A (Personal) Look Back at 2022

In the face of the crumbling world whose hostility is intensified by (petty) personal issues, looking back at the accomplishments in 2022 feels like a welcome relief, so I hope no one will mind me evoking the events that lent meaning to my collage art practice, as well as to my enthusiasm for films.

From March 24 to April 6, my fourth solo exhibition, ‘Hypnos II’, took place at the Gallery of the Center for Culture and Art Aleksinac, and it was wonderfully organized and curated. Two of the pieces hanging there as canvas prints – ‘La Perla’ (The Pearl) and ‘Il Regno (The Kingdom)’, both parts of the extensive ‘Bianco/Nero’ series – were selected by the creative committee of ARTBOX.PROJECT Venezia 1.0, and presented digitally at Tana Art Space in Venice, May 1 – May 31. Among 5 other collages that also reached ‘City of Bridges’, ‘Ultrafantasia: The Spirits Gathering’ was the most successful, winning the place among the 10 finalists, and being on display until the end of July.

‘I Pirati della Superluna’ (The Pirates of the Supermoon) was featured in Vol. 1 of the 50th issue of Artist Portfolio Magazine (in May), and earning a double spread in the 51st edition (October) were ‘A Graceful Apparition’ and ‘Herald's Reincarnation’. Summer and autumn were marked by three group exhibitions – ‘The Demigod of Ominous Silence’ and its counterpart ‘La Sensualité du Narcissisme’ animated by Martin Gerigk, at the Festival of Contemporary Collage Kaos (in Kranj, Slovenia, June 10 – August 13), ‘A Hazy Memory of Ariadna’s Song’ + ‘Labirinto a Cappella’ at Echo of Music (art colony in Negotin, Serbia, July/September) and finally, ‘The Last Fairy Tale’ + ‘A Landscape with Three Convergent Suns Dying Inside’ at Collage 2022 (online, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, October).

Demigod of Ominous Silence

I was pretty excited to see my short debut ‘Untold’ on the big screen at the 69th edition of Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival that also premiered ‘Once I Passed’ – the second collaboration between composer / filmmaker Martin Gerigk and I, and being in the company of friends made the watching experience richer. The latter film was officially selected by nearly 100 festivals and shown all around the globe, winning a number of awards: Cinematic Achievement Award (Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival, Greece), Best Film (Feedback Animation Film & Screenplay Festival, Canada), Jury Special Award (FilmArte Festival, Germany), Best Short + Best Animation Film (Golden Harvest Film Festival, Japan), Best Experimental Film (Annual Tiburon International Film Festival, USA), Best International Experimental, Innovation & Creativity Award and Best Score (Canberra Short Film Festival, Australia), and the list doesn’t end here. Martin invited me to collaborate on another project – an audio-visual essay ‘Demi-Gods’ – which also received some accolades, from Honorable Mention at NFT | New Media | Experimental | Digital Arts Film Festival (England) to Best Experimental Film at Sipontum Arthouse International Film Festival (Italy) and Dubai Film Fest (UAE).

The Soviet avant-garde-inspired poster I designed for Martin Del Carpio’s upcoming short ‘Vuk: Murder in a Blue World’ was awarded ‘1st runner-up’ in the ‘Best Poster’ category at the fall edition of Alternative Film Festival (Canada), and got ‘Honorable Mention’ at the November edition of Best IFF organized by students and teachers from universities, colleges and schools from around the world.

‘Bianco/Nero’ was revived on a couple of occasions, to approach its 521st ‘chapter’, and three more collage series were born – ‘Acrostic’, ‘Les Fleurs du Mal’ and ‘Melancholia (Non) Grata’.

Topping all that were five days of summer fun with fellow artists at the abovementioned art colony in Negotin only matched by the intense curatorial process for Kinoskop 4, and the unforgettable weekend during which the festival was held (December 2 – December 4). To rephrase a line from one of my favorite films of 2022 – the city didn’t existed, only encounters with kind and smiling people were real.

Energized by these precious memories, I wish you a year of good health, tons of luck, and perhaps, a miraculous utopian twist? Happy 2023!

