“Beseda projectories izvira iz angleškega ekonomskega jezika in se uporablja pri napovedovanju uspešnosti poteka določenega
projekta. Ustreznega slovenskega prevoda nisem našel.”
Uroš Weinberger
Uroš Weinberger: Projectories
“Projectories” predstavlja Weinbergerjev najnovejši slikarski opus, ki ga nadgrajuje in ustvarja zadnja tri leta. Prva predstavitev ambicioznega projekta je bila sicer že lani v Galerie Sechzig v Avstriji, nato pa še v sklopu 100. obletnice Novomeške pomladi, kar pa je bil po avtorjevih besedah zgolj uvodni korak, saj se razstava nadaljuje v Mestni galeriji Nova Gorica in v Galeriji mesta Ptuj.
‘‘Svet je vse, kar se primeri. Svet je celotnost dejstev, ne stvari.” Tako pravi Wittgenstein v svojem delu Logično-filozofski traktat, ki predstavlja enega izmed pozitivističnih temeljev razumevanja sodobnega sveta in družbe znotraj njega. Stavka namreč vzpostavljata paradigmo logike dejstvenosti sveta, oblikujeta torej pokrajino realnih predikatov, na katere se smemo zanesti, v kolikor hočemo “govoriti resnico”. Kot smo se lahko – čeprav se najbrž nismo – poučili ob dogodkih preteklega in letošnjega leta, se je svet, kakršnega smo poznali in na katerega smo bili navajeni, v slabih treh mesecih, kolikor je trajalo, da je epidemija objela celoten svet, postavil na glavo. Primeril se je Sars-Covid-2, materialistična popkultura komercialne družbe se je čez noč umaknila boju za golo preživetje. Strah je prevladal nad razumom, ljudje smo se s socialno distanco razmaknili, umaknili drug drugemu, urejanje vsakdanjosti so prevzeli “krizni štabi” in politični generali z maskami. Dejstva so postala prognoze, realnost je podvržena enosmernosti, dogodki so postali presečne množice, ki jih vse druži le eno: virus. Realnost onkraj virusa pravzaprav ne obstaja več.
Prizori Projectories tako predstavljajo abstrakcijo trenutnega dogajanja. Zaradi nenehnih močnih spodbud slikovnih vsebin, spodbujenih s tiskanimi in digitalnimi mediji ter povzetimi v množičnih medijih, mora ogled del gledalcu vzbuditi jasne slikovne povezave, povezane z aktualnimi dogodki. Umetnik v ta namen uporablja premišljeno strukturirano koreografijo, ki
želi s slikarskimi prijemi gledalca pripraviti do tega, da preizprašuje skupek podob, ki nam jih posredujejo slikarska platna. Uroš Weinberger je vizionarski umetnik, ki je že pred letom 2010 slikal ljudi z zaščitnimi plinskimi maskami in opozarjal na toksični svet; ne le na katastrofalne posledice podnebnih sprememb in brezobzirnega posiljevanja naravnih virov,
temveč tudi na neskončne množice laži, zmede in nejasnosti, znotraj katerih se pravkar nahajamo. Njegove slike so tako še do nedavnega delovale kot znanstvena fantastika svetovne katastrofe, ki pa je danes postala realnost. Gibanje z zaščitnimi maskami je postalo vsakdanja obveza. Weinbergerjeve naslikane fikcije niso izmišljene pripovedi pod vplivom
znanstvenega in tehnološkega napredka na družbo ter posameznika, njegove fikcije so realistične – vsebine niso več nerealne, fikcijske, temveč zmeraj bolj jasno vidimo, da bi se dejansko lahko tudi zgodile. Če kaj, nas je Covid-19 hitro prepričal v to žalostno dejstvo. Nekatere dogodke, ljudi in prostor lahko hitro prepoznamo, ker imajo ustrezne zglede v
realnosti. Avtor si prizadeva, da bi gledalec/opazovalec dobil občutek, kot da gleda nekaj, kar dejansko obstaja. Nekaj, kar sicer morda (še) ni realno, ampak je upodobljeno na tako realističen način, da opazovalca vsakič znova prestavlja v “ustvarjeno” slikarsko stvarnost, ki ga opominja, da se onkraj njegovega dojema dogaja pravcati coup d’etat vsakdanjosti.
