engleski

Elements of humor in proto- and conceptual photograpy in Croatia

The proto-conceptual group Gorgona was active in Croatia between 1959 and 1966. At that time the public was unfamiliar with many of their activities, which took place among a narrow circle of acquaintances. Elements of humour in their actions could be interpreted as the artists’ personal leaning, although one cannot neglect the ironic comment on reality and the political and social circumstances they acted in. In the context of radical modernism, the ‘Gorgona photography’ can probably be interpreted as criticism of art production whose aim is the production of work. Their works – photographic performances like Adoration (group members’ tribute to Julije Knifer) or the humorous collaging of the members’ portraits with known art history templates (Photocompensation) – is characterised by processual, critical, and ironical “making up” for something that was at the same time ridiculed. Photography is one of the ways they transgressed from the rational into the absurd ; actions are paradoxical, often as humour-imbued comments on social norms. Goran Trbuljak, just like some members of the Group of Six – especially Mladen Stilinović, follows up in the mid-seventies on the Gorgona events, although he was not familiar with it then. A combination of motifs and a change of context generated humorous comments referring to reality. Actions, performances and sequences characterise their conceptual strategies that challenge different meaning – of display space, the role of artist and his position in the society. Trbuljak’s and Stilinović’s works reveal unusual, absurd visions of daily life and scepticism mellowed by a significant amount of humour and irony. Their photographs analyse and destabilise the system of that period, leaving viewers disoriented in an art environment.

photography; protoconceptual practices; conceptual art; Gorgona; Goran Trbuljak; Mladen Stilinović

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