Matter State, Phase 1
An exhibition of Serbian artist Janko Katic's recent work
Curator, Organiser
Nature has always served as a source of investigative as well as allegorical inspiration, providing an endless supply of riddles for scholars and poets alike. When examined at close range, its myriad phenomena are complex, requiring one to ask questions about their existence and origins. There are various methods of answering them, including engaging with external parties in debate and, should one want empirical evidence, designing experiments in which things can happen under specified, monitored circumstances.
As part of his continuing research into nature, Janko Katic's latest works delve into the properties of water, with each piece a series of repeated exercises that reveal distinct patterns and discrepancies. Every one of his controlled environments in Matter State, Phase 1 isolates a single behaviour -- fluidity, vibrations, buoyancy -- by subjecting the human body, often his own, within an artificial microcosmos. From this orderly, disciplined approach comes the explicit connection Katic draws between the self and the creator's hypothetical "water world": our changeability and ambiguity; our dialectical tendencies; our dependency on water without which no biological processes could be possible.
Katic's propensity for extracting ideas from nature and turning them into artistic experiments means concept dictates form, which in the case of Matter State, Phase 1 are chiefly photography, video, and installation. The exhibition is conceived as the first of numerous presentations that showcases the artist's observations in biology and nature.
