8.10.2022. DUM Project Space, Kolodvorska 6, Ljubljana.
Goran Petercol: Strictly Determined Work (from the Polichromies series), 1980
Goran Petercol’s works will be discussed by curator Vladimir Vidmar, and philosopher R obert Pfaller.

The DUM Artists’ Association has been intensely rethinking its scope in the last few years, redefining it in terms of a more direct engagement with the artwork. With the demise of modernism, the artwork itself seems to have lost its intrinsic value and autonomy, which often makes us feel uneasy when addressing it. It is all too often flattened by the weight of all-encompassing themes, high-flying concepts, and trendy discourses, merely reduced to a plastic support for certain theoretical points. These mishaps occur easily, since the artwork is a fragile thing; an inconstant phenomenon which is context – and case-sensitive. Furthermore, it is often the artwork that subverts itself by renouncing any firm foundations and ontological certainties. How do we then approach such a paradoxical entity?

How Art Matters. And How it Means. Returns to the artwork affirmatively, with enthusiasm and curiosity. Its objective is not to theorise, but to try and establish modes of approaching the artwork: to explore the different ways of addressing and grasping it, in both its uniqueness and its entanglement within different networks of meaning. The project is based on a simple structure: one work – one discoursive event. Each of the events is different according to its genre, from moderated talks and debate duels to lectures. This very sampling of different routes towards the artwork is the central goal of the project: we are not looking for the optimal form but rather are trying to inspire a delving into the artwork and its phenomenology.

The simple structure of the project is reflected in its equally simple red line – the line itself. The line is the common denominator of works by four of the different artists that we are focusing on. This minimal, formal element binds together very different works according to a contingent similarity, thus underlining our ambition to look beyond the obvious, but at the same time not to overlook it. How Art Matters. And How it Means. Aims to provide

ideological positions. Instead of hiding behind wearied platitudes, it should be the works or practices themselves, and the concise analyses of them, that the new categorial apparatus is founded on, all of which would enable a sounder, more affirmative debate on art.

production: DUM – Association of Artists
Project is supported by: Cultural Department of the City of Ljubljana
Project co-organizers:
Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory
Maska – Institute for Publishing, Production and Education AVA – Academy of Visual Arts