13/11 2024
“Images in Screens” at the Novo Gallery
On November 13th Novo Gallery, as part of the New Media Cultivator program, hosted Images in Screens workshop with a short lecture led by curator, educator and artist Elena Apostolovski. The workshop was intended for two classes of the Gymnasium Pula and covered a wide range of topics related to contemporary art, interactive media and the role of art in today’s society, especially through the prism of technology, social networks and identity.
The workshop was very interactive, with students actively participating in discussions about different types of art. Apostolovski encouraged students to think about how art today incorporates technology and artistic processes, connecting this to their own experiences and interests. They discussed the possibilities that art offers as a tool for expressing personal identity and social commentary. The workshop Images in Screens explored how visual culture shapes our everyday lives and influences our perception of ourselves and our surroundings through the screens we use every day and called for the analysis of visual elements in our own environment and the exploration of the space between ourselves and art. Gymnasium students had the opportunity to get closer to contemporary art practices using tools such as screenshots and photography. The goal of the workshop was to encourage students to critically reflect on visual culture through imagination and play.
One of the central parts of the lecture was a practical discussion on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in art. Through concrete examples, such as the work Meanwhile, in the glossy interface, recently presented at the Novo Gallery, which focuses on the exploration of interpersonal relationships in physical and digital everyday life shaped by dominant ideologies. Apostolovski thus demonstrated how AI can become a creative partner in the creation of works of art. Students had the opportunity to think about the possibilities and ethical issues arising from the use of AI in art, as well as new ways of interpreting visual works in the context of digital and virtual reality.
In the next part of the lecture, Apostolovski paid attention to the phenomenon of social networks and their influence on identity formation. Students considered how contrasts between reality and fiction often occur on social networks and how this shapes the perception of art and works of art. They discussed how influencers and social media users present “lifestyle”, often depicting idealized versions of their lives, which can be compared to artistic representations of identity and reality.
The lecture also covered the concept of a curator, i.e. a person who manages an art collection, organizes exhibitions and interprets works of art in their context. The students learned more about how curators select works, how they put them in context and how they interpret art for a wider audience. Elena Apostolovski also explained the role of curators in the cultural sector and emphasized the importance of expertise in the selection of works of art to be exhibited. An interesting section that followed was about art used in corporate settings. Apostolovski presented the work of artist Bob Demper, who combines art and business in his projects, and emphasized how, by using visual language, Demper seeks to captivate the audience and create performative conditions in which art and business culture intertwine. Students discussed how art can be a tool for interpreting and engaging stakeholders, while at the same time reflecting social and corporate culture.
The importance of contemporary artistic expression in interpreting social messages was also covered. Through the analysis of two projected sculptures made of different materials, students considered the differences in approaches to modern and contemporary art. Apostolovski explained how contemporary art often communicates deeper social messages, while modern art was more focused on form and aesthetics. Questions of artistic truth and the messages that the works carry were also topics of discussion. One of the key concepts addressed in the workshop was the “white cube”, a term that describes a classic gallery space in which artworks “float” in an abstract space, without distractions or context. Apostolovski compared the white cube to other types of art spaces, such as industrial spaces or informal galleries, and encouraged students to think about how different spaces can change the way we experience art.
At the end of the lecture, Apostolovski emphasized the importance of high school education and all the opportunities it provides for further orientation in the artistic and cultural industries. She emphasized that young people have the opportunity to shape their own artistic and cultural identities and participate in contemporary discourses that shape art and society.
The workshop Images in Screens was extremely inspiring, educational, enabling students to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary art and its various forms, as well as the role that art can play in today’s society.
Elena Apostolovski is an independent curator, writer, and educator. She seeks to question the relationship between social reality, artwork, and audience, affirming the experience of art as a physical experience of the body in a space shared with other people. Her practice focuses on exploring interpersonal relationships in physical and digital realities shaped by dominant ideologies, with the aim of finding strategies that contribute to strengthening connections within the community and disrupting conventions. Curiosity leads her to frequent collaborations with individuals and associations from the social and technical sciences, dance, and performance. She works as a program coordinator and agent in the art space and community platform Initiative Inventors Inventors in The Hague.
New Media Cultivator is a program since 2014. that is based on creating critical, educational and responsible young people through creative media education, capable of launching and producing their own media product. Through the program, we increase the accessibility, understanding, and visibility of cultural and artistic production, and above all to create a potential new audience. The project consists of a series of educational activities (workshops, public lectures, public discussions) and study visits to local cultural events and associations.
