Triennale di Milano

Essays:

23rd International Exhibition

Triennale di Milano
Republic of Serbia

INFINITY OF STRUCTURE

Instinct is something that transcends knowledge. We have, undoubtedly, certain finer fibers that enable us to perceive truths when logical deduction, or any other willful effort of the brain, is futile.

Nikola Tesla

Infinity of Structure is an anthropological vision of contemporary art that aims to explore the human relationship with the unknown through the innate need for the creation of symbols that transcend time.

Through the microscopic approach of the authors, ornamental motifs from Serbian medieval fresco paintings overlap through various contemporary art media. Disguised in the rhythmic intersection of forms, sounds, lines, and dots we discover hidden structures behind the analog and digital. What is suppressed comes back, what is invisible finds its way through.

Title: Infnity of Structure
Author: Ivan Mangov
Artists: Marko Ladjušić, Aleksandar Vac
Animation and AR: Marko Todorović, Luka Tilinger
Music: Dorian Jovanović

Comissioner: Biljana Jotić
Curators: Biljana Jotić, Nataša Radojević
Essays: Domenico de Chirico, Biljana Jotić, Nataša Radojević
Graphic Design: Dejana Cvetković
Exhibition Design: Ivan Mangov

Implementer and organiser:
Museum of Applied Art in Belgrade on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Information, Republic of Serbia

Partners:
Drina Gallery, Logic Art Space, The 42 Media Society, Express Global, Adria Media, Mondo, Biograf Printing, Diplomacy&Commerce, Italian Cultural Institute of Belgrade

Infinity of Structure
Project by Ivan Mangov
Republic of Serbia

“Infinity of Structure” is an anthropological vision of contemporary art that explores human relationships with the unknown through the innate need to create sacred symbols. These symbols allow us to go beyond the known or seen by linking concepts and experiences; they may carry multiple distinct meanings and expressions. These expressions do not have to be intentionally religious by themselves, but indirectly they still belong to human religion, since they are the outcome of the awareness of the infinite and the unknown.

The author of the project, Ivan Mangov, takes us to the realm of symbols through the ornaments of Serbian medieval fresco paintings. Through their intellectual, cultural, and metaphysical meanings, medieval ornaments have outgrown the restricted area of visual arts, as they often become subject of scientific study. They are an artistic embodiment of cosmology, although many still remain undecoded.

Using medieval ornaments as a starting point, a new reality is created through the introduction of layers of contemporary paintings. This parallel creative process is informed by quantum physics, where any two excited particles can exist in superposition, thus creating a new reality. It is the simultaneous presence of matter and spirit in the pursuit of universal laws that determine the human attitude towards the unknown that surrounds us ad infinitum.

Upon entering the dark exhibition space of the Serbian Pavilion, visitors will approach a 4.5 meter-high spatial monolith. As they come closer, they will discover that its structure is covered with layers of meticulously hand-painted matter. It is a complex, multi-layered work created by the sculptor and painter Marko Lađušic, a densely packed symbolic system whose meanings remain open to interpretation and unarticulated. This monumental composition focuses on expanding structures – limitless mesh-systems that overlap with multiplied ornamental motifs from the Serbian medieval monastery of Hopovo. Layered coats of colors do not merge nor interact directly, but suggest the existence of a third dimension where the multiplication of microsystems can reappear and disappear into infinity.

The side walls of the Serbian Pavilion are covered with ceramic installations created by the artist Aleksandar Vac and placed in the upper zones, inviting a visitor to look up so as to find them in the dark. Original music composed by Dorian Jovanović accompanies the setting, bringing a particular dynamic that combines irregular rhythm and ambient sound with the use of electronic instruments and acoustic processing.

In the back zone, visitors will discover a large circular projection. While hand movements are captured by sensors, they will be able to unveil the layers of the computer-generated world and dive into the depth of the structure. Created by visual artist Marko Todorović, this motion-tracking installation, together with the augmented reality application that puts into motion the painted surfaces of the central monolith, acts as the symbolic, elusive spirit of the exhibition.

Serbia’s project, “Infinity of Structure”, which will be showcased at the 23rd International Exhibition at the Triennale di Milano, resides between two worlds, drawing its elements from both of them. At these unstable borders, a connection is formed between the old and the new culture, urban and traditional aesthetics, rational and irrational, instinctive and intellectual. Repeated medieval motifs hidden in the lively rhythm of free structures, through the almost archeological, microscopic approach of the authors, overlap today and yesterday: what is suppressed comes back, and what is invisible finds its way through.

Biljana Jotić, Commissar and Curator

Nataša Radojević, Curator

Texts:

Infinity of structure[SR] – Biljana Jotić
Infinity of structure[EN] – Biljana Jotić
Infinity of structure[SR] – Natasa Radojevic
Infinity of structure[EN] – Natasa Radojevic
Testo Domenico de Chirico

Photos: