The New Art Practice in Yugoslavia, 1966-1978

"13 this idea is a project
a project has three stages
the first stage
drawing up a plan a hundred wells in my back-yard
in bosut the second stage
publishing the plan in the form of a book
the third stage
burning all the copies of the book and manuscript on the
embankment by the danube
27 the field at the end of jovanovi's lean in bosut I shall
begin to dig it will be a hole the size of a hectare
75 it would be great to walk a horse through the gallery of
matica srpska*
83 I shall make a closed i.e. open book
this of course involves one and the same book»
The same edition carried poems by Miroslav Mandi
describing how they came into being and their function.
201
When a poem decides to write itself
Then through the person who wrote it out
And through one who is a friend of the recorder
It is dispatched to a newspaper
This poem begins with the verb to know
Knowing the preceding four lines of the introduction to the
poem
And the line of dogmatizing
The poem recorded itself in the paper
Index 201 of May 27. 1970
Separated from its recorder
It became the property of Index 201
With its authorship it is
In this place only
It is not allowed in
Other papers and journals
The poem entered the anthology of
Index 201 feeling
The paper under it
The awareness and existence of the poem
Is this reading
Slobodan Tima published two projects: Square and Error
Dimension. Square is a paraphrase and interpretation of
Kazimir Malevitch's squares:
The poems by Slavko Bogdanovi (Turnover Tax) and by
Slobodan Tima (As Someone), published in Index in the
autumn of 1970, were written with a similar intention.
In early July, with the financial support of Youth Tribune
we all visited the Biennial Exhibition in Venice where, for
the first time, we came into contact with some of the current
art movements. We did not, however, accept or affiliate
ourselves to any of the existing movements, but continued to
build up and develop a critical attitude towards art. During
the trip Janez Kocijani disagreed with some of the
fundamental views of the other members and this was later to
result in his «exclusion» from the work of the group and his
decision to pursue individual work.
Preparations for participation in the cultural event Sutjeska
Youth 1970 (23-28 July, 1970) at Tjentite were carried out
along two different lines, so that the works shown at the
exhibition of the group Kod at Tjentite (which was actually
our first exhibition) were in fact quite heterogeneous. Mandi
and Tima worked in Novi Sad, Bogdanovi in Bosut, while I
worked in Nevesinje where Bogdanovi joined me before the
exhibition with a few projects for works in the style of land-art.
At Tjentite, we exhibited visual material prepared by Mandi
and Tima in Novi Sad (project-poems which could only
conditionally be called «concrete., for they were in fact
tautological works or works in the style of process-art). The
second part of the exhibition consisted of works by
Bogdanovi and myself in the style of land-art, which had
been conceived earlier, but had been realized just before
the opening of the exhibition in an open space, on the banks
of the Sutjeska. Bogdanovi presented his work Cascades:
-Three holes dug in the ground. The largest is also the deepest;
the medium-size hole is not as deep as the previous hole but is
deeper than the following one. They are interconnected by
Serbian Literary Society.
channels. The channel is at the bottom of the shallower hole.
The bottom of the holes is painted: the largest one grey
durlin enamel-lacquer, the medium-size hole whie durlin-
enamel-lacquer, the smallest one blue-durlin enamel-lacquer.
The paint flows towards the surface, changing from grey to
white and then to blue. The work bears traces of poetic
inspiration: blue -- absolute (Malarme); but also Yves Klein,
whose monochromes we were to come across later at the
exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade in
1971.
Together (Slavko Bogdanovi and myself) we produced several
works under the joint title Apotheoses to Jackson Pollock
(Fig. 163): 1. on 1 rn of grass we poured yellow, blue and red
durlin-enamel lacquer; 2. on a polystyrene board 1 ,4 1 m
a print was made of the painted grass surface under 1. At the
exhibition the two surface stood at an angle of 90° as one and
two works. After the exhibition the board was put into the
Sutjeska river presuming that flowing along the Drina. the Sava
and the Danube it would reach the Black Sea. 3. Red, blue,
yellow, grey and white durlin-enamel-lacquer was sprayed
on and poured over a large round stone by the Sutjeska. The
fourth joint work carried out was Multi-Colour Interaction: blue,
yellow, red and grey durlin-enamel-lacquer was poured over the
edge of a shallow funnel dug into the ground.
The third part of the exhibition represented what we did at the
exhibition itself; Objects of the group KOD: Mandi. Bogdanovi
and myself presented ourselves as exhibits in a given space.
As objects we were exhibited for a period of half an hour and
were joined towards the end by some of the visitors. Before
the exhibition (on July 23, 1970) Slavko Bogdanovi presented
his works Black Tape (Fig. 162) on the facade of the Youth
Centre at Tjentite: a 3 m long black insulating tape was stuck
on to the wall and underneath with the same insulating tape
was written: 'black tape.. Separate photos were taken of the
tape, of the inscription, of both and of the empty wall.
A joint project from that time which never materialized: to
paint the huge rock Drago sedlo (Drago Saddle), which
dominates the whole landscape, in yellow.
(The interest for primary relations between colours, which first
manifested itself at that time, was to be even further confirmed
in later works).
Janez Kocijani independently produced several works under
the name of the group, but before completing them he ceased
to be a member of the group. The works were presented under
the joint title Phila Series 19104. Since no work was recorded
or if so, the negatives got lost. I quote the autor's (J.
Kocijani's) text which appeared in P0//a No 142, 1970.
Ph/la Series 19104 is a collection of several disparate attempts.
Environment. ecological art, actions in space and concrete
poetry are an attempt to present to a gathering of this type
("Sutjeska Youth" was an encounter of poets and painters,
M. R.) some of the new possibilities of expression with the
inevitable element of improvisation rather than to present
something firm and permanent. Temporary art! As transient as
possible! And desacralizing to the utmost!
"Sutjeska Youth 1970"
Tjentite, 23-27 July, 1970
Phila Series 19104
Phila 1
Environment composition Big Razor
Phila 9
Plus action Aesthetic Vest
Phila 9
Plus action: Coloured Ropes
Phila 1
Ecosystem; red coloured water is an allegory of blood and
commemorates the victims of the famous battle on the river
Sutjeska.
Concrete poem: These shoes are n poem because they are
not solely shoes. They can have the following meanings:
crossing the Atantic Ocean, night in Venice, conversation
about Jackson Pollock, first time in Yugoslavia, etc.
Big Razor: on the facade of the Youth Centre the edges of a
razor 3Y2 m were marked in red and orange insulating tape.
Aesthetic Vest: On July 24, in the morning, Janez Kocijani
wore a red vest covered with buttons of different colours and
shapes.
Red-Coloured Water. ... A large amount of red pigment was put
into the river Sutjeska colouring the water around Tientite.
41