Survival Kit for the Anthropocene - Trailer by Maja Smrekar, solo exhibition


Exhibiton opening and performance of vocal group Katice: Wednesday, 8 July 2015 at 8 pm

The fast growth of invasive species – a natural phenomenon triggered by the Homo Sapiens species – can be understood as an (un)intentional experiment enabling us to objectively or subjectively directly observe the dramatic sixth extinction of species on Earth.

Continuing our opus of the exploration of the typology of invasive species, through intersections of geopolitical parameters on one side and local-sociological paradigms on the other, we picked some of the signifiers of the national cultural heritage and transformed them into the Survival Kit for the Anthropocene (after which the present geological epoch is named).

This kind of intervention into design, design being based on national treasure and therefore imbued with a strong aura of collective emotional experience, which makes it impossible to avoid national and transnational interests, encourages reflection on the dynamics of market globalization. The latter corporately cannibalizes local economic dynamics and (re)directs them to the common signifier (uniformity) – the franchise. The use of the tactical medium in the project comments on the imperatives of the positions of power and ideology, to which Ecology connected at the very beginning. With the subverted franchise Survival Kit for the Anthropocene – Trailer, which serves as discursive agent, we can, after all, ask ourselves about existential dynamics in the near future reality in which the survival of the species will depend much more on the knowledge of the local environment than on univocal adoption of global ecological ideas on the basis of the common ideological denominator.


Maja Smrekar was born 1978 in Slovenia. She graduated from the Sculpture Department of Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Her main interest is dwelling towards the concept of life by connecting humanistic and natural sciences into the interdisciplinary artistic projects.

In 2010 she organised the International Festival HAIP10/New Nature. The festival took place at the Multimedia Centre Cyberpipe in Ljubljana where she has been active as an artistic director for two years.

She has been awarded with the 1st prize at the Cynetart festival 2012 by the European Centre for Arts Hellerau (Dresden, Germany), Honorary mention at the Ars Electronica festival 2013 (Linz, Austria),
as well as the Golden Bird Award 2013 – the national award for special achivements in the field of visual arts by the Liberal Academy (Ljubljana/Slovenia) for the project Hu.M.C.C.

Maja Smrekar lives and works between Ljubljana and Berlin. More: majasmrekar.org

Production: Aksioma - Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, 2015

Artistic Director: Janez Janša
Producer: Marcela Okretič
Executive Producer: Sonja Grdina
Public Relations: Hana Ostan Ožbolt
Technician: Valter Udovičić
Documentation: Jernej Čuček Gerbec

Concept: Maja Smrekar
Architecture and design concept: Andrej Strehovec, u.d.i.a.

Photos: Borut Peterlin
Execution: SCENART d.o.o.
Embroidery: Alenka Gašperin
Thanks to: Jože Zajc, Tanja Drašler, Marija Smrekar, Željko Strunjak, Darko Vugrinec, Mesni butik „PIGI“

Supported by: the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the Municipality of Ljubljana

Contact:
Hana Ostan Ožbolt, 00386-(0)40 698 843, aksioma.org@gmail.com
Aksioma | Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana
Neubergerjeva 25, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
www.aksioma.org