Aleksandra Domanovic
dal 25/4/2013 al 29/6/2013
Segnalato da
25/4/2013
Aleksandra Domanovic
Tanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin
The Future Was at Her Fingertips. The artist explores the circulation and reception of images and information, relating specifically to the history of the Internet and technology in the former Yugoslavia. For the exhibition Domanovic commissioned a fully rigged computer model of the 'Belgrade Hand', from which she has made five 3D printed sculptures.
Tanya Leighton is very pleased to announce The Future Was at Her Fingertips, an
exhibition with Berlin-based artist Aleksandra Domanoviπ. This is Domanoviπ’s first
solo show at the gallery.
In The Future Was at Her Fingertips Domanoviπ explores the circulation and reception
of images and information, relating specifically to the history of the Internet and
technology in the former Yugoslavia. The exhibition draws attention to one of the
earliest attempts to develop an artificial limb with the sense of touch – known as the
‘Belgrade Hand’. Invented by Rajko Tomoviπ at the end of the Second World War as a
prosthetic device intended for soldiers who had lost their hands in the war, it was
then further developed by scientists at MIT. The prosthetic later stared in Donald
Cammell’s 1977 Hollywood movie Demon Seed where a scientist created ‘Proteus’ – an
organic super computer with artificial intelligence who became obsessed with human
beings.
In tracing the history of Tomoviπ’s hand Domanoviπ uncovered just how important women
were in the development of the creation of the Internet, Cybernetics, virtual reality
and multimedia. From Ada Lovelace who wrote what is considered to be the first
computer programme, to Sadie Plant’s work on the social potential of cyber-technology,
to the registration of the .yu domain by Slovenian Internet pioneer Borka Jerman
Blaziπ, Domanoviπ charts a history in which women are the unsung heroes of technical
innovation.
For the exhibition at Tanya Leighton, Domanoviπ commissioned a fully rigged computer
model of the ‘Belgrade Hand’, from which she has made five 3D printed sculptures in
various gestures and symbols from diverse cultural traditions and historical
timeframes – from an Indian symbol of immortality and love, to a closed fist, to one
that resembles a Spanish reliquary from the 16th century. Made out of plastic, then
filled with polyurethane and coated with brass, aluminum, and ‘soft-touch’ – a
recently developed material used by car manufacturers to lend a feel of quality to
interiors – these works, as well as a new ink-jet print by Domanoviπ, can be seen as
monuments to both technological innovation and the contribution women have made in
this field.
Domanoviπ was born in 1981 in Novi Sad, former Yugoslavia. She has exhibited widely
with solo exhibitions in 2012 at Kunsthalle Basel (curated by Adam Szymczyk);
Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin; Villa du Parc, Annemasse, France; SPACE, London; and
Tanya Leighton, Berlin. Domanoviπ was commissioned to create a large-scale public
sculpture for the 4th Marrakech Biennale in 2012. Other recent exhibitions include:
‘The Best of Times, The Worst of Times – Rebirth and Apocalypse In Contemporary Art’,
The First Kiev Biennale, Kiev (2012); ‘In Practice’, SculptureCenter, New York (2012);
‘Les Cadeaux Du Présent’, Centré d'art Neuchâtel, France (2011); ‘based in Berlin’,
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin (2011); and ‘Free’, New Museum, New York (2010).
Her work has been written about in numerous publications including ArtForum, FriezeArt
Review, and Kaleidoscope. Domanoviπ lives and works in Berlin.
GALLERY WEEKEND BERLIN 2013
Preview: 26 April, 6 - 9pm
Tanya Leighton
Kurfürstenstraße 156 - 10785 Berlin
Gallery open from Tuesday - Saturday 11 - 6pm and by appointment.