Untitled - ArtNetLab

Vanja Mervič
Rojen 13.12.1973 v Kopru.
Maturiral je na Instituto d´arte Max Fabiani, Gorizia.
Prva dva letnika končal na beneški akademiji, v letu 2001 pa je diplomiral na Accademia di Brera v Milanu.
1999 je bil na študentski izmenjavi na Hoogeshool, 3D-multimedia v Gentu, Belgija.
Vpisan na magistrski študij smer video in novi mediji na ALU Ljubljana, mentor Srečo Dragan.
Born on the 13th of December 1973 in Koper, Slovenia.
He finished his A levels at Instituto d'arte Maks Fabiani in Gorizia, Italy.
For two years he frequented Accademia di Belle Arti Venezia. He transferred to Accademia di Brera in Milano and graduated in 2001.
In 1999 he was as an exchange student at Hoogeshool, 3-D multimedia in Gent, Belgium.
From 2004 he has been attending a post graduate course in video and new media at the ALU, Ljubljana, mentor Srečo Dragan.
DELAVNICE/WORKSHOPS:
-Bloegroup, (Sam Bogart), Kunstcentrum Voruit, Gent, (B), 1999
-"Long pose", Pascal Bass, Hoogeschool, Gent, (B), 1999
-Toonel Fabrik Amsterdam, Kunstcentrum Voruit, Gent, (B), 1999
-"Da cosa nascie cosa", Fondazione Pistoletto, Gorizia,(I)-Nova Gorica, (SLO), 2006
-"Le chiavi di Ichnos tra cielo e terra", Perfugas, Sardinija, (I), 2006
-"Web Jay-ing software", Anne Roquigny and Stephane Kyles, Kiberpipa , Ljubljana, (SLO), 2006
-"Wherever we go - Ovunque andiamo", z Adrian Paci, Via Farini, Milano, (I), 2006
-"Public art", Antoni Muntadas, Via Farini, Milano, (I), 2006
IZBOR SKUPINSKIH RAZSTAV/SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
-"Ex Tempore", Piran, (2. nagrada/2nd prize), (SLO), 1996
-"Nuove Figure", Galerija /Gallery Tragetto, Venezia, (I), 1996
-"Linguaggi in diagonale", Lecce, (I), 1997
-"Salon 1", Museo della Permamaente, Milano, (I), 1998
-"Rainbow for dinner", Kunstcentrum Voruit, Gent, (B), 1999
-"Waiting", Kunstcentrum Voruit, Gent, (B), 1999
-"Octavo", ACEK, Gent, (B), 1999
-"Sewing", Film Video monitor, Gorizia, (I), 2000
-"Arte oggetto", Buje, (I), 2001
-"Začasni delavec"/"Part time employee" Galerija/Gallery Alkatraz, Ljubljana, (SLO), 2002
-"12 + 4", razstava ob vstopu Slovenije v EU z Vasjo Kokelj, Ivem Tabarjem/an exhibition with Ive Tabar and Vasja Kokelj for the occasion of
Slovenia entering United Europe, javni prostor/open space, Nova Gorica, (SLO), 2004
-MMMArt Medana, Kulturni dom, Gorizia (I) 2005
-11. mednarodni festival računalniških umetnosti/11th International Festival of Computer Arts, Maribor, (SLO), 2005
-Predstavitev projekta/Presentation of the project "Wordless", net.culture club MAMA, Zagreb, (HR), 2005
-"Wordless", galerija Hodnik - galerija sodobne umetnosti/gallery of Contemporary Art Celje-Hodnik, Celje, (SLO), 2005
-"Arhipelag", javni prostor/open space, Nova Gorica, (SLO), 2005
-"Vissages francofones - vissage de la Slovenie", museum Henri-Martin, Chantrerie, Crenier du Chapitre, Chaors, (FR), 2005
-"Wordless", ArtNetLab production 05, Galerija/Gallery SVC, Ljubljana, (SLO), 2005
-"Wordless", Centro Culturale Candiani Venezia, (I), 2005
-"Panorama 360 - slika v mediju - medij v sliki"/"Panorama 360 - media in the images - images in the media", Tir, Mostovna, (SLO), 2006
-12. mednarodni festival računalniških umetnosti/12th International Festival of Computer Arts, Mestna Galerija Ljubljana, Kiberpipa, Mestna
hiša/Town Hall, Ljubljana, (SLO), 2006
-Predstavitev projekta/Presentation of the project "Invitation for a 20th century dinner", net.culture club MAMA, Zagreb, (HR), 2006
-"DobiaLab festival", Dobbia, (I), 2006
-"XL-ART", posoška državna knjižnica Stara Gorica/State Library, Gorizia, (I), 2006
-Predstavitev projekta/Presentation of the project "Invitation for a 20th century dinner", Galerija/Gallery ESC, Graz, (A), 2006
CODES AND IDENTITIES
There is no single identity of an individual, they are numerous and we constantly change them. At the same time we can be
children, parents, lovers, readers, employees, students, citizens, etc. There are identities that we apply in our intimate moments
and those that we use publicly. The identity defines us, but can never reveal our true self. An individual is always more than
John's son, Mary's father, the one who reads Gogolj, a salesperson, a Londoner or a Slovene. Identity is merely a signifier that
describes a part of our life and yet it can determine us. The new media projects Wordless (2005) and An invitation to a 20th
century dinner (2006) by Vanja Mavrič research the differences and limitations of social identities and their codes.
