On Friday, July 15, the exhibition “Put in the place of the sun” by ASEF Junior Fellow from Australia Ren Gregorčič was opened. It is located at the exhibition space Vetrinjski in Maribor and it is Ren’s first exhibition in Slovenia. Before the opening and guided tour of the artworks, Ren sat down for a conversation with Maja Pan, a philosopher and cultural critic.

For an introduction, we learned more about Ren, his academic and artistic path, and his plans for the future. During the further conversation, Ren and Maja discussed Ren’s interest in concrete, general curiosity about what things are made of, and the conceptual background of the exhibition and Ren’s other works. The artist is mainly interested in the effect that concrete causes and not the design of concrete structures themselves. Ren commented that there is no system that is completely irresistible to change and that there is nothing that couldn’t be altered. They also addressed the environmental and political issues of water, concrete, capitalism, and climate change.

Ren presented photogrammetry, a technique he uses for his artwork. It provides a multisensory experience of objects to individuals. They also talked about the meaning behind the title of the and what the sun represents to the artist. Ren emphasized that the sun is an important concept for him, which, together with the moon, represents the ultimate concept of change. Maja also brought up his relationship with his Slovenian heritage, which Ren connected to the concrete dragons on the Dragon Bridge in Ljubljana. The dragons are a strong symbol of Slovenia, especially for those abroad.

After the comprehensive conversation, the event moved to the exhibition space for the official opening and a guided tour of the works. Ren is presenting three pieces at the exhibition. Two were created in Slovenia, and the third one was created in Canberra, Australia. The artworks are placed in the exhibition space in a way that highlights the architectural elements and involves them in the story.

The work, which was made in Australia, is the author’s response to Haig Park in Canberra. The park is a man-made line of trees that are not native to Australia and serve as a shelterbelt. The focus point of the exhibition are the structures of concrete dragon statues from the Dragon Bridge in Ljubljana. The author placed them in the exhibition space with the help of photogrammetry, reconstruction, video, and sound. The dragons were intentionally placed in the arches of the space so the architecture plays a part in the exhibition.

The opening of the exhibition ended with Ren thanking everyone who helped make it happen saying that art never happens solo.
The exhibition is available for viewing until August 19th every weekday between 1 pm and 6 pm at the exhibition space Vetrinjski in Maribor.

Photographs: Filip Bojanič, Gregor Salobir

V petek, 15. 7. 2022, je potekala otvoritev razstave štipendista ASEF iz Avstralije Rena Gregorčiča z naslovom “Postavljeno na-mesto sonca”. Razstava se nahaja v razstavišču Vetrinjski v Mariboru in je prva Renova razstava v Sloveniji. Pred samo otvoritvijo je potekal tudi pogovor med Renom in Majo Pan, filozofinjo in kulturno kritičarko.

V uvodu smo izvedeli več o Renu, njegovi akademski in umetniški poti, ter o njegovih načrtih za prihodnost. Skozi nadaljni pogovor sta Ren in Maja diskutirala o Renovem zanimanju za beton, splošni radovednosti, iz česa so stvari, ter idejnemu ozadju razstave in ostalih njegovih delih. Umetnika zanima predvsem efekt, ki ga beton povzroča in ne sam dizajn betonskih struktur. Ren je pri tem dejal, da tak sistem, take strukture, ki bi bile imune spremembam, ne obstajajo, in da ni ničesar, kar se ne bi moglo spremeniti. Posvetila sta se tudi okoljski ter politični tematiki vode, betona, kapitalizma in okoljskih sprememb. 

Ren je predstavil tehniko fotogrametrije, ki jo uporablja pri svojem umetniškem delu. Z njo omogoča multisenzorno izkušnjo predmetov. Pogovarjala sta se tudi o samem pomenu naslova razstave in kaj sonce predstavlja umetniku. Ren je poudaril, da je sonce za njega pomemben pojem, ki skupaj z luno predstavlja ultimativen koncept spreminjanja. Maja ga je povprašala tudi o njegovem odnosu do slovenske dediščine, sam pa je temo povezal z zmaji na Zmajskem mostu, ki so močan simbol Slovenije predvsem v tujini. 

Po izčrpnem pogovoru je sledila uradna otvoritev in voden ogled umetnin. Ren se na razstavi predstavlja s tremi umetninami. Dve sta nastali v Sloveniji, tretjo pa je ustvaril v Canberri, v Avstraliji. Umetniška dela so v razstavnem prostoru postavljena na način, da izpostavijo arhitekturne elemente in jih tako vpletejo v del zgodbe. 

Delo, ki je predhodno nastalo v Avstraliji, je avtorjev odziv na Haig Park v Canberri. Gre za človeško ustvarjeno linijo dreves, ki niso avtohtona Avstraliji, in služijo kot zaščitni pas pred vetrom. Glavna točka razstave pa sta strukturi betonskih kipov zmajev iz Zmajskega mosta v Ljubljani. Zmaja je avtor postavil v prostor razstavišča s pomočjo fotogrametrije, rekonstrukcije, videa in zvoka. Pri tem je opaziti veliko pozornost, ki jo je Ren namenil postavitvi zmajev v oboke prostora. 

Voden ogled razstave se je zaključil z Renovo mislijo, da se umetnost nikoli ne zgodi sama, in zahvali vsem, ki so omogočili, da se je razstava zgodila.

Razstava je na voljo za ogled do 19. avgusta vsak delavnik med 13. in 18. uro v razstavišču Vetrinjski v Mariboru.

Fotografije: Filip Bojanič, Gregor Salobir