DYADIC | MAPJD 2016/17 | Projects

Entropia – State of Dis/order

Invention, as Mary Shelley wrote, does not consist in creating out of the void, but out of chaos. The universe sprang from a state of disorder and every new creation alike is linked to something that existed before. Following the traces of Aby Warburg's Mnemosyne (Memory) atlas of images, which illustrates his understanding of the forces that influenced the development of the Western mind, Entropia researches the ideas of movement, transformation and duality of existence.

The concept of two contrasting natures of art (and/or existence): Apolline and Dionysiac, which inspired Warburg’s work, was originally elaborated by Friedrich Nietzsche in his first published book, The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music (1872). Two antagonistic tendencies in art acquired their names after Greek deities, Apollo and Dionysus. At one end of the spectrum, Apolline represents appearance, form, order, individuation, rational thought, self control, beauty and illusion and finds its expression in sculpture and visual art. In contrast, Dionysiac stands for chaos, emotion, passion, intuition, intoxication, loss of limits and control, collapse of individuation and unity with nature and its purest form of expression is music. Despite their contradictions, these two elementary impulses achieve their highest expression, when joined in balanced fraternal union.

My visual practice has long been inspired by observation of motion, human body movement and energy in its various forms of manifestation. In my initial approach, Apolline and Dionysiac, as two different states of life, are depicted by physical form and expression, nature scenes, musical expression or moments of people’s interaction. Deeper layer, in contrast, questions the illusionary appearance of Apolline, and challenges the freedom of Dionysiac, as the two opposing faces of human nature.

www.ivanacesarec.com

ivana.cesarec@gmail.com

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Entropia - State of Dis/order | Photography by Ivana Cesarec