2020 Highlights and 2021 Greetings

Saying that 2020 was challenging would be a severe understatement, given that it turned our reality upside-down, and made it appear borderline surreal (or rather, apocalyptic). When I (reluctantly) look back at it, I am instantly overwhelmed with a bizarre and bewildering mixture of discordant feelings. However, I am grateful to have persevered, and only time will be able to tell how deep my psychological scars are. Although it is hard to speak of personal accomplishments while the world is crumbling down, I will take the liberty to summon up my brightest moments of this extremely dark year.

My collage obsession continued to grow which resulted in close to 300 new pieces, including three short films which I dubbed 'motion picture books' - Untold, In Search of Tanatos and Seven 77 - brought to life through the music of my friends Jelena Perišić (Kemmer), Predrag Karanjac (Mother Beth vs Blondie) and Marko Dabetić (Tearpalm), respectively. Based on the ideas by NYC-based musician & film director Martin Del Carpio, I created visuals for two of his films, Kindle and LOS, which were officially selected by several festivals. In November, Untold and Seven 77 were screened at the 2nd edition of IMAGE PLAY ► International Video Art Festival beautifully organized and curated by Hernando Urrutia, with the event taking place in the mind-blowing auditorium of the Municipal Theater Baltazar Dias, in Funchal, Portugal. Untold also played as a part of the 15th Fonlad Festival of Video Art and Performance.

MeleM (lit. balm, salve) - my second solo exhibition - was held in cafe bar Julijan Djupon in my hometown of Niš, in July and August, and I took the opportunity to show bits of experimental work by artists with whom I collaborated on numerous occasions - Rouzbeh Rashidi's Homo Sapiens Project (101), Daniel & Clara's Espectros Da Terra and Martin Del Carpio's Auricular Confession. I would like to send many thanks to my friends and family for the support, as well as Julijan Djupon staff for their help in organization, and all the visitors who showed interest in my artwork. September was marked by minimalist, Japan-inspired collages that I designed for the upcoming project by German composer and filmmaker Martin Gerigk, and by a promotion of several collages on the theme of body in non-profit online magazine Libartes (currently, their website is under construction). Three 'chapters' of my extensive Bianco/Nero series - La Culla della Strega, Niccolò: L'Avventura Cosmica i Pulcinella è Morto! - were presented at online exhibition New Balkan organized by artists' platform Vijuga, in October.

Most of October and November were fueled by preparations for the sophomore edition of Kinoskop which I co-curated along with three wonderful, witty and dedicated people - Marko Milićević, Ejla Kovačević and Aleksandra Dalichow. During Zoom Q&A sessions, four of us had the pleasure of meeting and speaking to more than 40 participating filmmakers - the champions of celluloid tape - who were eager to share their insights into creative process and challenges they were faced with, supporting our idea of an analog cinema community. Add to that favorable Vimeo statistics, and Kinoskop 3 is very likely to happen in 2021!

Finally, December saw the publication of the second book by Experimental Film Society, Luminous Void: Twenty Years of Experimental Film Society, to which I am deeply honored to have contributed with five of my essays. Edited by Rouzbeh Rashidi, Maximilian Le Cain and Atoosa Pour Hosseini, Luminous Void 2 'examines the ideas and impulses that animate EFS as well as the practices of many of the filmmakers associated with it' and features texts by 'noted critics and curators from across the globe'. For me, this book represents the most important milestone in my orbiting around EFS so far.

Invigorated by these delightful memories, I move on into 2021, and hope that all of you make the most of it. I wish you good health, frequent strokes of luck and the abundance of art, perhaps in autumnal colors... Happy New Year!

Delight / Imperfection (original size: 100x60cm / 300dpi)

2016 / čestitka

U 2016-oj želim vam da...
... sanjate u kaleidoskopskim bojama.
... muzikom i osmehom razbijate sive misli.
... pronađete svetionik, ako plovite morem očaja.
... se uzdignete kao Žar Ptica, kada vas gurnu u pepeo.
... kreativno ludilo bude jedino ludilo koje će vas obuzimati.
... posetite daleke destinacije, bar uz lepe filmove i dobre knjige.

U znaku osmice

Svim ženama (i sirenama), koje posećuju (ili zaobilaze) NGboo Art, želim srećan 8. mart (ali i svaki drugi dan u godini). U duhu praznika, a kao produžetak nedavno objavljenih listi japanimacija, u nastavku izdvajam osam meni omiljenih anime junakinja, bez rangiranja.

