Zlatan Vukoslavljevic

“ERWARTUNG”

Part 1

"Erwartung" by Schönberg written in 1909  no longer functions as simply an aria but a registration of a traumatic shock for opera itself. (It is  sometimes referred to as the end of opera.)  A solitary woman moves across the stage and from one delusion to another.  At one point she believes she finds the body of her dead lover, it is another delusion and the body remains in darkness.  She continues to be  alone on the stage until the end of the performance.  Expectation, "Ewartung,"  is her drive in this long process of mourning.

It is this very split that connects the woman with the lover (the other).  In Eastern Serbia , where I grew up, tradition dictates that when somebody dies a black flag is fixed flat to the wall of the house.  The names and dates of the deceased are written in white paint on this black flag.  These flags remain on the houses for over a year becoming a temporary memorial.

It is my proposal to affix a square 3-meter flag to the façade of the Museums Quartier building.  “Erwartung 28.6.1914” would be written on top signifying the day the nations of Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire split from their turbulent and often tense relations never to reconnect as the same two entities again.  On that day a young Serbian extremist  from the underground organization "Black Hand" killed a  militant successor to the Austrian throne.  Since the split that occurred that day and the geo-political changes that effected both the Austro-Hungarian Empire as been a traumatic impossibility of communication; a deadlock.

In the field of psychoanalytic study  it is not uncommon to hear accusations that the Serbian and Austrian has yet to work  (durcharbeit)  through their past regarding this period of time because they are not yet ready to renounce it.  With  this  square black flag  hung on the front  of the Museums Quartier it is my modest attempt to begin a process of proper mourning.

Part 2

Adjoining the flag “Erwartung” installation I would like to create a weekly flyer that would be distributed at the Museums Quartier, possibly on the street also.  This flyer, in a newspaper-like format, would consist of writings and images relating to the project.  For this part of the project I would invite other artists too to participate in this process.  The entire collection of flyers would then be bound to complete a simple catalogue for “Erwartung” at the Museums Quartier.

Zlatan Vukosavljevic 2006

Project Zlatan Vukosasvljevic
Book project  printing and Installation for Koje38 Salzburg

Statement

I have been invited by Schlebrugge Editors to finished the book project that we started on my first Artist-in-Residency Q21visit to Vienna.

During my time in 2006 I have finished layout and printing of the book. Book was printed in June. It was great to be in Vienna to control 
the process of printing. Title of the book: FEMA & FORTUNA COWLLAGES in collaboration with Jason Rhoades.

At the same time I have been working on the installation presented in the show Devil’s Sonata at Koje38 Salzburg. It was grate to have studio at Q21 to develop my installation project .

During my stay in Vienna I have started a collaboration project with 3 Austrian artists for the exhibition in Remont Belgrade. Title of the project is Field Works and it should happen in May 2007.

Thanks to kind invitation by Schlebrugge Editors and Q21. My stay in Vienna was highly productive.