[artinfo] (fwd) Miss Croatia & Miss Brasil Read Zizek & Chomsky

[Janos Sugar]

>Dear Friends,=20
>We feel that it is very important that we inform you about the unpleasant
>incident which is happening even as we write on the relation Sanja
>Ivekovic - state policy. A state selector has invited Sanja Ivekovic to
>represent the state on the Sao Paolo Biennal. But when Sanja Ivekovic
>submitted the project "Miss Croatia & Miss Brasil Read Zizek & Chomsky" the
>state selector has, using laughable and confused arguments, more exactly th=
e
>totally unprovoked "doubt that of this project will be realized in full and
>on time", refused any possibility that this project could represent the
>state on the Sao Paolo Biennal. There is no further need to explain, if you
>only took a casual look at the project, what  the misunderstanding between
>the artist and the state is. What we would particularly like to underscore
>here is that it is quite unfortunate, for both sides, when state "has" an
>artist wiser than itself.=20
>Kindest regards,=20
>Branimir Stojanovic & Milica Tomic=20
>Beograd, 8. 1. 2002=20
>
>-- Original proposal:=20
>To:Noam Chomsky, philosopher     =20
>Slavoj Zizek, philosopher=20
>Re: art project by Sanja Ivekovic =ABMiss Croatia and Miss Brazil Read=
 Zizek and Chomsky=BB
>to be presented at 25th Sao Paolo Biennial (March 23 - June 2, 2002)=20
>
>CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT=20
>At the forthcoming Sao Paolo Biennal of Contemporary Art  that is happening
>this year under the theme =ABMetropolitan Iconographies=BB and among the ar=
tists
>that are selected by national curators  I will be representing Croatia. For
>this purpose  I would kindly ask  you for your collaboration.. Namely,
>regarding the main theme of the Biennal, I conceived the video-installation
>entitled "Miss Croatia and Miss Brasil Read Zizek and Chomsky".The project
>has been enthusiastically supported by Alfons Hug, the chief curator of Sao
>Paolo Biennal.=20
>ABOUT THE ARTIST=20
>I am a visual artist, born in Zagreb, Croatia where I teach  at The Women's=
=20
>Studies in Zagreb. I have been involved in the Anti-war Campain in Croatia
>(Arkzin) and was a founding memeber of several local NGOs. Her art
>production has spanned a range of media such as video, performance,
>photography and installations. In my artistic practice I always address
>different aspects of  social reality, with a special concern as  to the
>impact of the mass-media in the process of construction of public opinion. =
I
>do not consider the area of art as autonomous and neutral, but indeed as a
>social practice which constructs our idea of reality. In that sense, all of
>my works are explicitly  (gender)sensitive, as well as critical towards
>various social phenomena.=20
>ABOUT THE PROJECT=20
>Conceiving her Sao Paolo project I was fully aware of the fact that to
>exhibit at a big and important international exhibition such as the Biennal=
,
>means to appear in the function of  national representation, where the
>organizing principle can be compared to other kinds of national
>representation, for example to the Miss World selection. =20
>On the other side, in recent times such exhibitions attract remarcable
>attention from the media and they  basically function  in much the same way
>as show-business.=20
>Aiming to address and to question stereotypes such as femininity, spectacle=
,
>national representation, as well as to stress the fact that contemporary
>visual culture (including art) cannot avoid the rules of consumer society
>and global power structure,  I decided to produce two video tapes of Miss
>Croatia and Miss Brasil reading texts written by two contemporary
>philosophers which she admire greatly. Her decision to select these two
>philosophers is based not only on their world fame but also on the fact tha=
t
>both philosophers are well known for their analitical and highly critical
>writings on contemporary consumerism, i.e. on the notion of spectacle
>characteristic to consumer society.For example, after the attack on WTC,
>Zizek and Chomsky immediately published a brilliant analysis of its causes
>and possible consequences.=20
>For the purpose of presenting the original art work for Sao Paolo Biennal
>( to be shown as a video-installation consisting of two simultaneous video
>projections) I would  kindly ask you to produce a short text  which would b=
e
>written for this purpose. We would especiallybe  interested in working with
>texts that deal with subjects such as the culture of resistance,
>globalization, i.e. politics and present everyday life.=20
>THE PRODUCTION & SCHEDULE=20
>I am  fully aware that this is a terribly late call. We would be very
>grateful to receive the texts in about a week or so.=20
>I would like to infom you that , miss Rajna Raguz and miss Sandisleia
>Guiterrez have both already accepted the proposal to take part in this
>project.According to my concept  the shooting of the videos will take place
>on several locations in Zagreb and Sao Paolo where they will be reading the
>texts addressing  the camera directly. Miss Croatia and miss Brazil will be
>reading in their native language Croatian and Portuguese and in English.The
>duration of each video (edited) will be around 15 min.The schedule for the
>shooting of the videos is planned for the 11, 12, 13. of January (Zagreb)
>and the 16, 17, 18. of February (Sao Paolo).=20
>I am are very much looking forward to your collaboration in this project. =
=20
>Again, we would like to apologize for  this haste.=20
>Thank you in advance,=20
>Sincerely=20
>Sanja Ivekovic, artist=20
=20