Re-L Mayer (Ergo Proxy, 2006)
Paprika/Chiba Atsuko (Paprika, 2006)

Neimenovana devojčica (Tenshi no Tamago, 1985)

Balsa Yonsa (Seirei no Moribito, 2007)

Miyuki (Tokyo Godfathers, 2003)
Robin Sena (Witch Hunter Robin, 2002)

Rider (Fate/Stay Night, 2006)

Jeanne (Kanashimi no Belladonna, 1973)

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis (Keiichi Satō, 2014)

Svim čitaocima bloga želim da u 2015-oj sve teče glatko poput slika u Satovom najnovijem animeu. ;)
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Pažnju ljubitelja japanske animacije Keiči Sato privlači već rediteljskim debijem, šestodelnom SF OVA-om Karas (2005-2007). 2011. oprobava se u kombinovanju medijske satire i superherojskih tropa (Tiger & Bunny), a 2012. donosi mračnu akcionu melodramu Asura. U 2014-oj, publici se predstavlja sa dva naslova - vizuelno opčinjavajućim, ali ispraznim CGI filmom Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary i TV serijalom Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis (Bahamutov gnev: Postanak), kojim pokazuje da čak i kolekcionarske igre sa kartama (za Android) mogu da posluže kao fina podloga za avanturističku fantaziju veću od života.

Nastao u produkciji jako mladog studija MAPPA, ovaj raskošni spektakl smešten je u alternativnu verziju srednjovekovne Evrope, tj. u magični svet Mistarsija. Nekoliko puta u prošlosti, krilati zmaj Bahamut pretio je apsolutnim uništenjem istog, pa su se ljudi, bogovi i demoni udružili, ne bi li mu zapečatili sudbinu. Nematerijalni (transcendentalni) entitet, uz pomoć kojeg su ga smestili iza čudesne barijere, podeljen je na dva dela. Polovine su poverene silama mraka i svetlosti na čuvanje, sa ciljem da nikada ne budu ponovo sastavljene, jer bi to dovelo do oslobađanja nemani. Dve hiljade godina nakon velike pobede, misteriozna devojka krade Božji Ključ, a "brava" počinje da popušta...

Da je Sato strastveni obožavalac američkih stripova i da je njegov stil pod uticajem "ljubavi prema svemu što je nostalgično" primećuje se u svakoj od dvanaest epizoda. Delom provejava duh zapadnjačke kulture, čineći ga primamljivijim široj publici, ali se da osetiti i snažna težnja za spajanjem prividno nespojivog, karakteristična za odvažnije autore animea. Bahamutov gnev poseduje energiju holivudskih blokbastera, sadrži reference na vesterne, francusku istoriju i klasične "swashbuckle" filmove, a temelji se na dekonstrukciji mitova, prevashodno starogrčkih i judeo-hrišćanskih. U jednom trenutku, na istom mestu "sudaraju" se (preobražena) Devica iz Orleana, Belzebub (sa svetlećim repom) i Bahus u pratnji Hanse, svetog patka koji govori i koga vređa kada ga nazivaju ljubimcem. U priči o borbi protiv ništavila kao sporedni akteri pojavljuju se Azazel i Lucifer (sa imidžom goth-bishōnen-a), arhanđeli Mihailo, Gavrilo, Rafailo i Urilo (ili bolje reći Gavrila, Rafaila i Urila?), "lolifikovani" Kerber, a našlo se mesta i za razjarenog Pazuzua. (Da li treba dodati da se kao vrhovna božanstva spominju Zevs i Satana?) Iako malo ko od njih dobija dovoljno prostora, dizajner Naojuki Onda i glasovni glumci daju sve od sebe da ih uzdignu iznad nivoa kartonskih isečaka.

