Title: SAFE PLACE
Material: mild steel, painted
Year: 2019
Location: Fruska Gora, Serbia
The work “Safe Place” was made at an art residency 3HL (3houselab) organized by an artists Vanja Vikalo and Sanja Stojkov, “under the wing” of Fruškać.
“Safe Place” are two plumb bobs, a type of tool used in dowsing. With this tool, a person is able to get answers to certain questions. Those questions are meant for the inner feeling and the plumber bob is the “extended hand” that is showing the way. This relation is called convention, following and moving the tool and getting to the answers. Even though dowsing has been around since 2590 B.C, till this very day it was never recognized by science. It is said that it came from China but it spread quickly to other cultures. The Celtics, Romans, Egyptians and Etruscans were lead by a subjective feeling of the dowsers to nd water and healthy places to build their settlements on. The meaning behind “Safe Place” is also to, with it’s personification, show a safe and energetically strong place which we found in our long walks on the paths of Fruska Gora. This piece has, with the consent of the artists from the residency, found it’s place deep in the forest where the dominant streaming of energy from the dried out spring, the tall trees, the overgrown canyon, the hiking trail and a bench on which one can relax gets intertwined and sparks. The goal is to show the passer-by the subjective feelings of artists from the residency and to just put this location on the map because it is a great example of the pure raw natural beauty. Also, this work is meant to draw attention to ecology and the conservation of nature and water, which is the source of all life. The animated projections on the sculptures are works of Vanja Vikalo and Mihailo Kalabic with whom I collaborated with during the residency.