Light and time in Passing
Dušan Marinković, in his photographs of deserted villas and old locomotives, shows us a world, which despite numerous changes, continues to exist and function. One of his objects of attention is Pina’s villa in Zrenjanin. Although it has been vacant for a long time, it abounds in traces of its rich history. The imposing building had many tenants: from affluent families before World War II to a medical laboratory and antituberculosis center after the war. Today, the villa is a station for homeless, but also an inspiration for artists which used this authentic space for an exhibition named „Museum of destruction“. Details in photographs tell us about numerous changes which took place in these mansions built more than hundred years ago: old and even older TV sets, stacked in corners, disassembled office chairs, graffitti with names of rock bands, images of oldfashioned decoration with tiny flowers emerging under a layer of wallpaint, probably a document of its former lavish ambient. On the other hand – photographs of a crack in the wall resembling hourhands; doors and windows bathing in sunlight, seem to transport us from one dimension to another. In images captured at Yrenjanin railway station, artist’s preoccupation with empty space can be recognized as well. Still, as opposed to fluid, transparent athmosphere of deserted villa’s, object in the second series of photographs are massive and compact. This is especially evident in images of large halls and monumental locomotives. Although they seem nonfunctional, these old locomotives arrive from many European cities for reconstruction, only to be returned to operation. In both segments of the exhibition, Dušan Marinković uses light as one of the main elements of the picture, while old layers of wallpaint and a mash of wire and metal construction enliven otherwise simple, but carefully constructed motivs. Balancing quite, static composition with playful web of lines found on surfaces of object, Dušan Marinković intertwines permanence and eternity with transition and transformation.
Aleksandra Nećakov
On color photos from the cycle “Light and Time in Passage”, the artist deals with the problem of duration and disappearance. Photographs carry an emphasized artistic sensibility. Marinkovic photographed the interior of old houses in whose dense and dilapidated walls, he finds enformel layers or abstract compositions. These ambients, which connects the time of destruction with them and their forgotten worlds, are illuminated by Wermer’s mystical light that, in collaboration with matter, creates an atmosphere of surrealism.
Jasmina Tutorov
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Photographic project named “Light and time passing by” constitutes a course of 35 photographs, portraying interiors of the two abandoned villas (A Pin villa and Šubert’s villa ), as well as the interior and exterior of the wagon and train factory “Šinvoz”. All three sites are located in the City of Zrenjanin. When framing, there is a noticeable tendency for the documentarism, which contains symmetry, visual art and formal shape. Villas that are mentioned reflect the idea of impermanence, as a time category, and legacy of past times, which are doomed. These spaces are becoming no more than silent witnesses of the former life that happened within these walls, while in reality they are romantic – lurid rooms. The light has found its place within the rooms of these ruins, where it creates shapes of refraction, color and shadow. Light beams pull the spectator from the sentimental dimension to other dimension – the harsh reality of helplessness. Scenes from “Šinvoz” indicate fascination with space that exudes rustic architectural scenery, with the presence of absence on them. Recordings from the railroad reflect ruggedness and structural strength. Wagons, left behind and rusted, resemble the giant toys which outgrew an entire society. The aim of the project is a different type of documentary photography, with composition frames that display both artistic and architectural forms on which the light refracts, showing the bitter image of such facilities, for which better times are certainly not ahead.
FORMATS AND DIMENSIONS OF WORKS
Dyptich: 140×70 cm; on foam base. All other photographs 60×40 cm; print on foam base. This project was made by Zenit, 35 mm film (analog photography).