The state mechanism standardises, codes and sorts our identities with a special language. Our lives - a cluster of experienced
moments, unspoken thoughts, gentle touches and shed tears are changed into codes with which the state names, recognises,
sorts, understands, and monitors us as well as manages our lives.
One of the system signifiers - a special bureaucratic code, which defines one of our identities, is the Citizen's personal
identification number (CPIN). CPIN, a number that was in use only in the territory of the former Socialist Yugoslavia, was
assigned to the citizen at the moment he was born and followed him right until his death. It is composed from six parts - day,
month and year of birth, the numerical sign of the region, the ordination number of the birth within the region and a control
number that was calculated with a specially developed public algorithm - and all of this represents a special code system, a
language that offers us certain information on the citizen.
CPIN tells the state and its employers our gender, age and place of birth. These numbers are used by the state at health care
and insurance, taxes, defence, environment regulation, employment and work force monitoring, pension and disability
insurance, the justice system, education, social care and other statistics. CPIN turns an individual into a number and erases his
individuality.
Mervič' project uses the code to create poetic images. Inputting a CPIN into a special box creates a unique combination of video
images on the screen. The systemised, standardised number triggers the creation of a work of art. This is synthesised for every
individual who enters the CPIN code. The individual's typical number, which, similar to numerous other personal control codes
with their own mathematically created sign language, controls our lives, triggers a unique flow of images, which is followed by
the user - the CPIN holder - and the entire gallery audience. The code for public use, which the user is instructed to carefully
protect by the state, for it can be read (in a unified way) by anyone who knows the mysteries of the CPIN language, triggers an
intimate flux of images that are shown to the public, but offer various readings. In this work of art the bureaucratic language
that limits our identity to a dataset is dispersed into a thousand different meanings. Art that chooses modern technology for its
medium in this and the next project of Mervič overcomes its medium specifics and introduces a poetic expression.
If the project Wordless limits the identity with the use of the CPIN to a single identity that is specific to the code holder, An
invitation to a 20th century dinner enables the changing of the identity. In this project the sociability of the dinner, a special
ritual overburdened with meanings - the references of which reach back into the mythological past through the central scene of
Christian symbolism, was moved to the end of the 20th century. The artist has invited us to an event with an invitation that
includes a warning that we should not be late however the event has already taken place. At the beginning of the 21st century
the artist invites us to choose one of the stereotypical identities typical for the casually assessed image of the world that was
created at the end of the previous century with the aid of mass media. Thus the users of the project attend (in real time) the past
that is played in the present especially for us.
A photograph of our face fills the emptiness of the chosen uniformed image. For a moment we can become a pop star, a
terrorist, a hacker, a scientist, a porn star or a paraplegic. Our image is added to the stereotypical exterior, the void is fulfilled.
But even such a complemented image remains an empty sign. The artist shows us the empty modern society in which
appearance seems to define the contents. In a society that demands fast and efficient operation, we use the typified language
of images to create our own representation with which we show the society our desires, powers, fears, loves, status and beliefs,
we join groups or step out of them. The choice of recognisable forms is great, but what does this truly tell us about the
individual
Naslov/Address: Cesta 15. Septembra 14, 5000 Nova Gorica, Slovenija
Tel.: + 386 (0)31 883 415
e-mail: vanja.mervic@gmail.com
Petja Grafenauer Krnc