Umetnikov ego

Kreativnost je lastnost, ki je izjemnega pomena za človeški razvoj in sinergično združuje mnoge panoge. Od umetnosti, ki je eden njenih domicilov, do gospodarstva, ki je v neoliberalizmu uspešno prevzelo in pervertiralo nekatere metode in vzorce, ki jih je izumila, ter jih preusmerilo v finančni dobiček. Danes, ko je ta lastnost z večino svojih zakonitosti tako rekoč prekopirana iz sveta umetniške ustvarjalne svobode v organizirani svet kapitala in je spremenjen njen cilj iz svobodne dejavnosti v aktivnost, ki prinaša denar, je umetnost ostala na drugem tiru. V družbi, kjer je vrednota kapital, se izgublja razumevanje pogleda na umetnost kot nosilko globljih sporočil in njene intrinzične vrednosti.

Umetnost potrebuje svobodo ali bolje, umetnik potrebuje okolje svobode, da lahko izraža lastno kreativnost in s tem posega izven ustaljenih vzorcev sveta. To poseganje navzven iz vsakdanjosti in upadanje statusa umetnosti v družbi, predvsem pa neizobraženost, saj naša država ni razvijala dobre pedagoške podlage za otroke in mladostnike, v zadnjem času pa je naravnanost do nekaterih izrazov v umetnosti navzven namenoma degradirala, sta pripeljala do tega, da ljudje umetnike razumejo kot pridaniče, lenuhe brez rednega delovnega časa, predvsem pa drugačne od normale. Taka obdobja smo poznali v bližnji zgodovini v Nemčiji ali še prej v Rusiji, medtem pa so bila obdobja, ko je bila umetnost cenjena, odvisno od družbenega trenutka in postavitve sil na časovnici odprtosti ali totalitarnosti v družbi.

Umetnike od nekdaj spremlja sloves drugačnosti, ekstravagantnosti, nesposobnosti za rokovanje z materialnimi dobrinami in administracijo, melanholičnosti, čustvenosti in podobnega. V nekaterih obdobjih je bilo njihovo vedenje in ustvarjanje predmet občudovanja, v drugih pa ni bilo cenjeno in je bilo celo preganjano. Kot danes, ko celo minister ne loči med socialno podporo in podporo umetnikom in umetnicam. Se kdo pri vsej politizaciji še posveča resničnemu pomenu umetniških del in nujnosti pogojev za njihov nastanek?

Tudi tega ni moč zanikati, da so bili v zgodovini med duševno bolno populacijo tudi umetniki, a njihove diagnoze so nam za razliko od mnogih slehernikov znane prav iz izpeljav popularnih biografij in polznanstvenega polja, patografije, ki raziskuje patologijo v umetniških delih. A spisek uspešnih umetnikov, ki so se ob tem spopadali z boleznijo, bi moral pravzaprav buditi upanje, kaj vse lahko človek doseže kljub bolezni, ne pa potrjevati povezave med duševnimi boleznimi in kreativnostjo.

Klinične študije med duševnimi boleznimi in kreativnostjo niso pokazale nobene povezave. Do teh nespametnih analiz je prišlo, trdi harvardski psihiater Albert Rothenberg, ker tako sleherniki kot strokovnjaki ne ločijo med kreativnostjo in duševno motnjo, saj obe vključujeta deviacije od normativnih načinov razmišljanja. Ključne so razlike, saj so simptomi duševnih bolezni povečini podobni v stereotipnih in pogosto banalnih načinih, kreativnost pa vključuje nepričakovane in bogate rezultate. Kreativna dejanja so namenska, bolezenska nehotena. Tudi trpljenje je skupno obema, a pri umetnikih je to navadno rezultat uspeha ali neuspeha in njegovih posledic, ne pa vzrok, iz katerega bi se ustvarjalnost rojevala.

Poleg treh kognitivnih kreativnih procesov, ki jih je opredelil Rothenberg kot sestavne dele kreativnosti, so dejavniki, ki pripomorejo h kreativnosti, še averzija do dogem, fleksibilnost in ljubezen do sprememb in novosti. In takšna je kreativnost, svobodna in ne kapitalizirana umetniška kreativnost, ki jo predstavlja razstava.

