[spectre] exhibition: Darko Fritz: Archives in Progress (projects 1987 – 2007) . Zagreb

[darko fritz]

Croatian Artist Association . Ring Gallery . Zagreb

exhibition:

Darko Fritz: Archives in Progress (projects 1987 – 2007)

9. - 21. 10 . 2007.

Opening Tuesday 9th 2007. 20 - 22 h.

The exhibition presents Darko Fritz's artistic projects created from  
1987 to 2007. Some of them lasted for as long as five years.

The exhibition explores the possibilities of use of archival media  
(audio-visual media) for art purposes and “pure information” as an  
art form, so that in a gallery display it is conceived as a “film in  
space”.

Twelve units, which are independent audio-visual displays, present  
all together ten individual and two group art projects by Darko  
Fritz. Through the presentation by means of audio-visual archives,  
all in all more than two hundred art objects, gallery installations,  
art installations in public space, contextual projects, video works,  
photographs, Internet projects, and other art forms and formats are  
shown.

Audio-visual displays on projects contain photo and video  
documentation material collected since 1987, now adapted for gallery  
set-up. Audio-visual displays use the video medium in the hybrid form  
of documentary film (with a voice of professional narrator), art  
documentation, film animation, and video art. The photo documentation  
and video material originally stored in diverse video formats, some  
of which are today difficult to access (for example U-matic video),  
are digitalised and re-formatted.

Audio-visual displays enable the insight into the context of  
particular projects, which is sometimes not discernible from a single  
segment of a work. Particular project segments have been constructed  
to function as separate works of art, e.g. one of the photographs  
from the “End of the Message” series. The context of the work is  
broadened with the insight into a series of photographs, and by  
further insight into the story - which works had preceded this  
segment before and followed it through the entire five-year project -  
the context is uncovered, which is a work in itself. This kind of  
context can be presented through different forms, like printed and  
electronic publications, Internet documents or video. It is precisely  
this kind of video work that this exhibition consists of. On the  
other hand, many particular works had their material manifestation in  
the passage of time, so that it is not possible to display them in  
their original context again, as for example art works in flower  
installation form in public areas of Amsterdam, Linz, Zadar, Zagreb  
and Fuerteventura.

The exhibition will be accompanied with the catalogue and a DVD  
edition by the end of 2007. The catalogue editors are Silva Kalčić  
and Darko Fritz. Texts by: Goran Blagus, Nataša Ilić, Silva  
Kalčić, Leonida Kovač, Eric Kluitenberg, Geert Lovink, Vesna  
Madžorski, Zvonko Maković i Inka Schube.


The exhibition presents the following projects:

The Imitation of Life Studio [1987 - 1990]
Cathedral  [1988]
3 x Moscow Intershadow  [1992]
Theatre Time  [1994]
Keep the Frequency Clear  [1994 - 1995]
Error Reports [1995 - 1997]
End of the Message [1995 - 2000]
XXX [body . technology . desire . porno] [1997 -->]
space=space [1998 - 2003.]
time=money=time=  [2000 - 2001.]
Internet Error Messages [2001 -->]
Migrant Navigator [2001 -->]

Group projects:
The Imitation of Life Studio: Darko Fritz, Željko Serdarevic
Cathedral: Bakal, Fritz, Juzbasic, Marusic, Premec
space=space, 1999: Fritz, Arapovic
p.sound remix [part of the XXX project]: network art


January 2008 the exhibition will be on display at the Museum of  
Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka.

Thanks to: Sarah Cook and The BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art,  
Gateshad.

More information on the work of Darko Fritz: http://darkofritz.net

Croatian Artist Association: http://www.hdlu.hr