MG+MSUM

Siniša Labrović, YOU, 2020
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Siniša Labrović

YOU

Performance, Schwedter Strasse, Berlin, 2020

Photo: Vanja Juranić

 

The new sociopolitical circumstances caused by COVID-19 have put us in a paradoxical situation. It’s as if we were living in some almost “ideal” planetary socialism, or at least its biological version (all humanity united against a common enemy, all exposed to contagion, the fight to save the weakest among us, a concerted effort toward and a high degree of concern for a common good), and this socialism intersects with the ideal solipsism of neoliberalism and capitalism (distance and separation from others, atomized individualization, others as danger, others as competitors, a drastic difference in the ability to care for the sick between the rich and the poor). Because of its rich history of political agitation, the balcony seems to me the most attractive of the borderline places between private and public. Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, Gottwald, Tito and many others addressed the masses from balconies. The balcony allows one to preserve physical distance from others while entering public space. I chose the banner as my tool of political and social communication. Banners express important, brief and combative signs-texts "FOR" or "AGAINST" some issue of public interest. Due to the nature of the situation we are in, others are my friends and companions, but at the same time also a potential danger to me. They and I are possible agents of our enemy without even knowing it. The ideal form of closeness becomes physical distance. Every other person becomes absolutely important to me. That’s why I address them as "YOU" on the banner, expressing myself as both "FOR" and "AGAINST" them, thus creating our community of destiny in the hope that we can jointly withstand this ordeal and win.

 

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Siniša Labrović was born in Sinj, Croatia, in 1965. His first solo exhibition was held in Otok Gallery in Dubrovnik in 2000. He has exhibited all over Croatia and abroad. In 2005 he attracted the attention with his work Flock.org, in which sheep played the role of contestants in a reality show. In 2007 he won the purchase prize at the first T-HT and the Museum of Contemporary Art competition in Zagreb for the video Family Diary/News. This work is in the permanent display of the MCA, while the video documentation of the action Bandaging the Wounded (2000) is in the permanent display of the Fine Arts Gallery in Split. Several works are in the collection of Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik and Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka. In 2009 he presented the work Lisansustu Egitim/Postagraduate Education at the 11th Istanbul Biennial. In 2012 he represented Croatia at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale, entitled Common Ground, together with Pula Group, Hrvoslava Brkušić, Igor Bezinović and Boris Cvjetanović. He is represented by the Michaela Stock Gallery from Vienna. Labrović is a freelance artist living in Berlin.

 
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