Delo Nike Autor Za Slavo (2013) temelji na muzejski dokumentaciji Muzeja narodne osvoboditve iz Maribora o Slavi Klavora. Instalacija se dotika poskusa iskanja skorajda neobstoječe osebne zgodovine herojinje NOB. Motiv Slave Klavore, slovenske pripadnice upora proti okupatorju, ki so jo Nemci mučili in usmrtili v Mariboru v letu 1941, ne more čustveno prodreti v nas brez njene osebne zgodbe. Nika Autor jo je kot osebo, neustrašno dekle, dobesedno ugrabila iz arhivskega materiala, da nam je poklonila moč čutenja.

Biografija, v kateri na vrhu strani piše »Viktor Bernik, vizualni umetnik«, vsebuje presenetljivo število izjemnih razstav, nagrad in drugih presežkov, nato se nadaljuje z nizanjem umetniških stvaritev, ki ves čas presenečajo in nenehno navdušujejo tako svet umetnosti kot tudi širšo javnost. V enaki meri je presežno tudi delo na razstavi Umetnikov ego z naslovom »Živjo, jaz sem Bernik, Viktor Bernik.«^[1]

Sanela Jahić v instalaciji Pataka (2020) uporabi video in dinamični podatkovni prikaz, da gledalca seznani z učinki depresije na govor. Spremembe v govoru, ki se pojavljajo pri depresivnih osebah, lahko zazna tudi umetna inteligenca. Orodje, namenjeno medicinskim raziskavam, umetnica kreativno izrabi, da nam odpre svet razmisleka o glasu ter o tem, kaj nam sporoča in kako je tudi ta že postal del kapitalistične potrošnje.

Video instalacija Andreja Škufce Gesture (2015) v neskončni zanki uporablja gibljivo, a dokaj statično podobo kot medij za raziskovanje praznine geste, za občutje odtujenosti (nem. Entfremdung). Podoba, ki jo kaže video, nakazuje, da nas podoba razume in sprejema, a ob ponovitvah brez informacije, ki naj bi le zaobjela manjkajoče posredovano, čutimo le oddaljenost, praznost, hladnost in neosebnost (nem. Unheimliche) sodobnega neoliberalnega kapitalizma.

Ištvan Išt Huzjan v svojem delu Vsak je umetnina (2021) raziskuje, kaj se zgodi z ustvarjalcem, kreativcem, če ta postane umetniško delo. Huzjan se podvrže procesu hipnoze, ki jo izvede strokovnjak, terapevt medicinske hipnoze Mitja Perat. Tisto, kar se zgodi, je neznanka, dokumentirana s fotografijami in predstavljena na razstavi. Le tisti, ki je doživel, kaj se je zgodilo, ko je bil sam umetniško delo, lahko o tem priča.

Žiga Kariž, ki je s skupino kolegov slikarjev v slovenski prostor ob koncu devetdesetih letih vnesel slikarstvo razširjenega statusa vizualnega, se je v zadnjem obdobju (2020–2021) znova vrnil k dvodimenzionalnemu upodabljanju v sliki in risbi. Kljub temu, da se dela bližajo t. i. avtonomni umetnosti, jih ne moremo brati kot zgolj takšna, saj umetnikov opus potrjuje, da se za navidezno odprtostjo vedno skrije precizen konceptualni načrt.

Video Tomaža Tomažina Who’s There ? It’s Me! (2007) je nastal pred več kot 13 leti, a še danes deluje aktualno. V videih postavlja lastno podobo v kulturno prepoznavne vzorce. V njih na novo odigra vloge in njegova glava zamenja obstoječe junake na zaslonu. V dobi vizualne manipulacije je Tomažinov video izvrsten zgodnji odgovor na stanje, ki danes obvladuje družbo jaza, iskanja identitete in nezmožnosti uiti svoji lastni.

Umetniški dvojec Eclipse si je zaradi preseganja ustaljenih norm pred leti nakopal celo (neuspešno) kazensko ovadbo Katoliške cerkve. Umetnici sta leta 2007 v galeriji Kapelica v Ljubljani izvedli performans 11 (In emotion we break) in uporabili tudi motiv Marije, ki pod svojim plaščem ponuja zavetje vernikom. Avtorici sta z zanju značilnim mehkopornografskim pristopom upodobili Marijo s Ptujske gore, pri čemer je ena od njiju nastopila kot Marija in izpovedovala svojo izkušnjo iskanja ljubezni ter pod plaščem ponudila zavetje svojim nekdanjim ljubimcem.

