A FINGER IN THE EYE AND YOUTH’S DAY
Burhan Hadžialjević surprises us with every new project. In spite of his expected creative engagement in the actual social and politic thematic, which has been, for over two decades, a constant creative challenge for him, in the same way, this exposition in the City gallery “Fonticus” in Grožnjan represents the most intimate interpretation of concrete problems, caused by the unrestrained globalization process.
This time Burhan wants to choose the time of the presentation and the happening: that is, May 25th, Youth’s Day– kept in the memory of many (of us) as a pleasant holiday, celebrate for all young people. The symbolic and metaphoric of the artist’s intimate experience of life, his relation towards the great social changes – caused by the global revolutionary development of humanity, development which, at the same time, is limiting humanity even more – are realized by the provocative artistic expression of the represented project “A FINGER IN THE EYE”. This project was constituted of two thematic: I see and I feel.
The author’s intention is to use, in the creative process, the actual modern digital technologies, and to reach, except for the classical fine art’s means, wanted results with other expressive tools: installations, objects, sound, video and happening. His purpose is therefore an analogical to the actual way of life of every one of us. Modern technologies makes possible a more pleasant and faster way of life to the man, because even the geographical dimensions do not represent any problem; however a man is becoming, with all those “benefits”, more and more taken prisoner, controlled by the all those systems and – in spite of the euphorically extolled freedom, even captured and limited.
Burhan’s personal vision of the future is not optimistic, but is purposeful: his mental and emotional engagement and reflection, especially about the young generations’ future, makes him have references, initiative or speak loudly in artistic, narrative and educative ways.
On “Youth’s Day” Burhan represents to us in “Fonticus” gallery in Grožnjan, a special fine art manifest, expressed by iconography of the human eye and finger. A group of digitally scanned, thus symbolically documented eyes and fingerprints, but reflection about the actual processes of the social and politic integrations, which should integrate the races, people, groups, individuals without any borders and obstacles, but, at the same time, that we are the witnesses of a bigger and bigger control of each inhabitant of the earth.
Burhan’s eye, like the eye of an extremely sensible observer, as well as the eye of the each individual, registers critically everyday reality events and becomes a carrier and conductor of personal impressions and experience of the “something of the outside”. An eye – a mirror of numerous psychophysical conditions of the individual is transformed by the artist into objects of the thematic features of I see: in an eleven-minute video work, the authors are Burhan and his daughter Arna, and the digitally scanned eyes of many friends as well as the author himself. Burhan’s obsession with the role of an individual in today’s life, in the process of intensive globalization, with an emphasized intellectual occupation of the young generations and their future, is realized in the metaphorical feature of I feel: multi-layer and narrative symbolic of the represented, also scanned, fingerprints is supplemented by a multi-significant provocative installation and happening during the opening itself.
The human hand, especially fingers, i.e., organ which makes possible to the individual the most direct and subtle communication – the touch and the feeling –unfortunately, in this highly technical world, becomes, at the same time an organ, which enables a guided control of the individual, even manipulation. It is possible that Bura’s creativity, narrative and engaged, also shocking and impressive, stops us for a moment in order to make us wonder who we are, where we are and how to continue further. But, as Burhan said, a positive optimism is still here, and so should we go on celebrating “Youth’s Day”.
Nives Marvin, 2004