Opening hours:
Monday - Friday:2pm - 6pm
Monday - Friday:2pm - 6pm
21 November 2025 > 12 December 2025 Kindly invited to the opening of Maša Knapič's exhibition "[ ._ ._ ._ ]" on Friday, November 21, at 7 p.m., at the Alkatraz Gallery, AKC Metelkova mesto. You are also invited to the opening of the author's exhibition entitled "Pjotr," which will take place at Prostor 2^32 on Friday, November 14, at 7 p.m.
The title of the exhibition [ ._ ._ ._ ] in Morse code represents a seemingly simple symbol: a dot. It can be read as a point, circle or centre – as a beginning and, concurrently, as a limitation. The dot clearly describes the concept of the exhibition, which focuses on the circular and partially enclosed spatial placement, meanwhile alluding to the meta-perspective of the exhibition project – the desire to gain insight into the system, so as to direct the gaze towards its internal logic.
At the centre of the exhibition stands an electric motor – an object that the artist treats as ready-made, transferred from its functional context into the field of fine art research. The object, which we associate with industry, automation and facilitation of human labour, the artist connects with the reflection on the functioning of closed systems and on the meaning of autonomy in the world where technology, culture and economy are increasingly interconnected and intertwined across the boundaries of individual systems. Thus, the electric motor becomes a conceptual lever for reflection on closed systems, autonomy and the organisation of pictorial space. In the exhibition, it is transformed from a machine into a model for thinking about the image. It is an organ that converts invisible impulses into movement. The author perceives it as a miniaturised version of the logic of rotation around its own axis; as a principle according to which an image can be organised as well; a system that receives information from the environment and incorporates into its operation only what is necessary for its functioning.
This system is both open and closed. Open, because it still receives data from the world; and closed, because it translates it into its own language and works according to its own rules. A deviation from the expected is not a mistake, but rather a sign that the system functions independently. The apparent chaos of the images is therefore more an effect of selection than of decay. In it, we see traces of processes that are not directed toward a useful, productive task, but rather toward the construction of its own internal logic.
At the centre of the exhibition are drawings of a large format that stem from the Euclidean perception of space: ground plan, elevation and side drawing. Each drawing stems from the same object: something that resembles the shape of an electric motor, but shows it from a different angle. The motor is divided into three layers, namely; first, the external view; second, its internal structure with the dynamics of electromagnets and conductive materials; and third, a hypothetical external application, where the motif of a throttle lever appears, which is usually part of combustion engines. In addition to drawings, the exhibition includes smaller photograms and projections that repeat the motifs of engines captured in anticipated movements. Here, movement is suspended: we can see preserved images of processes that have already taken place, but still retain the tension of potential movement.
The exhibition is placed in the square interior of the gallery – between four central pillars. Around them rises the stage that clearly separates the interior of the installation from the exterior circulation of visitors. The lighting is concentrated in the interior, where drawings and objects form a dense, slightly crumpled constellation. The organisation around the centre – the axis – is thus transferred from the motor and the images to the exhibition space itself. The drawings remain static, although the way they are arranged creates an impression of rotation. They do not attempt to illustrate the outside world, but rather follow the internal logic of their own formation. The author explores whether a drawing can remain self-sufficient and retain its autonomy within the history that defines it, whilst, simultaneously, producing new meanings that are not tied to the external functional systems.
In this scenographic setting, the movement of the visitor plays a crucial role. Upon entering the space, the visitors find themselves in a position that we would otherwise attribute to a motor or a painted object. In order to understand what they see, they have to move around the axis – around the pillars and drawings. Therefore, the rotation does not take place in the motor, but rather in the relationship between the viewer's body and the exhibition. The external figure (the visitor) momentarily assumes the function of the drive, whereas the images persist in the status of suspended motion. The images and the installation reflect movement as 'preserved' state of energy that remains present even at rest. In this sense, the electric motor acts as a metaphor for artistic practice itself: a system that produces meaning without any external need for productivity, yet maintains its own dynamic – rotating around its own axis.
The exhibition [ ._ ._ ._ ] creatively analyses the idea of automation or autonomy of images and the objects that support them. The system appears to operate on its own, but, at the same time, depends on our gazes, movements and interpretations. In the tension between stagnation and potential movement, between closed and open systems, between invisible support and visible images, Maša Knapič's project invites visitors to think about how a drawing and, with it, the exhibition space can organise, so that they can exist according to their own rules.
Maša Knapič explores the boundaries of control and autonomy and is interested in the presence of the viewer as an observer of abandoned scenographies. She draws on a fixation with the image as the legacy of the medium of painting on the one hand, and the construction of closed systems on the other. Together with Neža Perovšek, she is the co-founder of das Garage – a nomadic exhibition space. She has participated in several group and solo exhibitions, including TARDIS (Portal 2-7-7-7-8), Sharpening…please steady your device (DobraVaga Gallery), Failed plans for world domination and other predictable events, together with Neža Perovšek and Anastazija Pirnat (GalerijaGallery), and as part of the 2^0 work cycle (Space 2^32, Ljubljana). She also presented her work in group exhibitions as part of the Plaza Protocol project at the Little Gallery of the Bank of Slovenia and in the Knifer Gallery in Osijek.
![Maša Knapič [ ._ ._ ._ ]](https://galerijalkatraz.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/viz123.jpg)