Mala galerija Banke Slovenije
About exhibition
The exhibition About the Wall (O steni) is the continuation of a multi-year project by Tim Topić, a student of visual communication design at UL ALUO. As the title of the project conveys, the work originates from the wall of the photography studio at the Academy. In the process, which linked the fields of photography and restoration, the first iteration of the project involved Topić using liquid photographic emulsion to enlarge directly on the studio wall an analogue gelatin silver photographic print of closed window blinds. A year later students of the master’s programme in restoration, under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Dr Blaž Šeme and in cooperation with the artist, transferred the photograph to a new surface.
This exhibition is the result of that collaboration, the so-called Wall, which is a wall no longer, since it has been separated from its original context. The stand-alone object sheds light on the relationship between art and craft, and between the process and the final work. In the exhibition the Wall is countered by a photograph of the restored original wall, which displays the absence of the image and addresses the relationship between the photograph, the process and the presented artwork. The photograph is presented in a distinctly classical way – as a framed, “untouchable and upassable”, two-dimensional object – and represents a contrast to the stand-alone object placed in the space. Their dialogue hints at their own history (mythology) without any overt expression – presenting the state of “now” (if it is even possible to speak of a photographic present tense).
The project is founded on the link between artistic production and the supporting expertise of the restoration and conservation of works of art, which rarely encounter each other during the creative process. The knowledge and motivations in both indeed simultaneously and reciprocally informed the object that was created. Nevertheless its essence – and this is also true of Topić – is consistently photographic. He devotes himself in a deeply considered way to the relationship between the photographic medium and its printing surface, since the work cuts into the connection between image and surface, between the photograph as a window to the world and the wall as an architectural barrier, between the photograph of the barrier and the barrier of the photograph, between the visible and invisible, between appearance and reality.
Exhibition by: Tim Topić
Mentors: Asst. Prof. Peter Rauch, Assoc. Prof. Peter Koštrun (Department of Visual Communication Design, UL ALUO)
Mala Galerija curator: Hana Čeferin
Production: University of Ljubljana
Restorers: Eva Koren, Viktorija Peternel, Michelle Vidovič Mentor: Assoc. Prof. Dr Blaž Šeme
(Department of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art, UL ALUO)
Assistance with photography: Jaka Babnik
Assistance with planning of supporting structures: David Kosi
Accompanying events
Public guided tour
Restoration: From the wall to the Wall
(the artist and restorers will guide visitors through the exhibition)
Tuesday, 21 January at 4 pm
Lecture
Peter Rauch: Two Walls
Saturday, 8 February, 4 pm
* Both events will be held in Slovene.
