meme015x5_2 still image from video, Čikago, by Mat Rappaport and Melissa Potter, 2012

 

A project by Mat Rappaport and Melissa Potter

with contributions from Branislav Dimitrijević, Dorijan Kolundzija, and Čedomir Vasić
featuring selected artists including Miloš TomićZoran TodorovićMladen Bizumić and Jelena Juresa.

In 2003, before they knew one another, artists Melissa Potter and Mat Rappaport were in Belgrade, Serbia.  Each was pursuing a body of work, and was deeply affected by the place. Using this confluence  as a departure point for their project at Terrain they explore a place through what might be shared, or divergent impressions.  The installation also celebrates Chicago as the city home to the largest Serbian diaspora and official sister city to Belgrade.

The title Five by Five is inspired by an old radio communications expression meaning “loud and clear”. Often used military communication protocols, it became synonymous with “I understand you perfectly” in everyday vernacular.

2003 marked a shift when Serbia became more open to Western tourists after NATO military action on Belgrade in 1999. Yet despite strongly evocative and complex location that left major impressions on both artists, the project acknowledges the impossibility of fully knowing a place as an outsider.

This project revisits the artists’ engagement with Belgrade through two methods:  through our personal archives and impressions, and a collaborative engagement with Belgrade-based artists and curators.

The artists assembled a collaborative team including Dorian Kloundija, Branislav Dmitrijevic and Cedomir Vasic. Each of the five collaborators will contribute five images or videos reflecting on the cultural context of Belgrade circa 2003 and 2012.

Skype or phone interviews with each artist/curator will create virtual captions for their selections, bridging the “there” and “here”.

Five by Five Sample from Mat Rappaport on Vimeo.

 

EXHIBITION HISTORY

Terrain Exhibitions
June 2 – June 14, 2012
704 South Highland Ave. Oak Park, IL 60304

The collected materials were remixed and presented as a video and audio installation on the front porch of Terrain to engage the symbol of this radio convention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still image from Hotel Jugoslavija, by Mladen Bizumić