JOSIP ŠURLIN
Procession, 2018
three pieces; wood, aluminum, black enamel, 100 x 100 cm (each piece)
photographs: Tomo Jeseničnik
The work Procession is a wall triptych comprised of three wooden panels with aluminum objects and texts. Each panel carries one aluminum form and its surface is painted using black enamel paint. On these flat aluminum forms, in the same black color, texts are printed. Aluminum objects on the panels are silhouettes of an Egyptian hieroglyph amenta that represents the West Bank of the Nile River or a place synonymous with the underworld. Texts printed on the aluminum surfaces are taken from the sign network of underground parking garages. These include signs indicating space organization and restriction (SECTION 5, ONE WAY ONLY, 8'-2" CLEARANCE). By combining different language systems (signs, ideograms, letters) the triptych Procession compares two types of transit spaces – those linked to the Egyptian religion and others with real features of utilitaristic spaces for cars. Both of the aforementioned spaces connote transience. They are reduced, either through mysticism and belief to resemble metaphysical stretches where souls reside or through exaggerated practicality of consumerism to function as lifeless concrete orbits that enclose masses of customers. Arriving or departing from these structures enhances their character, as these gestures are the only notable mode of function for which, said spaces, were imagined or constructed. In this triptych transience is explored in forms/signs and it becomes a metaphor for different types of massively popular consumerist establishments.