art-e-conomy _ reader - marko stamenkovic

1960s and 1970s, to postconceptualism and the most recent media: installation,
electronic art and the reemergence of body and performance art. The current practice
of exhibiting accumulations of ready-made objects and material leads us to another
paradox arising from the “Dossier ‘96” project--its ambivalence on the plane of visual
perception. Sometimes the appearance and form of Tosevski’s installations are highly
reminiscent of some works by Man Ray (e.g., the hangers displayed in Kumanovo,
the third of four exhibitions that complete the series of the “Dossier ‘96” project),
Tony Craig or Richard Wentworth (e.g., the installation with broken plates in Titov
Veles, the first exhibition in the series) or Richard Long (e.g., the granite blocks in
Prilep, the second exhibition) or other internationally known artists. Even though the
material--being readymade--is identical (this is not surprising, simply because they are
ready-made objects and therefore can be produced anywhere with the same quality)
Tosevski’s works are utterly different in content, precisely due to their performative
character and production of meaning. [15]
Tosevski uses a medium much in vogue in western art today (installation and
ready-made) but manages to create a project originating from his everyday life. Not
only does it offer information or knowledge of reality; it also touches upon that reality,
carrying out its performative act within it, so that the very act itself becomes a part
of the reality within which it is performed. And so we come to the most sensitive
question posed by Tosevski: the possibilities of engagement in art and whether art
can change reality. According to Adorno, art is always both inside and outside reality,
and its status and autonomy are dependent on the level of social freedom in a given
society. Taking into account institutional theoreticians such as Arthur Danto and
George Dickie, the institution dictates the conditions and decides what art is and
what it is not. [16] Tosevski questions the problem of the appropriate position of the
artist in relation to art institutions and the adequate medium in these circumstances.
For this purpose he has also deemed it necessary to re-examine the social, economic
and political context within which he creates. The marginal role assigned to art and
artistic institutions, in a society preoccupied with a myriad of more important problems,
is another significant point illustrated in this project. The first three exhibitions in
particular, which were held in galleries or cultural centers in provincial Macedonian
cities, emphasized the similarity of these spaces to the factories themselves: the
spaces were dirty, almost abandoned, turned into storage rooms.
Therefore, the artist’s personal engagement takes place in the realms of reality and
its portrayal as art. The art is a study of reality itself, as well as a part of everyday life,
thereby blurring the lines of an artistic act and a real life case study. The relationship
between reality and art is usually set up in a hierarchical sense--reality having the
dominant role, one expecting an engaged artist to pursue his baffles on the barricades
instead of through artistic and conceptual means.
The latest project that Tosevski exhibited was during the group exhibition “Words,
Objects, Acts” in 2000 at the Museum of the City of Skopje. In this piece, titled Perfect
Balance or 23 Kilos Human Rights, Tosevski used 23 kilos of original documents from
the UNO (United Nations Organization) Committee for Human Rights. [17] Many old
files full of typed or printed declarations, conference resumes and letters were placed
on seven scales suspended from the ceiling. Tosevski was targeting the bureaucracy
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