Expo

In collaboration with the association "Bašćina" from Lumbarda and at the 3VOLTA Gallery, Simon Beer presents a series of photographs of people in their everyday and creative space: the workshop. By observing his new living space, the people and nature, and their interactions, Beer continues to uncover the symbolic and metaphorical aspects of everyday life, which, at his suggestion and encouragement, we too can view from a different perspective. By immersing themselves, for example, as researchers, artists, or cultural anthropologists, in the diverse worlds of individuals, not only are the unique characteristics of each person revealed, but the pulse and energy of the community and the photographer themselves become palpable. All the photographs are taken from a similar angle, with a consistent, comparable composition that generously frames the space, placing the workshop owner at the center and focusing on the activity, the creative process, and the individual. The exhibited photographs contain cultural meanings that we all too often take for granted. The work culture, still strongly present in island communities, is evident in every single photograph, and the sense of pride and confident mastery of the workshop space and its associated equipment, tools, or products is reflected in every face depicted. The photographs confirm that the world of the workshop remains predominantly male, with occasional, valuable female exceptions. Anyone who has ever entered a workshop knows that it possesses a unique atmosphere. Beyond the physical traces of human labor, time, and customs, we sense that even the air itself smells different, and the sounds, often repetitive and rhythmic, reveal a devotion to the work that borders on ritual. People come to the workshop to work, but also when there is no work to be done. The workshop is a place of encounter, of exchanging information, and of storytelling; a world of open possibilities for creating and repairing with one's own hands. And this world is slowly fading away in the current of global developments and disappearing. And it is precisely this realization, observed from an outsider's perspective, that confirms the subtlety and significance of our small, local worlds. Therefore, even without delving too deeply into theoretical knowledge, we recognize the artist's approach as a relational practice, as "a care that encompasses activities which maintain, perpetuate, or restore the world in which we live" (Tronto and Fisher, 1990). The smiles with which the portrayed subjects reveal personal contentment and self-confidence testify to a genuine, profound happiness that arises from self-realization through work. It is precisely on this essential philosophical reflection about the connection between humanity and work that Simon Beer builds his artistic photographic narrative. At the same time, the participatory and observational nature of the creation of a conceptual art exhibition becomes apparent. A kind of methodological strategy can be discerned, a way of understanding reality, and even the very essence of the artist himself, which enabled him to enter the workshops with such warmth and to take on an unusual task. By fusing visual anthropology, labor ethnography, and the aesthetics of documentary photography, the artist uses the prism of local identity to show how island communities and their inhabitants still manage to defy the clichéd notion of a picturesque tourist destination as the dominant model. By creating a collective portrait of a community in its present, Simon Beer demonstrates how the aesthetics of change are present and possible even where we least expect them.

Sani Sardelić

Vlado, digitalprint on Forex
70x50cm

Darko, digitalprint on Forex
70x50cm

Robert, digitalprint on Forex
70x50cm

Detail view gallery space