Because the construction works are so present in the city and the daily lives of the people living here , it seemed like an obvious and good topic for a publication .
Moreover , I noticed that the materials used for the constructions , such as the stones and heaps of sand , had a particular compositional character to them . Spread through the streets they sometimes look like sculptures or installations . The absurdity of the whole political situation together with this compositional character lead me to think of the construction works as a new art form , namely Constructionism .
For the publication I decided to take pictures of some construction sites that were part of my daily walk from school to home , more specifically Kosančićev venac , Zadarska and Trg Slavija . In photoshop , I cut out the blocks and heaps of sand that had a compositional feeling to them and divided them into categories . Inspired by a catalogue I found on Macedonian cultural artifacts I wanted to create a similar catalogue of artifacts from Belgrade ’ s constructionism , treating the construction works in a pseudoscientific way . I decided to screen print the pictures because it gives a nice texture to the work , but also to emphasize the pseudo-scientific approach and the confusion between what can be art and what can ’ t .
Then I was confronted by a dilemma . I had two possible directions to go into . Firstly I could push the pseudo-scientific approach by making an exact parody of the Macedonian book I found , by example with an index describing each “ artifact .” Secondly , I could go into a less explicit direction , leaving more space for the viewer to interpret and with a more poetic sense . However , it still needs to be clear where to artifacts come from and I also find the political link important . As I am using little information besides the screen printed cut outs , every other element of the publication should be used to its full potential . The title and subtitle can convey the meaning and purpose of the publication implicitly .
Eventually I decided to go for the more poetic direction . After testing the publication on someone with no knowledge of the construction situation in Belgrade , I did find that a clearer connection between the cut outs of the picture and the source image is crucial in order for me to make my point . This could be done by using one of the original images in a particular place in the publication . I am still working on finishing the publication and ensuring that I convey my message without being too explicit .
This project was made partly for a course in Book Design , which is partly the reason why it became a publication .
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