnih umjetnika | Croatian Association of Fine Artists Galerija Bačva | Bačva Gallery Trg žrtava fašizma 16, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia | www.hdlu.hr Radno vrijeme: Srijeda – petak 11 do 19, Subota i nedjelja 10 do 18. Ponedjeljkom, utorkom i blagdanom zatvoreno Working hours: Wednesday to Friday 11am – 7pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am – 6pm. Monday, Tuesday and holidays - closed

IIMPRESUM Nakladnik / Publisher | Hrvatsko društvo likovnih umjetnika / Croatian Association of Fine Artists, Trg žrtava fašizma 16, 10 000 Zagreb, hdlu@hdlu.hr, www.hdlu.hr | Za nakladnika / For the publisher Josip Zanki | Upravni odbor HDLU / Executive board of HDLU Josip Zanki (predsjednik / president), Tomislav Buntak (zamjenik predsjednika / vicepresident), Fedor Vučemilović (zamjenik predsjednika / vicepresident), Ida Blažičko, Ivan Fijolić, Koraljka Kovač Dugandžić, Anita Kuharić Smrekar Umjetnički savjet Galerije Bačva / Artistic board of Bačva Gallery Tomislav Buntak, Suzana Marjanić, Koraljka Kovač Dugandžić, Leonida Kovač, Ivan Fijolić, Josip Zanki, Ivica Župan | Ravnateljica / Director Ivana Andabaka | Stručna suradnica / Associate Mia Orsag | Predgovor / Preface Sunčica Ostoić | Grafičko oblikovanje kataloga / Catalogue Design Zdravko Horvat | Prijevod / Translation Zana Šaškin | Lektura / proofreading Mirna Vidić | Tisak / Printed by Cerovski | Naklada / Copies 300 Izložba je realizirana uz financijsku potporu Ministarstva kulture Republike Hrvatske / The exhibition is financially supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic Croatia.

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