Sa druge strane, kvartet glavnih junaka funkcioniše savršeno uprkos nesavršenosti, neretko iskačući iz okvira stereotipa. Na trnjem posut put samootkrivanja slatka kradljivica Amira polazi vođena željom da se vrati majci, nesvesna prave svrhe svog postojanja. U potragu, koja bi trebalo da se završi u ozloglašenom Helhejmu, uvlači Favara Leonea, sebičnog i razmetljivog lovca na ucene, koji živi od danas do sutra i ne razmišlja previše o posledicama sopstvenih postupaka. Ovaj simpatični probisvet i ljupka dama u nevolji (sa rožnatim naličjem) upoznaju se igrom sudbine i "belih laži", a gledaocu brzo prirastaju za srce, baš kao i jednako ekscentričan ostatak atipične četvorke protagonista. Favarov suparnik Kaizar Lidford, čovek čvrstih uverenja i osramoćeni vitez koji se tvrdoglavo pridržava koda časti, i samopouzdana nekromanserka Rita, mnogo mudrija i kompetentnija nego što izgleda (osveženje u panteonu najzanimljivijih animiranih devojčica), znatno intenziviraju dinamiku njihovih odnosa, začinjujući dramu sitnim, ali ne i nebitnim konfliktima.

Luckasta i detinjasta Amira, za čijim petama su viša bića i armija pod komandom Jovanke Orleanke, ne deluje kao da je sposobna da potpuno sama izvede rizičnu akciju, ali ona i nije vrhovni antagonista. Njeno neznanje i povremeni nagoveštaji ljudi, anđela i demona, uzrujanih zbog završetka relativno mirne ere, ukazuju na nihilistički nastrojenog puppet master-a, odgovornog za čitavo zamešateljstvo sa Bahamutom. A identitet nevaljalca koji iz senke povlači konce otkriven je u donekle neočekivanom preokretu, tokom klimaktičnog epiloga.

Najimpresivniji aspekti animea su oni tehničke prirode - zadivljujuća mešavina 2D i 3D animacije, kakva u TV produkciji nije skoro viđena, i epske vokalno-instrumentalne kompozicije, koje verno prate vatromet boja i pokreta. Već spomenuti Onda (Gantz, Ergo Proxy, Blassreiter, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc) potvrđuje se kao vanserijski crtač likova, dok se Jošihiro Ike, Satov stalni saradnik, ne ustručava da skor obogati latino zvucima, dajući novi smisao pojedinim scenama. Posvećenost detaljima pri iscrtavanju i oslikavanju kostima, rekvizita, najrazličitijih lokacija, facijalnih ekspresija i prevoznih sredstava (posebno Azazelove leteće tvrđave) uočljiva je u svakom frejmu, tako da sočnih slatkiša za oči ima u izobilju. Pohvale vredne su i pesme sa uvodne i odjavne špice, koje naglašavaju eklektičnost Bahamutovog gneva - žestoko-melodična EXiSTENCE, u izvođenju ska-pank-metalkor sastava SiM i nežna balada Promised Land Rize Šimicu, koja stoji iza Amirinog glasa.

Sato i ekipa gaze po dobro utabanom terenu, ali im ipak polazi za rukom da stvore osobenu, zabavnu, maštovitu i uzbudljivu fantastičnu sagu, po kvalitetu konstantnu od prvog do poslednjeg minuta.

Čestitka za četrnaestu

Da nam Nova bude plava, zdrava i vijugava! ;)

Rekapitulacija 2.0.1.2.

Pre nego što se osvrnem na albume koji su me proteklih 365 dana najviše inspirisali i najdraža dugometražna ostvarenja sedme umetnosti, koja sam premijerno odgledao u 2012-oj, svim posetiocima bloga poželeću zdravu, avangardnu, nadrealnu, oniričnu, simetričnu, neobičnu i uspešnu 2013-u godinu.

~12 albuma~

1. Karneval / Movies (electro-pop-opera)

2. 22 / Flux (prog-pop / "new energy musik")

3. Star of Ash / Lakhesis (neoclassical-avantgarde-metal)

4. Harvest / Chasing Time (neo-prog-rock)

5. The Gathering / Disclosure (ambient-prog-rock)

6. Madder Mortem / Eight Ways (prog-metal)

7. Djerv / Djerv (agressive-rock)

8. Of Monsters and Men / My Head Is an Animal (indie-folk-pop-rock)

9. Katatonia / Dead End Kings (dark-rock)

10. Anneke van Giersbergen / Everything Is Changing (melodic-rock)

11. Skunk Anansie / Black Traffic (alt-rock)

12. The Cranberries / Roses (alt-pop-rock)

~12 igranih filmova vol. I~

Na ovoj listi se, raspoređeni prema godini nastanka, nalaze filmovi o kojima ovde nije bilo reči, budući da su me mnogi ostavili bez teksta. Ovako objedinjeni, verovatno deluju kao eksplozivan multižanrovski koktel. Od antologijskog dela nemačkog ekspresionizma do horor-fantazije koja počiva na logici košmara, sigurno ćete pronaći makar jedan po svom ukusu, bilo da je reč o alegoričnoj crnohumornoj dramediji, intimnoj i paradoksalnoj slagalici, nihilistički obojenoj ljubavnoj priči, istorijskoj melodrami bez dijaloga ili porodičnoj sagi na tragu Fellinijevog Amarcord-a...

1. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (F. W. Murnau, 1922)
2. Rope (Alfred Hitchcock, 1948)
3. Spalovač mrtvol (Juraj Herz, 1969)
4. Yuke yuke nidome no shōjo (Kōji Wakamatsu, 1969)
5. Trois Couleurs: Rouge (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)
6. Besieged (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1998)

7. Youth Without Youth (Francis Ford Coppola, 2007)

8. Martyrs (Pascal Laugier, 2008)

9. Baarìa (Giuseppe Tornatore, 2009)
10. Келін (Ермек Тұрсынов, 2009)
11. The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (W. Herzog, 2009)
12. Livide (Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury, 2011)

~12 igranih filmova vol. II~

Volume II obuhvata naslove
o kojima ste ponešto mogli da pročitate na NGboo Art-u.

1. Beyond the Black Rainbow (Panos Cosmatos, 2010)
2. The Mill and the Cross (Lech Majewski, 2011)
3. Keyhole (Guy Maddin, 2011)
4. Кауышу (Аманжол Айтуаров, 1989)
5. Démanty noci (Jan Němec, 1964)
6. Silvestre (João César Monteiro, 1982)
7. Nic (Dorota Kedzierzawska, 1998)
8. Szerelmem, Elektra (Miklós Jancsó, 1974)
9. Los santos sucios (Luis Ortega, 2009)
10. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
11. Jōhatsu tabinikki (Isao Yamada, 2003)
12. Hua Pi Er (Wuershan, 2012)

~12 animiranih filmova~

1. Fehérlófia (Marcell Jankovics, 1981)

2. Hells Angels (Yoshiki Yamakawa, 2008)

3. Shōjo Kakumei Utena (Kunihiko Ikuhara, 1999)

4. Az ember tragédiája (Marcell Jankovics, 2011)

5. Alois Nebel (Tomáš Luňák, 2011)

6. Momo e no Tegami (Hiroyuki Okiura, 2011)

7. Hashire, Melos! (Masaaki Ōsumi, 1992)
8. Přežít svůj život (teorie a praxe) (Jan Švankmajer, 2010) 

9. $9.99 (Tatia Rosenthal, 2008)

10. From Inside (John Bergin, 2008)

11. Dae gi eui wang (Sang-ho Yeon, 2011)

12. Brave (Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman & Steve Purcell, 2012) - Iako ne pomera granice u pogledu teme koju obrađuje (odnos stroge majke i buntovne kćeri), Brave donosi pun džak osmeha, koje neretko izazvaju brižljivo osmišljeni sporedni likovi, na kakve su nas Piksarovci navikli. Očekivano velelepna vizuelizacija prožeta je odličnim saundtrekom, inspirisanim tradicionalnom keltskom muzikom, dok nas sjajna glumačka postava, na čelu sa Kelly Macdonald, Billyjem Connollyjem i Emmom Thompson, podseća na to koliko je škotski akcenat neodoljiv...

Nadrealna soba za okupljanje (N.S. LXI) / Muzički predah uz Guano Apes

Svim posetiocima bloga, uključujući i one koji svraćaju slučajno, želim Zdravu, Ekstravagantnu i Nadrealnu dve hiljade i dvan'estu. Da dobijete bar jedan par krila, kako ne biste morali da trošite benzin i noge (iako je dobro protegnuti ih s vremena na vreme), da provučete šest kamila kroz iglene uši, a sedmu kroz beskraj i da Vam bujni snovi češće padaju na jastuk, čak i onda kada niste gladni.

I budite veseli kao veliki ružičasti zec. ;)

Nadrealna struktura XLII

~Plus Jedna / Plus One~

Svim čitaocima bloga želim da iduća godina bude
bar za nijansu srećnija od ove... :)