Ján Šipöcz – Things.
I have graduated in the studio of Filip Vančo in 2009.
Since then, I have been doing fine art.
I prepare exhibitions, new series.
The newest series here exhibited is called Things
and curated by Filip Vančo in Photoport Gallery.
Here, there are mostly just the things I have created
or appropriated myself.
On this show, most of the objects I present using photography.
But there are also a few objects exhibited as objects.
Among the oldest things are these three acrylate discs
that can be interpreted
in multiple layers.
Then there are two large photographs. I call them Tigers.
One of them is Folded Tiger, the other one is Sad Tiger.
A mobile piece made of diapositive frames and matzo.
It’s a play of return to the childhood
or the childhood I go through with the new kids.
Then there are two more objects.
One of them is a magic Persian carpet made of gummy bears,
the other one is a geometrical object
made of spa wafers.
At the beginning of the photographic process, there is a phase
of observing the surroundings.
If there is anything that inspires me or draws my attention
then I react immediately provided I have a camera on me,
meaning I document it.
Or it is things that inspire me and I work some more with them.
That’s how the Sad Tiger was created.
Being formerly characterized as a documentary maker
used to mean that I didn’t manipulate the images
or the objects to be captured.
At most, I have cleaned them compositionally and captured
in such a way that they showed what I wanted them to show.
But here, I start creating sculptures. They are my own products.
And I either just show them
as they are or as photographs.
And it’s a dilemma whether I should show them as objects
or as photographs. But, to be honest,
regarding the magic carpet I didn’t even contemplate making a photograph.
In its case, it is important a viewer can see and smell the material
used in its production.
Well, humor… wait a minute…
The art production should be fun at least to some extent.
And while I work on the objects or photographs, it certainly is fun.
And it has its effect on the things themselves.
Even the mundane, banal things are important
as they make up the world.
People should focus more on the things that are close to them or inside them
and less on the things
that are designed to draw their attention
away from the small, important things that are close to us.