I Sing to Pass the Time

I Sing to Pass the Time is a series of drawings that derives its title from the work of Croatian singer-songwriter Arsen Dedić whose song expresses disbelief towards the effectiveness of political music. Alluding to this theme, the drawings explore the relations of art and political action. The imagery used in the drawings is based on historical photographs and documents, re-articulating moments of politicisation in art history, emphasising links between art and workers’ struggles in particular.

To name but a few cases: drawings referring to the German Kunstlump debate from the 1920s address the question of solidarity between artists and workers. One of the most powerful chapters in the history of artists’ labour organising originates from USA where artists employed by the state-funded Works Progress Administration projects formed the Artists' Union in 1933. A number of images featured in the series are re-articulating the visual legacy of Art Workers’ Coalition which is one of the most well-documented examples of art workers' organising in the history of contemporary art.

Less known is a case from 1979 Zagreb, where artists Sanja Iveković and Dalibor Martinis drafted a so-called Agreement [Ugovor] in the context of the Working Community of Artists with which they tried to define and protect the position of artists in socialist Yugoslavia.

Details

technical info: drawing series, pencil on paper / dimensions: variable / year 2011-ongoing
exhibition view: Dear Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (opens in a new tab), Ljubljana
Imperfect structures, Culture Center (opens in a new tab), Belgrade
Photo credits: Boris Burić, Dejan Habicht, Fokus Grupa