DOMINIK ŠTIBERNIK
Drawing Inland
November 23 —
January 5, 2024
Drawing Inland
November 23 —
January 5, 2024
LOCATION
RAVNIKAR GALLERY
Vošnjakova ulica 4
1000 Ljubljana
RAVNIKAR GALLERY
Vošnjakova ulica 4
1000 Ljubljana
CURATOR
Pia Miklič
Pia Miklič
PHOTOGRAPHER
Mario Zupanov
Mario Zupanov
︎︎︎STATEMENT
Does the internal navigate between the frames set by the external, or is it the other way around? Perhaps it is the absence of the inner that conditions the presence of the outer and inhabits the expectation of its filling. Whether it is a learned or innate impulse, it is so internalized that the external itself often seems empty and undescribed, waiting for content, just as the conscious is incomplete without its opposite sphere of the unconscious. The latter can be observed in the work of Dominik Štibernik, called Second Untitled, which in its minimalist manner strongly resembles Rauchenberg's "white paintings," but mainly reflects the absence itself and the need to fill it.
The exhibition Drawing Inland introduces the view from the outside to the inside, the conscious to the unconscious, and provides a space for judging the value of one without the other. The ground floor is filled with artistic artifacts characterized by a conceptual reflection on the formal and the framework of the real. The juxtaposition of completely white painter's canvases, wrapped in the original packaging of plastic film, represents reality still unwrapped and untouched by life experiences, or the exterior, cleansed of the inner world. It could be interpreted as a kind of sterile archetype. It is governed by form but is ironically accompanied by the author's unspoken inner impulses.
The installation, with a pedestal as its central object and an alienated entity unknown to the viewer, teases with its vagueness. Due to the absence of an object of presentation in the form of an art artifact, which, as a rule, fills the space above the pedestal, the object of interest is easily diverted elsewhere. The previously side-lined object of the pedestal takes on a substantive dimension, and the setting draws attention to the ever-present dual nature of the object and its value: object-subject.
The separation of external and internal substance not only consolidates the dichotomy of being but also introduces a third sphere. It is an undefined space between the conscious and the unconscious, a field where two meet in one. The artist addresses this in-betweenness with a work that represents an impression of an object with conceptual value. The object receives a new "external" form of casting without a deeper component, in which only the memory of its original resides.
The basement exhibition space is ruled by the spiritual world of the unconscious, guided by hidden existence and sublime fullness of experience. The Drawer series (2022–2023) is embodied in everyday objects that, through their exposed attributes, appeal to anything but the mundane. They take on the qualities of a deeper entity and embody the inner self.
Dominik Štibernik (1993) is an intermedial artist of the younger generation who graduated in 2019 from the field of spatial conceptualization at the Academy of Visual Arts (AVA) in Ljubljana. In his practice, he studies and recreates everyday occurrences, which he then places in an artistic context. Through the processual, almost performative use of materials and objects, he observes their relationship with the outside world and reconceptualizes their visuality and artistic value. Since 2018, he has already presented his work at several group and solo exhibitions. After finishing his studies, he started working as an assistant to a member of the IRWIN group - Miran Mohar, who remains a mentor in his artistic activity to this day.
Ali notranje krmari med okviri, ki jih zastavlja zunanje, ali je obratno? Morda je odsotnost notranjega tista, ki pogojuje prisotnost zunanjega in naseli pričakovanje po njegovi zapolnitvi. Naj bo to priučen ali prirojen vzgib, je ta tako ponotranjen, da zunanje samo po sebi venomer deluje prazno in nepopisano, čakajoč na vsebino, tako kot je zavestno nepopolno brez svoje nasprotne si sfere nezavednega. Prav slednje lahko opazujemo pri delu Dominika Štibernika, imenovanem Second untitled, ki se v svoji minimalistični maniri močno prilikuje Rauchenbergovim »belim slikam«, reflektira pa predvsem odsotnost samo in potrebo po njeni zapolnitvi.
Razstava Drawing Inland uvaja pogled od zunanjega k notranjemu, zavestnega k nezavednemu in vpeljuje prostor za presojanje vrednosti enega brez drugega. Pritličje zapolnjujejo umetniški artefakti, ki jih zaznamuje konceptualni razmislek o formalnem in o okvirih stvarnega. Sopostavitev povsem belih slikarskih platen, ovitih v originilano embalažo plastične folije, predstavlja še neodvito in s strani življenskih izkustev nedotaknjeno stvarnost oziroma zunanjost, očiščeno notranjega sveta. Interpretirali bi jo lahko kot nekakšen arhetip sterilnega. Vlada ji forma, obenem pa jo v ironiji spremljajo neizgovorjeni notranji vzgibi avtorja.
Instalacija s piedestalom kot njenim osrednjim predmetom z odtujeno, gledalcu neznano, entiteto draži s svojo nedorečenostjo. Zaradi odsotnosti objekta predstavitve v obliki umetniškega artefakta, ki praviloma zapolnjuje prostor nad piedestalom, se predmet zanimanja neobremenjeno preusmerja drugam. Prej postranski objekt piedestala prevzema vsebinsko dimenzijo, postavitev pa opozarja na venomer prisotno dvojno naravo predmeta in njegovo vrednost: objekt-subjekt.
Razdvajanje zunanje in notranje substance ne utrjuje zgolj dihotomije bivanja, temveč uvaja še tretjo sfero. Gre za nedefiniran medprostor med zavednim in nezavednim, polje, kjer se dvoje srečuje v enem. To vmesnost umetnik nagovarja z delom, ki predstavlja odtis objekta s konceptualno vrednostjo. Objekt prejema novo “zunanjo” formo odlitka brez globlje komponente, v katerem prebiva zgolj spomin na njegov original.
Kletnim razstavnim prostorom vlada duhovni svet nezavednega, ki ga vodi skrita eksistenca in vzvišena polnost izkustva. Serija predalov (2022–2023) se uteleša v vsakdanjih predmetih, ki preko izpostavljenih atributov apelirajo vse prej kot na posvetno. Prevzemajo lastnosti globlje entitete in poosebljajo notranjost samo.
Dominik Štibernik (1993) je intermedijski umetnik mlajše generacije, ki je leta 2019 diplomiral iz smeri konceptualizacija prostora na Akademiji za vizualne umetnosti (AVA) v Ljubljani. V svoji praksi proučuje in poustvarja pojavnost vsakdana, ki jo nato vmešča v umetniški kontekst. Skozi procesualno, skoraj performativno rabo materialov in objektov opazuje njihovo odnostnost z zunanjim svetom, njihovo vizualnost ter umetniško vrednost pa osmišlja na novo. Svoje delo je od leta 2018 predstavil že na več skupinskih in samostojnih razstavah. Po končanem študiju je začel delovati kot asistent pri članu skupine IRWIN – Miranu Moharju, ki še danes ostaja mentor njegovega umetniškega udejstvovanja.
︎︎︎INSTALLATION VIEWS
