KRISTINA RUTAR: ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES
Exhibition
20. 4. 2018-24. 6. 2018
Lapidary of Gallery Božidar Jakac, Kostanjevica na Krki
On the Origin of Species is an installation based on the book of the same name by the scientist Charles Darwin. The installation is composed of a combination of various materials and media. The file rouge are abstract ceramic sculptures whose form is completed by enwrapment and suspension in transparent fabrics. The project On the Origin of Species is divided into four stages.
Stage 1 portrays embryos of different species. The species are imaginary, they don't belong to any real, living organisms. The forms are similar just as the embryos of different species share similarities in the initial stage of development. The embryos are suspended in cocoons, fabrics of various transparency which provide the sculpture personal space, intimacy, and distance from the viewers. The form is developed based on cell division after fertilisation. The space is enclosed with hanging transparent veils through which the viewers make their way to the sculptures. Just as the sculptures are protected in their fabric, and the viewer merely sees their contours, the viewer is also put in this role.
Stage 2 illustrates the embryos in the development and is the upgrade of Stage 1. The sculptures remain in the suspended fabrics; the forms remain abstract but more developed and defined. They provide the viewer hints and associations, the possibility of connection with the known beings in the creation of imaginary species.
Stage 3 provides the space with only suspended fabrics. The end of the embryos' development is open, the same as our future is open. All kinds of life are in constant, ongoing development, which is not visible to us because it goes on for centuries, millennia. We constantly adapt to the environment to guarantee the survival of our species. The end is open so that the individual is given the possibility of their own interpretation of the possible development of species.
Stage 4 is diametrically opposite to the first three stages. While the first three rooms are bright, the last is dusked with delicate, partial illumination of the broken and decaying remains of the sculptures. Upon entering the room, every step of the visitor is accompanied by a sharp sound of breaking - the floor is covered with sheets of porcelain that break under the weight of an individual. In doing so, I wish the individual to raise awareness of their role and influence in the world. Every action we take either directly or indirectly impacts somebody else. The last stage is an homage to all the weak, to those who for one reason or another do not survive. In the last stage, I look for metaphorical connections between the theory of the survival of the strongest and contemporary society in which, despite democratic achievements, the principle similar to Darwin's theory unfortunately still prevails. In the human race, the survival of the stronger and more agile also extends to the social field and is no longer about physical adaptation to the environmental conditions. The stronger dominate over the weaker. The domination of minority over the majority, the domination of financially stronger over financially weaker, the domination of one system over another.
Curator of the exhibition is Barbara Rupel.
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