Barvna paleta Uroša Weinbergerja potrjuje dejstvo, da se njegova aktualna slikarska interpretacija načrtno oddaljuje od koncepta in se želi izrazito približati formativni vsebini, kar od umetnika zahteva še dodatno metapsihološko koncentracijo in kritični razmislek o pomembnosti podobe, ki odvzema štafetno palico konceptualnemu reformiranju in demontaži realnosti na račun narativnosti vsebine umetniškega dela.
Presvetljenost Weinbergejeve slike v resnici ugrabi pogled gledalca in ga prestavi v megalomanski prostor vsepresežnega užitka – recimo mu lasvegaški sindrom – tako, da ga sooči z oslepljujočo, neonsko žarečo in neoliberalistično pozicijo svetovnega etosa: pozornost javnosti je že dolgo vodena s strani vladajočih hierarhij, ki so v poplavi interdisciplinarnih tehnoloških in tehničnih rešitev zaslutile svojo priložnost, da popolnoma obvladajo individualnost, samosvojskost in tudi pluralnost publike ter tako ohranijo avstralopitekovski primat političnih ambicij, ki so se jih – kar je res, je res – prav udobno
privadile.
Če je Bentham v 18. stoletju vizionarsko predvidel moderne oblike nadzora s sijajnim opisom panoptikona, znotraj katerega se – zaradi absolutne konkretizacije naravnega zakona homo homini lupus – vzpostavi samovznikli red, subjektivni avtonadzor biti nad bitjo ali celo nek patetični interni ”kozmični” red, potem je Weinberger stopil še korak naprej, celo onkraj
Foulcaulta, ki je omenjeni benthamovski panoptikon označil za ”nov svetovni red” in s tem v resnici tlakoval pot teoretikom zarote: Weinberger se namreč na teorije zarote požvižga. Ni teorije zarote brez teorije porote. Njegov umetniški horizont je že itak onkraj vsakršne introvertiranosti freudovskega Ida, saj je načrtno odložil spraševanje o navidezni pravilnosti
sveta in družbe v njem ter se osredotočil izključno na raw content: barve so tiste, ki so odgovorne za videz realnosti, lete pa so zmeraj ”naslikane” nekje od zgoraj oziroma zmeraj od velikega Drugega. Resnica kot pojav v nastajanju je tako vsakokrat prepuščena aktualnemu družbenemu redu, političnemu sistemu ali socialni ureditvi in zatorej nikoli ne more biti univerzalna. Morda so avtoritete dojele to preprosto dejstvo: resnico je moč prirejati glede na to, kako jo družba dojema; z izkoristkom možnosti svetovnega nadzora je mogoče odpreti polje govorice tako, da ne vsebuje več označevalca. Dovolj je, da izumimo označenec kakršnekoli vrste ter z njim nadomestimo tisto, kar naj bi nekoč re-prezentiral – tako vzpostavimo nek subjektivirani red govorice, ki kroji realnost po ”svoji podobi”, torej tako, da si pač konstanto izmišlja nove in nove narativne resničice in jih premeteno plasira v medije, ki si jih je že podredila.
Če smo začeli, pa še končajmo z Wittgensteinom in njegovim znamenitim sedmim paragrafom iz Traktata: ”O čemer ne moremo govoriti, o tem moramo molčati.” Ne gre namreč za to – kar smo v sodobnem času docela zanemarili – da bi z govorico lahko nemoteno in docela svobodno dostopali do vsebine. Nikakor ne. Vsebina, ki je ni mogoče udejanjiti v obliki dejstva, torej ”stvarnega objekta”, ga takorekoč zatipati, začutiti, nima nikakršnega logičnega predikata resnice. Obstoji zgolj kot subjektiviteta nekega heideggerjanskega subjekta, čigar tubit je podvržena izraženi formi, ne bitnostni vsebini. Če povemo drugače: tubit je včasih samo ”tu”, in ni nujno, da ta ”tu” kot predikat zajema tudi bit. Morda je Weinberger eden redkih slikarjev, ki se tega filozofskega dejstva še kako dobro zaveda. Njegov slikarski ”objet petit a” je namreč uresničenje Lacanovega pogoja, da se ga ne sme prevajati, ker šele s tem pridobi (in ohranja) status algebraičnega znaka, torej znaka govorice, ki mora biti arbitrarna, da bi lahko izpolnila poslanstvo nedosegljive želje. Substancialnost opazovanja, nadzorovanja, in nenazadnje kaznovanja, je tista vsiljena želja vsakršne oblasti, ki jo le-ta skuša zapakirati v diskurz gospodarja tako, da jo družbi potihoma vsiljuje kot ”mali a”: kot videz konstantnega napredovanja, ki si ga ”vsi želimo”, pri čemer nas zlahka zaobide dejstvo, da gre le za virtualni konstrukt, katerega namen je preprostejše, predvsem pa učinkovitejše držanje globalne societas na vajetih.
