EVA PETRIC
GR@Y MATTER - THE LANGUAGE OF SHADOWS
Eva Petrič, Gr@y Matter - language of shadows, Art Statement for the exhibition at the gallery Kresija, Ljubljana, February. 2010.
My project Gr@y Matter - language of shadows (consisting of the book of the artist, the periodic table of shadowed emotions, the photo installation of semitransparent prints of shadows and the newspaper action involving a broader audience) deals with the ability of shadows to communicate, which I translated into the language of emotions. My aim is to expose the potential of shadows and emotions which we all have whether we accept this or not. Contrary to the cliche understanding of shadows as having a negative connotation which is often the case in psychology, I want to expose shadows in their entirety and existential necessity.
Each and everybody has their own shadow. We can not touch the shadow, taste it, smell it or hear it - we can only see it, although we often do not notice it. Shadows are thus often the unnoticed part of our everyday. When we exist in particular bodies, we belong at the same time to the community of shadows. When shadows collide, they fuse one into another, accepting each other. Unburdened with prejudice they communicate with everything and everyone. Not bounded by culture or time and freely crossing borders of any kind they seem to embody within themselves a universal language.
Maybe we are not aware of the language of shadows yet we probably intuitively understand it since it relies on feelings and emotions that shadows cause in one when being looked at. In many respects emotions are similar to shadows: we all have them whether we are aware of them or not. Although primary emotions enabled us to survive as a species, we literally push them into the shadow. Thus the purpose of my alphabet of shadows in my book Gr@y Matter - language of shadows and of my periodic table of shadowed emotions - where I replaced chemical elements with emotions, visualized by shadows - is to make us aware of the language of shadows and of emotions on which this language of shadows relies.
In the presence of both, shadows and emotions, we are at the same time an object and a subject, on which light creates shadows and in which thoughts create emotions.
When emotions are piled one upon another, they create new, more complex feelings and emotional states. These reflect in our attitudes toward life around us. With piling up newspaper clippings selected by readers and inspired by "Emotions of the day", published in the newspaper each day of the exhibition, I turn the gallery space into an incubating space of emotions and emotional attitudes that are nowadays almost extinct. The project thus underlies the great potential of that which we all have and which we can not run away from - of our shadows and emotions.
My project Gr@y Matter - language of shadows (consisting of the book of the artist, the periodic table of shadowed emotions, the photo installation of semitransparent prints of shadows and the newspaper action involving a broader audience) deals with the ability of shadows to communicate, which I translated into the language of emotions. My aim is to expose the potential of shadows and emotions which we all have whether we accept this or not. Contrary to the cliche understanding of shadows as having a negative connotation which is often the case in psychology, I want to expose shadows in their entirety and existential necessity.
Each and everybody has their own shadow. We can not touch the shadow, taste it, smell it or hear it - we can only see it, although we often do not notice it. Shadows are thus often the unnoticed part of our everyday. When we exist in particular bodies, we belong at the same time to the community of shadows. When shadows collide, they fuse one into another, accepting each other. Unburdened with prejudice they communicate with everything and everyone. Not bounded by culture or time and freely crossing borders of any kind they seem to embody within themselves a universal language.
Maybe we are not aware of the language of shadows yet we probably intuitively understand it since it relies on feelings and emotions that shadows cause in one when being looked at. In many respects emotions are similar to shadows: we all have them whether we are aware of them or not. Although primary emotions enabled us to survive as a species, we literally push them into the shadow. Thus the purpose of my alphabet of shadows in my book Gr@y Matter - language of shadows and of my periodic table of shadowed emotions - where I replaced chemical elements with emotions, visualized by shadows - is to make us aware of the language of shadows and of emotions on which this language of shadows relies.
In the presence of both, shadows and emotions, we are at the same time an object and a subject, on which light creates shadows and in which thoughts create emotions.
When emotions are piled one upon another, they create new, more complex feelings and emotional states. These reflect in our attitudes toward life around us. With piling up newspaper clippings selected by readers and inspired by "Emotions of the day", published in the newspaper each day of the exhibition, I turn the gallery space into an incubating space of emotions and emotional attitudes that are nowadays almost extinct. The project thus underlies the great potential of that which we all have and which we can not run away from - of our shadows and emotions.
