Application for the participation at the sixth SLAMA - Land art festival 2011
Dear artists,
the application for the SLAMA - land art festival 2011 is oficially open untill 15.05.2011.
artistic council:
Nikola Faller, mag. of sculpture - art director of ngo Slama
Denis Krašković, mag. of sculpture - Art Academy Osijek
Marko Šošić, mag. of painting - Art high school Osijek
artistic conception 2011
C I R C U S – bread, straw and games
The circus has always been a theme that has attracted a lot of artists throughout history like Picasso's melancholic works from his early rose period, the dreamy, romantic pictures by Chagall, the impressionists Degas and Lautrec and the poentilist Seurat. Many directors, writers, musicians and coreographers as well have been inspired by the rich circus scenes. The Magical atmosphere underneath the big top has been fascinating generations. I, too, remember from my childhood the visit to the menagerie, the exotic and trained wild animals, the stunts done by the acrobats on the trapeze, the clowns, jugglers and the lion tamer, the smell of caramel and sweet cotton candy –the classical circus scene. But what is it within us that drags us into the world of circus?!
From an historical point of view, the first circus was the Circus Maximus (lat. Circus – circle, ring) built as an oval arena in ancient Rome for chariot races and staged battles. This was the only place where men and women were not seperated and were allowed to mingle in public. These so-called circus shows were an instrument of rulers to satisfy the superficial passions of the crowds (panem et circenses – bread and games) and to draw their attention away from important state affairs.
Nowadays we can easily compare the state of all spheres in society on the local as well as the global level to the phenomena of Circus. Let us just remember the sudden retirement of the prime minister of one of the banana or circus republics, the everyday plays in the parliaments, the mass popularity of the football games, which just like the gladiator fights take place in stadiums that were built like their ancient Roman prototypes. And the football stars are, despite their fame and astronomically high wages, being treated as stocks or slaves. There are, of course, the popular reality shows where everybody emotionally prostitutes themselves to absurdity and performs against each other until only one remains and earns the laurels. Even the documentaries about the animal kingdom that show the type of reporter that wrestles with crocodiles or follies around with poisonous snakes, swims with sharks and spactacularly survives in the wilderness are more and more comon. Professional journalism turns into yellow press, and the main actors are not clowns, but celebrities: thick make up, always happy, very sexy, extremely beautiful and highly entertaining — they attract attention and divert it. In such freakshows we can see contemporary oddities of modern kind: esthetically deformed women, men with bazooms, spiritual dwarfs and robo-kids. Unfortunately, this is not just the one day when the circus comes to town but has become a permanent state of mind, a sideshow on each side of the screen. And so have new generations of circus artists been fed and trained in the intimicy of their own home – because life has become a CIRCUS.
If you recognize yourself in this scenario as an artist in the arena, a spectator in the armchair or your own ringmaster and you have a beast at home for the parade then you are welcome to join and participate in the setting up and dismantling of the huge circus machinery:
The last and greatest Show of all time
T H E S T R A W C I R C U S !
Nikola Faller, mag. of sculpture
art director of ngo Slama
please send the aplication form to:
info@slama.hr
nikolafaller@yahoo.com
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information 2011 (445.29KB)
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