Umanjkanje Realnega, torej otipljivega objekta hrepenenja, tako sproži množico interpretacij, ki smo ji priča v obliki teorij zarote, ki so pa v resnici stoletja daleč od kakršnekoli resnice. Teorije zarote so, tako Weinberger, le udejanjenje prvinskega uncheimlich: groze subjekta nad izgubo svobode, ki je že dolgo ni več, za ceno tiščanja glave v pesek.
Resnica ni ”tam zunaj”, resnica je znotraj. Aparat laže, da bi zmogel obstati kot aparat. In to povprečno vsaka štiri leta.
Nina Jeza, Artists&Poor’s
”The word projectories derives from the English economic language and is used to predict the success of a certain project.
I have not found a suitable Slovenian translation.”
Uroš Weinberger
Uroš Weinberger: Projectories
”Projectories” presents Weinberger’s latest painting opus, which he has been upgrading and creating for the past three years. The first presentation of the ambitious project took place last year at the Sechzig Gallery in Austria, and then as part of the 100th anniversary of the Novo mesto Spring, which, according to the author, was only an introductory step, as the exhibition continues at the Nova Gorica City Gallery and the Ptuj City Gallery.
”The world is all that is the case. The world is the totality of facts, not of things.” So says Wittgenstein in his work The Logical- Philosophical Treatise, which represents one of the positivist foundations of understanding the modern world and the society within it. Namely, the sentences establish a paradigm of the logic of the reality of the world, thus forming a landscape of real predicates, on which we can rely if we want to ”speak the truth”. As we have learned – though we probably have not – from the events of the past and this year, the world as we knew it and to which we were accustomed, in less than three months, as long as the epidemic engulfed the whole world, turned upside down. Sars-CoV-2 has occurred, the materialistic pop culture of commercial society withdrew overnight to fight for bare survival. Fear prevailed over reason, we people distanced ourselves from each other, we withdrew from one another, the regulation of everyday life was taken over by ”crisis headquarters” and masked political generals. Facts have become predictions, reality is subject to one-way, events have become cross-sections, all united by only one thing: the virus. The reality beyond the virus doesn’t exist anymore.
Projectories scenes thus represent an abstraction of current events. Due to the constant strong stimuli of pictorial content, promoted by print and digital media and summarized in the mass media, the viewing of works must evoke in the viewer clear pictorial connections related to current events. For this purpose, the artist uses a well-thought-out structured choreography, which wants to use the painter’s approaches to prepare the viewer to question the set of images provided to us by the canvases. Uroš Weinberger is a visionary artist who painted people with protective gas masks before 2010 and drew attention to the toxic world; not only to the catastrophic consequences of climate change and the reckless rape of natural resources but also to the endless masses of lies, confusion, ambiguity within which we just find ourselves. Until recently, his paintings acted as science fiction of a world catastrophe, which has become a reality today. Outdoor activities with protective masks have become an everyday obligation. Weinberger’s painted fictions are not fictional narratives influenced by scientific and technological progress on society and the individual, his fictions are realistic – the contents are no longer unreal, fictional, but we see more and more clearly that they could happen. If anything, Covid-19 quickly convinced us of this sad fact. Some events, people, and places can be quickly identified because they have appropriate examples in reality. The author strives to give the viewer/observer a feeling as if they are watching something that exists. Something that may not be (yet) realistic, but is depicted in such a realistic way that it repeatedly shifts the observer into a ”created” painterly reality, reminding him that beyond his perception a real coup d’etat of everyday life is happening.