Zvonka T. Simčič razstavlja fotografijo na platnu v naravni velikosti z naslovom Corona Queen | Kraljica miru (2020). Raziskuje globino mirovanja in počitka skozi negibnosti, v sebi išče stik, ki si ga v hiperprodukciji le stežka privoščimo in je včasih zakopan tako globoko, da se do njega skoraj ni moč dokopati. Večkrat izvaja performans tako, da popolnoma negibna sedi več dni v zaporedju. In to nam je storil tudi covid-19. Zaustavil nas je, kot nas Z. Simčič s podobo vabi, da se tudi mi zaustavimo, da pozitivno doživimo občutek miru, ki ga je vsaj tu in tam prinesel.

Vsako izmed umetniških del na razstavi na lasten način prestopa vsakdanje norme, pa naj gre za verske podobe, bolezen, politiko, kapitalizem, svet umetnosti, neoliberalizem, način življenja ali razumevanje lastne identitete. Kažejo nam podobe, ki so že v nas, razmisleke o stvareh, o katerih včasih ne zmoremo spregovoriti niti z najbližjimi. Odpirajo poti v razmislek, doživetje, svet pogledajo z drugega zornega kota. Tu je prava, še nekapitalizirana kreativnost, prostor svobode pogleda, mišljenja in upodobljenja. Kako bi kot družba lahko dopustili, da ta kraj izgublja na vrednosti, ko pa je temelj našega obstoja kot človeških bitij?

Petja Grafenauer

Creativity is a trait that is extremely important for human development and synergistically joins many sectors. From art, which is one of its domiciles, to economy, which, in neoliberalism, successfully adopted and perverted certain methods and patterns that art invented and turned them into financial gain. Today, when this trait with most of its laws is, so to say, copied from the world of artistic creative eedom to the organised world of capital and its goal has changed from free activity to an activity that brings money, art has remained on the second track. In a society where capital is a value, the understanding of the view of art as a carrier of deeper messages and its intrinsic value is being lost.

Art needs freedom, or better, artists need an environment of freedom to be able to express their own creativity and intervene outside the established patterns of the world. This interference outside of the everyday life and decline of the status of art in society, but mostly ignorance, since our country has not developed a good pedagogic basis for children and youth, and, recently, the attitude towards certain expressions of art was deliberately degraded on the outside, lead to the point that people see artists as worthless, slackers without regular working hours, and different from normal people, especially. Such periods have been known in recent history in Germany or even before in Russia, whereas periods when art was valued depended on a social moment and the positioning of forces on a timeline of openness or totalitarianism in society.

Artists have always been accompanied by a reputation of difference, extravagance, inability to handle material goods and administration, melancholy, emotionality, and the like. In some periods, their behaviour and creativity were a matter of admiration, while in others, they were not appreciated and were even prosecuted. Like today, when even the minister does not distinguish between social support and support of artists. Is there anyone who, amidst all politicisation, still pays attention to the real meaning of works of art and the necessity of conditions for their emergence?

There is no denying that among mentally ill population in history, there have been artists, but we were familiarised with their diagnoses, unlike everyone else’s, through derivatives of popular biographies and semi-scientific field, pathographies, which explore pathology in works of art. However, a list of successful artists that were at the same time struggling with illness should raise hope for what a person can achieve despite illness, rather than confirm a connection between mental illness and creativity.

Clinical studies have not shown any link between mental illnesses and creativity. A Harvard psychiatrist, Albert Rothenberg, argues that such unwise analyses occurred because neither general population nor professionals distinguished between creativity and mental disorder, since they both include deviations from normative ways of thinking. Differences are of key importance, as symptoms of mental illnesses are mostly similar in stereotypical and often banal ways, whereas creativity includes unexpected and rich results. Creative acts are deliberate, illness is involuntary. What they have in common is suffering, but for artists it is usually a result of success or failure and its consequences, rather than a cause from which creativity would be born.

In addition to three cognitive processes Rothenberg defined as component parts of creativity, the factors that contribute to creativity include: aversion to dogmas, flexibility, and love of change and novelty. And such is the creativity represented by this exhibition: a free and uncapitalised artistic creativity.

