Information
Uršula Berlot >
»REFLECTION«, 2002
Co-Workers & Funding:
Luka Omladič, Nataša Petrešin (texts), Ministry of Culture RS, MOL - City of Ljubljana, Museum of Modern Art, LjubljanaBend plexiglass, reflected light
Dim: 100 x 200 x 60-80 cm
Technology
Method
Light projector, plexiglass
Descriptions & Essays
Uršula Berlot 20-04-2020
'An object by Ursula: a monochromatic shadowy image drawn on a white screen, on the floor or on the wall, by reflected light shining though deformed and corrugated plexiglass. This shadowy image creates the impression of the third dimension and appears to be material – a shadowy perspective created by accumulation of transparencies, reflections and shadows. The ‘image’ clearly appears as a projection, as a projection process; the object demands that we pay attention to its double structure, the relationship between the basic plexiglass transparency and the non-material light reflection.
We begin reading the object by following the artist’s instructions. Ursula says that she is interested in the intelligence of nature: ‘Intelligence can be defined as an ability to combine different tools in order to achieve goal, as an ability to constitute and use mechanisms that fascinate sustainability and survival. According to this definition, intelligence is not awareness. If it is not mandatory for intelligent acts to be conscious, can the unconscious animate and inanimate systems be intelligent?’ The expression ‘intelligent systems’ is not something strange: we find it both in connection with car brakes and art projects which more or less successfully employ new technology. But Ursula’s object does not belong in this category, it is not a cybernetic artefact. This object is, however, a reply to the cybernetic question, to the question of the production of intelligence, but unlike the techno-art hybrids, it does so in a conventional, mimetic way – it is a reflection, a representation.
What is then the answer? The second important piece of information revealed by Ursula during a conversation is the notion of sublimation in the sense of the physical process of a direct transition from solid to the gaseous state. The production of intelligence is some kind of sublimation, a dualism without the intermediate link and not a mechanism. The transition from the silent plexiglass matter to the organic shadowy image is discrete and not linked. There is no lever between the two, only empty space without any awareness. It is the space of the subject.' – Luka Omladi?, Reflection, 2002 (excerpt)
Uršula Berlot: REFLECTION, 20-04-2020, in: Archive of Digital Art 'An object by Ursula: a monochromatic shadowy image drawn on a white screen, on the floor or on the wall, by reflected light shining though deformed and corrugated plexiglass. This shadowy image creates the impression of the third dimension and appears to be material – a shadowy perspective created by accumulation of transparencies, reflections and shadows. The ‘image’ clearly appears as a projection, as a projection process; the object demands that we pay attention to its double structure, the relationship between the basic plexiglass transparency and the non-material light reflection.
We begin reading the object by following the artist’s instructions. Ursula says that she is interested in the intelligence of nature: ‘Intelligence can be defined as an ability to combine different tools in order to achieve goal, as an ability to constitute and use mechanisms that fascinate sustainability and survival. According to this definition, intelligence is not awareness. If it is not mandatory for intelligent acts to be conscious, can the unconscious animate and inanimate systems be intelligent?’ The expression ‘intelligent systems’ is not something strange: we find it both in connection with car brakes and art projects which more or less successfully employ new technology. But Ursula’s object does not belong in this category, it is not a cybernetic artefact. This object is, however, a reply to the cybernetic question, to the question of the production of intelligence, but unlike the techno-art hybrids, it does so in a conventional, mimetic way – it is a reflection, a representation.
What is then the answer? The second important piece of information revealed by Ursula during a conversation is the notion of sublimation in the sense of the physical process of a direct transition from solid to the gaseous state. The production of intelligence is some kind of sublimation, a dualism without the intermediate link and not a mechanism. The transition from the silent plexiglass matter to the organic shadowy image is discrete and not linked. There is no lever between the two, only empty space without any awareness. It is the space of the subject.' – Luka Omladi?, Reflection, 2002 (excerpt)
Literature
Kostić, Aleksandra (ed.) and Peter Tomaž (ed.) Dobrila. »Eye Try: Slovene contemporary visual art in the Vision Centre Cork, European Cultural Capital 2005 (a catalogue of an exhibition).« Tox, 10/12. Maribor: Association for Culture and Education Kibla, Multimedia Center Kibla (2005).
Zabel, Igor. »Slovene Art 1995 – 2005: Territories, Identities, Nets.« Ljubljana: Museum of Modern Art (2005).
Zabel, Igor and Zdenka Badovinac. »Towards Zero Gravity. Težnost v slovenski likovni umetnosti 20. in 21. stoletja/Gravity in Slovene Fine Art in the 20th and 21st Centuries.« Ljubljana: Museum of Modern Art (2005).
Vignjević, Tomaž. »Spiele des Lichts. Die Malerei Uršula Berlot.« V: KulturKontakt 01/2005. Dunaj: KulturKontakt (2005).
Medved, Andrej. »Il traverso della luce (catalogue).« Loža Gallery, Koper (2004).
Pregl Kobe, Tatjana. »Uršula Berlot: Pretakanje svetlobe/Decantation of Light, 28. 10 – 18. 11. 2003.« Nova Gorica: Municipal Gallery Nova Gorica (2003).
Zavrtanik, Sonja. »Decantation of Light: Uršula Berlot. Praesens 4/2003.« Budapest: Praesens (2003).
Omladič, Luka. »Uršula Berlot: Odsev/Reflexion, Museum of Modern Art, Small Gallery, 28. 6. – 25. 8. 2002.« Ljubljana: Museum of Modern Art (2002).
Petrešin, Nataša. »Uršula Berlot: Reflection, Museum of Modern Art, Small Gallery, 28. 6. – 25. 8. 2002.« Ljubljana: Museum of Modern Art (2002).
Exhibitions & Events
2005
Exhibition :