Uroš Weinberger’s colour palette is confirmed by the fact that his current painting interpretation is systematically moving away from the concept and seeks to move markedly closer to the formative content, which requires the artist to further metapsychological concentration and critical reflection on the importance of the image, which takes away the baton of conceptual reformation and the dismantling of reality at the expense of the narrative of the content of the work of art.
The translucency of Weinberger’s painting captures the viewer’s gaze and shifts him into a megalomaniacal space of allencompassing pleasure – let’s call it Las Vegas Syndrome – by confronting him with a dazzling, neon-glowing, neoliberal position of world ethos: public attention has long been guided by ruling hierarchies, which in the flood of interdisciplinary technological and technical solutions, they perceived their opportunity to fully master the individuality, originality and plurality of the audience, thus maintaining the Australopithecus primacy of political ambitions, which – what is true, is true – they got used to.
If in the 18th century Bentham visionarily envisioned modern forms of control with a brilliant description of the panopticon, within which – due to the absolute concretization of the natural law of homo homini lupus – a self-emerging order, subjective self-control of being over being or even some pathetic internal ”cosmic” order, then Weinberger took a step further, even beyond Foulcault, who described the aforementioned Bentham panopticon as a ”new world order” and thus, in fact, paved the way for conspiracy theorists: Weinberger whistles at conspiracy theories. There is no conspiracy theory without a jury theory. His artistic horizon is already beyond any introversion of Freudian Id, as he deliberately postponed the question of the apparent correctness of the world and society in it and focused exclusively on raw content: colours are those responsible
for the appearance of reality, and they are always ”painted” somewhere from above or always from the great Other. Truth as an emerging phenomenon is thus always left to the current social order, political system, or social regulation and can therefore never be universal. Perhaps the authorities have grasped this simple fact: truth can be manipulated according to how society perceives it; by taking advantage of the possibility of global control, it is possible to open the field of speech so that it no longer contains a marker. It is enough to invent a signifier of any kind and replace with it what it was supposed to re-present – thus establishing a subjective order of speech that shapes reality according to ”its image”, that is, by constantly inventing new and new narrative truths and cleverly places them in the media that she has already subjugated.
If we have begun, let us end with Wittgenstein and his famous seventh paragraph from the Treatise: ”Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” Namely, it is not a question – which we have completely neglected in modern times – of being able to access the content unhindered and completely free with language. By no means. Content that cannot be realized in the form of a fact, that is, a ”real object”, that is to say, to feel it, does not have any logical predicate of truth. It exists merely as the subjectivity of some Heideggerian subject, whose Dasein is subject to an expressed form, not an essential content. By saying in another way: Dasein is sometimes just ”here”, and that ”here” doesn’t necessarily include to be as a predicate. Perhaps Weinberger is one of the few painters who are well aware of this philosophical fact. His painting
”objet petit a” is the realization of Lacan’s condition that it should not be translated, because only in this way does it acquire (and maintain) the status of an algebraic sign, i.e. a sign of speech that must be arbitrary to fulfill the mission of unattainable desire. The substantiality of observation, control, and, last but not least, punishment, is that imposed desire of any authority which it seeks to package into the discourse of the master by silently imposing it on society as a ”little a”: as the appearance of constant progress ”we all desire”, and we are easily bypassed by the fact that it is only a virtual construct, the purpose of which is simpler and, above all, more effective in keeping global societas under control.
The lack of a Real, that is, a tangible object of longing, thus triggers a multitude of interpretations that we witness in the form of conspiracy theories, which are centuries away from any truth. Conspiracy theories are, according to Weinberger, only the realization of the primordial uncheimlich: the subject’s horrors of the loss of freedom, which has long since ceased to exist, at the cost of pressing his head into the sand.
The truth is not ”out there”, the truth is inside. The apparatus lies in being able to exist as an apparatus. And this on average every four years.
Nina Jeza, Artists&Poor’s