As Soon As. Open My Eyes. See a Film

Not for sale in Poland!


"As soon as I open my eyes I see a film – Experiments in Yugoslav art in the 60s and 70s", edited by Ana Janevski, discussed the key moments in the history of the Yugoslav art scene. In the late 60s and 70s, artists rejected the official language of expression licensed by the regime – abstract art. They substituted it with "antiart" – works on the borderline of the media, balancing between amateurism and professional, breaching modernist conventions. They seized upon the opportunities offered by film clubs: public institutions gathering amateur artists which turned into enclaves of freedom. Art which developed outside the official circuit, outside institutions for professional artists, functioned outside state control, on the margins of artistic circuit. Another important factor was also the unrestricted contact with Western art, primarily with the then developing Fluxus. The book consists of three sections. The first one aims to create a new historical perspective, enabling the analysis of Central and Eastern European art without the necessity of adapting the Western research perspective. The phenomenon of "antiart" is described in terms of operating within amateur film clubs, in the framework the artistic relations between Yugoslavia and Poland, and in the political broad context of Central and Eastern Europe. The second part of the book includes archive materials, artistic manifestos – most of them previously unpublished outside Yugoslavia – and an extensive interview with Tomislav Gotovac, the most important figure in the movement. The third part presents photographs of the exhibition entitled "As soon as I open my eyes I see a film – Experiments in Yugoslav art in the 60s and 70s", which was held at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw from 25 April to 22 June 2008.

Writers:
Ana Janevski – curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
Luke Ronduda – curator at the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw
Stevan Vukovic – theorist, curator

All of the texts in the volume are available in Polish and English.