A project which explores the concept of dystopia through the space prism, objects and material, using dystopia as described in the novels and movies from the 20th and 21st century, will be presented on the exhibition ‘Spatial Odyssey: Destination Dystopia’, by the artist Milica Denković.

The audience will be able to see the exhibition online on the official Facebook pages of Cultural Stations from 7 p.m.

On the exhibition, the audience will get a chance to see ten micro scenes with objects from everyday life, with or without interventions and in combination with different materials, from plexiglass to styrofoam. Using the surface of the stands they were put on, objects will tell certain stories.

‘Some of the objects are the kitchen sieve, big Zippo lighter, injections, protective gloves, anatomical doll for drawing, black notebooks, flashlight and batteries, table lamp, books, kindle, passport, test tubes, pill boxes, protective glasses… Naming an object after object like this really doesn’t mean anything, not until we connect them with other objects and materials on the micro scenes, but also with printed text, picture or some additional text which gives it context’, explains the artist.Milica Denković says she came up with this idea during the pandemic, while thinking about materials all of us use daily.

‘The plexiglass is used as the beginning of the exhibition, and then again in one part of the setting – it’s an essential material now for the production of various types of the spacers we can see in the shops, banks and taxis. I use plexiglass as an element of both scenography and dramaturgy, where it represents fences or walls, symbolizing the distance and isolation, but it also represents the chance of being observed, because, if a scene demands the observation, the walls can’t hide us from that’, adds Milica.

In the physical sense, this exhibition uses the recommended distance of one and a half meters, but between the stands. It’s not possible to experience the exhibition choreographically, because it’s digital, but the artist says that this alternative way of presenting her work is not an obstacle but a new opportunity for the ideas in the future.

‘Current situation influences art in so far that it is dictating the form of presenting the work to the audience – the digital form. I think that’s how I’ll think about presenting my work, I’ll think about some kind of connection between the physical and the digital, or how one could present their work of art only digitally’, says Milica Denković.
For an artist, whose practice means exploring the phenomenon of the space, from physical to imaginary, the topic of dystopia was the next logical step after the exhibitions about the space in fantasy and horror: the labyrinths, passages, panoramas. A dystopian space is another type of space that can be found in fiction and that can be explored artistically.

‘This exhibition asks us to judge if our reality is far away from the fictional world. If fiction is one step away from reality, we should think of some ways to sabotage it, so that we can walk freely’, concludes the artist.

‘Spatial Odyssey: Destination Dystopia’ is one of the 22 projects given funds on the open call ’Artists.Now!’ by the Foundation ’Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’, whose aim is to strengthen the local cultural scene, raise their capacities through network of cultural stations, decentralise culture and increase the audience.

Partner in the project ‘Artists. Now!’ is the Merkator S company.

Photo Credit: V. Veličković