The work of Nika Autor, titled For Slava (2013), is based on museum documentation of The Museum of National Liberation, Maribor, about Slava Klavora. The installation touches upon an attempt to search for the almost non-existent personal history of a heroine of the National Liberation Movement (NOB). The motif of Slava Klavora, a Slovene member of the uprising against the occupier, who was tortured and executed in Maribor by Germans in 1941, cannot penetrate us emotionally without her personal story. Nika Autor literally kidnapped her from archival material as a person, a fearless girl, to bestow us with the power of feeling.

The biography which at the top of the page reads ‘Viktor Bernik, visual artist’ contains a surprising number of outstanding exhibitions, awards, and other surpluses, then continues with a series of artistic creations that constantly surprise and impress both the world of art and general public more broadly. The work at the exhibition The Ego of the Artist, entitled ‘Hello, I am Bernik, Viktor Bernik‘, is equally transcendent.[2]

In the installation Pataka (2020), Sanela Jahić uses video and dynamic data display to acquaint the viewer with the effects of depression on speech. Changes in speech that occur in depressed individuals can be detected also by artificial intelligence. The artist creatively uses tools intended for medical research to open the world of reflection on voice and what it tells us and how it also already became part of capitalist consumption.

Andrej Škufca‘s video installation Gesture (2015) uses a moving, although rather static image as a medium for the exploration of the emptiness of a gesture, for the feeling of alienation (Entfremdung). The image shown by the video implies that the image understands and accepts us, but with repetitions without information that was supposed to encompass the missing transfer, all we feel is distance, emptiness, coldness and impersonality (Unheimliche) of contemporary neoliberal capitalism.

Ištvan Išt Huzjan in his work Everyone Is a Work of Art (2021) explores what happens to an artist if they become a work of art. Huzjan undergoes a process of hypnosis, performed by an expert, a therapist of medical hypnosis, Mitja Perat. What happens is unbeknown, documented by photographs and presented at the exhibition in a performance.

Žiga Kariž, who with a group of fellow painters introduced painting of an extended status of the visual into the Slovenian space, in the last period (2020-2021), again returned to the two-dimensional portrayal in painting and drawing. Although the works are close to the so-called autonomous art, they cannot be read only as such, since the author’s oeuvre confirms the fact that behind the apparent openness, there is always hidden a precise conceptual plan.

Tomaž Tomažin‘s video titled Who’s There? It’s Me! (2007) was created over 13 years ago, but it is still relevant today. In the videos, he puts his own image into culturally recognisable patterns. In them, he plays the roles anew and his head replaces the existing heroes on the screen. In the era of visual manipulation, Tomažin’s video is an excellent early answer to the situation that today controls the society of the self, search for identity and inability to escape one’s own.

Because of exceeding the established norms, years ago, the artistic duo Eclipse even received (an unsuccessful) criminal complaint of the Catholic Church. In 2007, in the Kapelica Gallery, the artists made a performance 11 (In emotion we break) and also used the motif of St. Mary, who offers shelter to the believers under her cloak. With their characteristic soft-pornographic approach, they portrayed St. Mary of Ptujska gora, with one of them performing as her and confessing her experience of search for love and offering shelter to her former lovers under her cloak.

Zvonka T. Simčič exhibits a life-size photo on canvas entitled Corona Queen / Queen of Peace (2020). She explores the depth of inactivity and rest though immobility, seeks a contact with herself that is hard to afford in hyper-production and is sometimes buried so deep that it is almost impossible to reach. She executes the performance numerous times by sitting completely motionless for several days in a row. And this is also what Covid-19 has done to us. It has stopped us, like Z. Simčič with her image invites us to stop too and positively experience the feeling and peace it brought, at least here and there.

Each work of art featured at the exhibition transcends the everyday norms in its own way, be it religious images, illness, politics, capitalism, the world of art, neoliberalism, the way of life or understanding of one’s own identity. They show us images that are already in us, reflections on issues about which we sometimes cannot talk about even with our loved ones. They open the way to contemplation, experience, look at the world from another angle. Here is real, yet uncapitalised creativity, a space of freedom of view, thought and depiction. How, as society, could we allow this place to lose its value, when it is the foundation of our existence as human beings?

Petja Grafenauer

[1] Viktor Bernik’s art piece is an intervention into the text which you can see in the Slovene version.

Razstavo so omogočili: Občina Ribnica, Ministrstvo za kulturo RS, Mestna občina Ljubljana (Oddelek za kulturo), podjetje Riko d.o.o.