OFFICIAL WEBSITE

curated by: Koan Jeff Baysa and Branko Franceschi

It seemed suitable to propose a summer exhibition that would address the season’s fiery temperament: Phlogiston. This was a hypothetical substance formerly thought to be a volatile constituent of all combustible substances. The phenomena of flame and burning were the escape of phlogiston. Mysticism is mixed with fascination and fear when dealing with fire, considered one of the five elements, used in religion, ritual, and science for purification, sterilization and demonstrations of power and destruction. Fear of fire is one of our most primal instincts, invoked in visions of hell; a cataclysmic nuclear fire is seen as the end of the world. One of the most devastating natural disasters, in California alone in 2003, there were more than 7,000 fires destroying more than 410,000 acres. In 2002, there were 389,000 home fires in the U.S. resulting in the loss of more than 2,670 lives. In Croatia, in 2010 there was a total of 5036 fires that killed 24 people and injured 92. Phlogiston assembles a group of artists who work with fire as incendiary medium, method or glowing image, addressing issues of the environment, identity, overthrow and finitude.

Phlogiston is a part of the 61st Split Summer Festival.

Artists: Naomi Campbell, Davide Cantoni, Atalai Gábor, Ivo Gattin, Momčilo Golub, Kio Griffith, Daniel Horowitz, Yi-Ping Hou, Željko Jerman, Kismányoky Károly, Željko Kipke, Yves Klein, Milan Knižák, Siniša Labrović, Katalin Ladik, Bennett Lieberman, Marcos Lutyens, Dalibor Martinis, Ana Mendieta, Ivan Mesek, Marijan Molnar, Antun Motika, Marko Pogačnik, Anne Morgan Spalter, Jan Steklík, Mladen Stilinović, Damir Stojnić, Bill Viola