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Dario Šolman’s The Heart of Perspective, The Making of the Film is an ongoing project begun in 2001 that consists of studies and tests for a film that will never be made. Šolman has stated, “When we use the word ‘film,’ we think of a possible film, a hypothetic interplay of image, sound and text. To avoid further confusion, we should think of it as film without a film. In other words, a film space that is not contained in a film shell.” Instead, Šolman uses the terms Cinemation or Secondary-Cinema to refer to his practice. He allows the evidences of the film - the tests, the texts, and the research - to define what this non-existent film is or can be.
Šolman employs a “block man” as an actor or proxy in his project. This protagonist can be both an empty vessel into which we may project ourselves or others, or a perfected, Platonic being that no one can be. This character is pathetic, searching, worshiped, and enigmatic. The Gallery of Contemporary Art will be exhibiting Šolman’s drawings, storyboards, and animation tests that orbit around The Heart of Perspective, the Making of the Film.
Šolman is a Croatian living and working in New York. His work has been exhibited at The Drawing Center, New York; 20th Slavonia Bienalle, Galerija umjetnina, Osijek, Croatia; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, Croatia; House of Croatian Artists (HDLU), Zagreb, Croatia; Gallery MC / The Doors Art Foundation, New York; Merano Arte edificio Cassa di Risparmio, Merano, Italy; Liquidacion Total, Madrid, Spain; Swiss Institute-Contemporary Art, New York; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; Centre Place, Melbourne, Australia; Space Lab, Cleveland; and Alexandria Biennale, Alexandria, Egypt. He has also participated in the prestigious Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Residency, Workspace: The Woolworth Building Studios, New York; the P.S.1 Studio Program, New York; and the residency at the Cimelice Castle, Czech Republic.
www.galleryuccs.org
Dario Šolman, The Heart of Perspective, The Making of the Film: Broken (detail), 2003, Animation / Video, 5:49 min,
courtesy of the artist DARIO ŠOLMAN
THE HEART OF PERSPECTIVE, THE MAKING OF THE FILM
Exhibition Dates: February 22 - April 5, 2008
Location: Gallery of Contemporary, UCCS
The Gallery of Contemporary Art, UCCS presents Dario Šolman: The Heart of Perspective, The Making of the Film. Šolman, a Croatian artist living and working in New York, creates mysterious drawings and animations that center around a geometric protagonist in search of the heart of perspective. Šolman uses the terms Cinemation, Pseudo-film or Secondary-Cinema to refer to his practice of filmmaking without making a film. Šolman says, “Pseudo-film will stop at an earlier, infantile phase of the film production; at the stage where we can sense the full potential of the film medium and its multimedia layers, but before the narrative has organized thematic units into a dramaturgical whole.”
The cube-like figures that dominate the work are found engaged in activities that are at times eerily entrancing and endearing: two figures have a robotic conversation about love, one repeatedly bangs its head against the wall, a room full of figures spontaneously combust, and more are dropped mercilessly into an empty pool. This geometric figure seems to act as a proxy for a more “human” being – an animated stand-in for a real person. However, at other times, human figures stand in for the geometric protagonist and even worship it. The blocky figure is both a perfect, Platonic being and an imperfect, simplified human.
A significant portion of the work was created during two New York studio programs: the P.S.1 International Studio Program and Workspace: Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Through these two residencies, the New York cityscape became an integral part of Šolmans project and a background to this pseudo-film. “This exhibition sets a great precedence for the gallery's future. Solo exhibitions have rarely played a part in the gallery's history. Dario Šolman is an outstanding new artist to start featuring in depth what is exciting and challenging in contemporary artists work,” says Gallery of Contemporary Art director Christopher Lynn. The Gallery of Contemporary Art will be exhibiting the drawings, storyboards, and animation fragments that orbit around the non-existent film, The Heart of Perspective.
BIO
Dario Šolman is a Croatian living and working in New York. His work has been exhibited at The Drawing Center, New York; 20th Slavonia Bienalle, Galerija umjetnina, Osijek, Croatia; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, Croatia; House of Croatian Artists (HDLU), Zagreb, Croatia; Gallery MC / The Doors Art Foundation, New York; Merano Arte edificio Cassa di Risparmio, Merano, Italy; Liquidacion Total, Madrid, Spain; Swiss Institute-Contemporary Art, New York; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; Centre Place, Melbourne, Australia; Space Lab, Cleveland; and Alexandria Biennale, Alexandria, Egypt. He has also participated in the prestigious Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Residency, Workspace: The Woolworth Building Studios, New York; the P.S.1 Studio Program, New York; and the residency at the Cimelice Castle, Czech Republic.
BLURBS/RADIO SPOTS
15 Second Spot
The Gallery of Contemporary Art, UCCS features the exhibition Dario Šolman: The
Heart of Perspective, The Making of the Film. Šolman, a Croatian artist living and
working in New York, creates drawings and animations that hint at a film that will never
be made. The exhibition runs February 22 - April 5, 2008 with a public reception
30 Second Spot
The Gallery of Contemporary Art, UCCS features the exhibition Dario Šolman: The
Heart of Perspective, The Making of the Film. Šolman, a Croatian artist living and
working in New York, creates work that hints at a film that will never be made though
storyboards, animation fragments, texts and drawings. The viewer has to piece the bits
together while following Šolman's geometric protagonist as he searches for the heart of
perspective. The exhibition runs February 22 - April 5, 2008 with a public reception
LOCATION AND INFORMATION
The Gallery is located in the northwest corner of the Science Building upper level.
For additional information concerning our exhibitions, programs, and membership visit our website: www.galleryuccs.org
Gallery of Contemporary Art: University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
