White Aphroid Award 2017

8 February 2018
MMC KIBLA

[Translate to English:] Foto: Kristijan Robič, Kibla arhiv

White Aphroid Award 2017

White Aphroid Award 2017

ACE KIBLA, Maribor, Slovenia
White Aphroid Award 2017
Winners and nominees in the categories of artistic and educational achievement

The White Aphroid Award is presented for the second time this year. An international jury selected among domestic and foreign individuals and collectives who participated in the Shelters of Babylon exhibition and/or at the KIBLIX 2017 festival.

Members of the expert jury Risk Change / White Aphroid Award 2017:

Barnábas Bencsik, independent curator, Budapest, Hungary
Henriette Horny, independent curator, art critic, Vienna, Austria
Sanja Kojić Mladenov, curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia
Sabina Salamon, curator at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, Croatia
Miha Colner, art historian, curator, publicist, Ljubljana, Slovenia

The expert commission (jury) selected one winner in the category of outstanding artistic achievement, and one winner in the category of outstanding educational achievement (workshops, lectures, presentations).

The prizes were awarded on the day of the Slovene cultural holiday, on the 8th of February 2018.

1. White Aphroid 2017 in the category of outstanding artistic achievement

In the area of artistic achievement, the jury selected from among 44 domestic and international individuals and collectives participating in the Shelters of Babylon exhibition and/or at the events of the KIBLIX 2017 festival: 10 intermedia installations, 9 performances (AV and sound), and 24 visual works (video, film, photography, sculpture, painting, drawing, animation, collage, games).

During the first stage the jury evaluated (awarded points to) a total of 44 art works. The nominees in the category of artistic achievement (several with the same score) were:

1.    Emilija Škarnulytė (LT)
2/3.   Pyotr Pavlensky (RU), Sigalit Landau (IL)
4.    Marjetica Potrč (SI)
5.    Nika Oblak & Primož Novak (SI)
6/7.   Saša Spačal, Mirjan Švagelj (SI) and Navid Navab (CA)
8.    Ana Vujović (RS)
9.    Agnes Momirski (SI)
10/11.   Marko Jakše (SI) and Migropoly educational board game
12/13/14. Magdalena Pederin (HR), Cabin Porn (US) and Tammam Azzam (SY)
15/16.   Irena Tomažin (SI), Metka Kavčič (SI)
17/18.   Branislav Nikolić (RS), Sandra Požun (SI)
19/20.   D’Sun (SI), Matjaž Tančič (SI)
21/22.   Petra Kapš (SI), Igor Andjelić (SI)
23/24.   Vlado G. Repnik (SI), Huiqin Wang (SI)

The winner was selected from among the top five:

1. Nika Oblak & Primož Novak (SI)
for their works, kinetic installations, presented at a retrospective exhibition in Maribor, reflecting 15 years of their common efforts as an art collective.

2. Emilija Škarnulytė (LT)
for her video Sirenomelia from 2017, a fictitious visual meditation on the nature of contemporary science unfolding at the intersection of systems of power and the politics of desire, and transformed into a video work of art (12:04 min).

3. Sigalit Landau (IL)
for her video Barbed Hula (2000). The video work by this Israeli artist, operating in the fields of sculpting and video- and installation works, shows her naked body, with a hula hoop made of barbed wire rotating around her belly, injuring the skin with every move. The circularly replaying, cyclical motion, is based on constant movement and a projection cycle (loop), which, much like human history, is repeated eternally.

4/5. Pyotr Pavlensky (RU)
The exhibition showcases a complete retrospective (video and photo documentation) of Pavlensky's seven high-profile artistic performances, used to draw attention to the oppression exerted by the authoritarian state, the abuse of human rights in his homeland Russia and globally, and especially to the right of art, to act arbitrary, independently, and, since the ends justify the means, even anarchistically.

4/5. Marjetica Potrč (SI)
The internationally acclaimed sculptor and architect showcases ten drawings, brimming with irony despite their minimalist approach, representing a critical commentary on the current existential and living conditions in modern-day civilization. The artist inspires a consideration about the structure of contemporary urbanization, about the significance of intended use/function, and about the way in which people exploit and manage their living spaces.

The White Aphroid Award 2017 goes to Nika Oblak & Primož Novak (SI) for their works, kinetic installations, presented at a retrospective exhibition in Maribor, reflecting 15 years of their common efforts as an art collective. The jury:

“The White Aphroid Award 2017 goes to Nika Oblak & Primož Novak for their solo exhibition entitled And Now for Something Completely Different at KiBela Gallery in Maribor. The jury was convinced by the simplicity, effectiveness, concept, and methodology of their spatial and kinetic installations and the way they connect their practice to media art. In their artistic process they playfully engage in various topics such as the relation between man and machine, and address the topical issues of zeitgeist, from the necessity for constant change to political aspects of technological development. Moreover, in their art works they humanize the relation between man and technology and offer an entertaining approach to how one can deal with the constantly changing features of technological improvement.”

2. White Aphroid Award 2017 in the category of outstanding educational achievement

The jury selected among 11 workshops and other educational events performed in 2017.

The nominees in the category of outstanding educational achievement:
1. Art and technology: Bioorb, Irena Pamič
2. Community radio with migrants, Simon Macuh
3/4. Soda v0.5, Staš Vrenko
3/4. LEGO robotics, Jure Pikl

1. Art and technology: Bioorb
Mentor: Irena Pamič
In the creation of a self-sustaining greenhouse technology meets contemporary intermedia arts. Participants design and create using DIY approaches and learning about intermedia arts.

2. Community radio with migrants
Mentor: Simon Macuh
Collecting sound narratives on the topic of migrations: the first source are our own stories. The recorded materials are edited during the introductory part of the workshop, while the second part includes talking to actual migrants and the real-life stories they experienced. The focus is on defining what it means to be a "migrant".

3/4. Soda v0.5 workshop
Mentor: Staš Vrenko
The workshop is based on a creative and individualized exploration of the basic principles of sound circuit integration and connectivity. Participants learn about the concepts of non-linear feedback, logical circuits, circuit bending and physical sound processing, and assemble an electro-acoustic instrument and tool for the physical manipulation of sound Soda v0.5.

3/4. LEGO robotics
Mentor: Jure Pikl
Several constructed building blocks function dependently between each other (action – reaction) and set up a chain experiment with a travelling ball, which "migrates" from point A to point X, while overcoming obstacles (water, soil, air). This is an advanced-level workshop where participants use a set of blocks to build a robot, and learn to write complex program algorithms.

In the category of outstanding educational achievement, the White Aphroid 2017 goes to Irena Pamič for her workshop Art and technology: Bioorb.
In the design and creation of a self-sustaining greenhouse, technology meets contemporary intermedia arts. Participants design and create a greenhouse using DIY approaches and learning about intermedia arts. The workshop was conducted as part of the KIBLIX 2017 festival in November 2017, with earlier editions in August held as part of the MentorKIT workshop in Rimske Toplice. The workshop mentor Irena Pamič developed the concept for the bioorb and upgraded the self-sustaining greenhouse by means of arduino-based technology.

https://youtu.be/8vcVFjSm0xQ
https://goo.gl/iSeP6g