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04 July 2024 > 26 July 2024 Kindly invited to the opening of the exhibition by Špela Šedivy 'Instructions for Use Are Enclosed', on Thursday, 4 July 2024, at 7 pm, at Alkatraz Gallery, ACC Metelkova mesto. The exhibition is a part of the programe 'Empowerment of Young Artists'.
With the exhibition entitled Instructions for Use Are Enclosed, Špela Šedivy dedicates special attention to the tactility. With infographics next to the artworks, she urges us to touch the sculptural works, and to take some of them into our hands, turn them, squeeze them and shake them, and invites us to approach the exhibition in a different way than we are used to. Instead of using only one sense, here the key to fully experiencing the exhibition is the experience that comes via other senses, especially though the touch.
Several smaller cube-shaped objects and one more monumental are presented at the exhibition. The latter is, at first glance, less processed. In appearance, the salient work is closest to the naturally broken karstic stone, which is the material golden thread of all the exhibited works. Each of the objects creates a different effect through our interaction. Considering their material properties, the cubes are harder and softer artefacts. The softer ones are made also of waste material that is produced during carving and related stone processing procedures. The artist binds the remains in the form of a fine powder with silicone, which creates supple sculptures that can be squeezed with the hands.
Although touching in gallery and museum spaces is, in principle, not desirable, it plays an important role in perceiving and understanding our surroundings. We neglect it while experiencing art also due to the acquired knowledge that works of art 'cannot be touched', as they will be destroyed and lose their value. The artist's decision for interactivity doubtlessly stems from her in-depth exploration of touch in relation to art, as well as from her peculiar relationship with the stone, which she handles most frequently – carves and shapes it, that is, she physically intervenes in it.
The exhibition is a part of the long-term programme of the Alkatraz Gallery, 'Empowerment of Young Artists', in the framework of which we collaborate with the Academy of Fine Arts and Design of the University of Ljubljana and alternately organise biennial group and solo exhibition of selected artists. The author's work featured at the exhibition of students of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (Alkatraz, 2023), entitled Disintegration (2022), reflected the spirit of the pandemic time in which it was created, addressing the topic of isolation and its invisible destructiveness. The author's primary medium – the stone – was subjected to gradual degradation in the art installation due to the effect of the acid that dripped on it from the infusion. The artwork could also be interpreted as an ingenious metaphor of the influence of the lack of physical interaction and touch on human well-being. In this context, the current exhibition in the Alkatraz Gallery is not only an exploration of the medium that the artist so likes to use, but also the continuation of the Disintegration and reflection on the multifaceted importance and potential of the physical touch. On the one hand, touch helps maintain a person's mental equilibrium – as it is an essential component of well-being, contributes to the reduction of stress, emotional connection, pain relief, improved mood and healthy development – while, on the other hand, it is also a means of learning additional meanings and expanding the boundaries of perception.
By encouraging tactile interaction between works of art and visitors, the artist tests our expectations in a playful, unexpected and accessible way, and tries to shake up our fixed notions based on visual impressions. In doing so, she enhances the individual's focus and attention on each of the exhibited objects. Her objects teach us that appearances can be deceiving and that relying solely on what is seen is incomplete and can easily lead to wrong conclusions. A holistic experience is important to her, since perception does not consist of information from one sense only, rather, on the contrary: the senses complement each other, connect and intertwine received information into a more tangible whole. Along her contemplation, she quotes a text by the neuroscientist David J. Linden, who writes that '“There is, in fact, no pure touch sensation, for by the time we have perceived a touch, it has been blended with other sensory input, plans for action, expectations, and a healthy dose of emotion.'1
In the Alkatraz Gallery, the artist, in addition to visual touch, also touches upon such dimensions as sound, weight and temperature. By incorporating the use of senses that are not based on the visual, the artist exposes the deceptiveness of our feelings, senses and beliefs through the works of art. She manages to do that also by means of the paradox of interactivity next to, otherwise, at least at first glance, analogous exhibits. With proximity, contact and authentic holistic experience, outwardly stone cubes shake up our understanding and orientation in the space of deep-seated beliefs. Despite the fact that 'instructions for use' are enclosed, they are primarily an incentive for interaction and communication between the artefacts and visitors, which leads to the revelation of other dimensions of the artwork. The revelation brings a relaxing catharsis at the moment of awareness of our own limited and stereotypical assumptions about works of art, art and the wider world.
Anabel Černohorski, Sebastian Krawczyk, Ana Grobler
