Kosova graščina (the Kos Mansion), Jesenice. 28th February –29th March 2013
AAI is more than just a collective. It is an international movement which includes numerous artists from all over the world; artists that might, through their seeking, discover or create new possibilities which will enrich modern art without egoistical tendencies. The only thing that will matter is artistic expression.
The exhibition in the Kos mansion is divided into two segments: the first one is dedicated to AAI (Articulacion Artistica Internacional, a collective of international artists) and it follows the development of their realisation of the artistic idea. The second segment presents the painting-music installation Colour conducting by the academic painter Mirko Malle. AAI is an artistic collective that uses the media of classical painting, poetry and performance to create a holistic artwork that definitely leaves an impact. The creators work as a collective, in which each artist (poet, painter, musician …) adds a crucial piece of the puzzle of their common goal: the bringing to life of a creative idea, be it in the real or virtual world.
The core of the AAI collective is thus – collectivism; they form an exceptional unity with no ego-trips and a continuity between the image and the written word. The collective has several manifests in which they describe their artistic activities, spiced up with various text excerpts, written in various languages, performed and exhibited in dialogue with music, performance and fine arts. AAI has come so far in its exploration that the traditional forms of artistic expression have become too tight, unable to express what art – in their opinion – should. The collective members believe, that it is not the word as such that is important, but a live voice, a dialogue that is born from seeking conversations, creating of paintings, music and dance.
AAI uses their fine arts knowledge to express an atmosphere, depicted with a carefully chosen base, where in the spirit of transparency the archaic patina, poetry – the main carrier of the story – can be seen through the translucent gossamer of an aged nobility and gives the observer that spark which draws one near and makes one think about their own identity as well as the environment in which we live. The cycle called “Handwritings from plastic bottles” is critically aimed at preserving the environment – it functions as warning for future generations, reminding them how fragile and threatened nature is. In their manifesto, AAI members wrote: »The absurd material dynamic on this planet is like a rat race directly into the jaws of a false god.” This is the core of the AAI movement; this is what they build their image upon. From time to time, AAI also brushes upon informalism, of which we are reminded by the material firmness of the painted surface (layers of paint, paper, wax and other materials). Having said that, the painted material is always subdued by the firm creative principle, as is clearly evident by the cycle “Light painting with poetry”. The verses, bursting at the seams with symbolism, are only revealed to the viewer upon physical contact with the painting surface; they call for freedom, truth and beauty – the determining factors of a human being.
The second part of the exhibition is dedicated to a painting-music installation by the artist Mirko Malle, an AAI collective member and a younger representative of the Ljubljana Fine Arts Academy graduates. Already in his student years, Malle started absorbing the newest approaches to modern artistic expression and incorporated it by including various artistic elements into his artworks. He thus created his first music-visual installations in which he explores the relationship between painting, music and poetry. From an analytical perspective, his art brushes upon and problematizes the basic elements of abstract painting (such as the independence of forms in the canvas space, colour definition, a demonstration of the artistic movement and an impression of radiating light which he upgrades by adding light bodies and mathematically defined musical ratios, with which he tries to create harmony between colours and the basic creative artistic idea). He includes musical elements and colour harmonies in his rhythmic sequences; working directly upon our senses. Malle uses his musical-visual installation to literally imprint us with a unique visual and auditory harmony. He gets inspiration from the ancient philosophy of the Pythagoreans, who believed that music directly affects people and therefore has the ability to influence the soul. This creates a bridge between the material and the ideological world. Pythagorean philosophy teaches us that everything in the universe has the property of emitting sounds, vibrations or tones. This also goes for planets circling around the centre, forming tones that create a cosmic octave. Pythagoras himself learned that musical relationships can be mathematically determined – a precious insight also used by Malle in his painting-musical installation when he defined musical relations between tone and colour.
Written by Aljaž Pogačnik, art historian and museum curator.