Bojan Boric, Jelena Mijanovic with Mikser (Igor Stoimenov, Maja Vidakovic) Parallel Urbanity

participants

Parallel Urbanity deals with the recent contrasting realities of Belgrade. The transformation of the city during the past ten years was characterized by the emergence of parallel urban systems and the development of various coping mechanisms - physical and psychological. These elements were the most vital forces that maintained life in the city. Filled with contradictions, simultaneously global and isolated, prosperous and devastated, Belgrade retained many qualities of a world metropolis.

The intent of the installation is to - through life-size projections of urban images and sounds - engage the observer, both physically and psychologically, with the conflicting realities of Belgrade. The project explores the post-war condition of a city where the boundary between legal and illegal activity has blurred. Actions preceded law and law adjusted to actions. It is through this flexibility that life was possible in Belgrade. Daily struggle to survive produced new environments characterized by spontaneous transformations.

This spontaneous urbanism was reinforced by the instability of government agencies and their inability to cope with problems facing the city. Survival at the micro level, dependent upon individual efforts, conditioned the urban development on every level. Parallel Urbanity exerts its meaning through systems of parasitic environments which are the result of the dialectic between parallel systems of survival and the underlying infrastructure of Belgrade. This relationship is both symbiotic and antagonistic. The three-dimensional setting of the two video tracks challenges the linear methods of documenting complex urban phenomena.

Biography

After being engaged in numerous socially aware projects in the field of urban design, journalism, documentary film, and art, the four artists joined their studios in a series of collaborative projects with the aim to explore urban phenomena that have been neglected by mainstream media and organizations. Their diverse professional and academic backgrounds explore a variety of insights and modes of expression.