Thursday, 24th August 2023 to thursday, 7th September 2023: a 14-day transformation of the exhibition space into a triple combination: studio – workshop – gallery / in Cirkulacija 2, underpass Ajdovščina Ljubljana:

Tom Winkler stròj1 strôja m (ȍ ó)

Opening: Thursday 24 August 2023 at 20:00

Thursday 31st August 2023 at 20.00: Ambiental music evening with Cooperativa Artigiana Suono, Tuono e Frastuono *

Closing: Thursday 7th September 2923 at 20:00

Days: 24th August – 7th September 2023, every weekday between 4:00 PM and 9:00 PM

In the stròj1 strôja m (ȍ ó) project, Tom Winkler continues his preoccupation with the very process of producing (artistic) artefacts and putting on display what is usually invisible to the gallery viewer – the process of creation. In the project, he will include two devices from past projects 1.01 and 2.01, created during his studies.

The project will last for quite some days. During the time, the Cirkulacija 2 exhibition space will be transformed into a studio – workshop – gallery. In the newly created space, the artist will create new artefacts from clay and other materials with the help of various devices / tools, which he will also exhibit during their creation. He will transform the given space with his actions – he will make artefacts, put them on display and take photos / create his own archive every day. Above all, he will live in the space for a certain period of time and take into account his own feelings and needs for creation.

The visitor will be able to fully experience the process of the artist’s creation. Devices, a palette with clay (work space), products (storage space) and a collection (exhibition space) will be visible. Impressions will pass from the visible to other senses, as there will be also the sounds of the devices, smell of the clay, the feel of the artefactrs and the like.

The creation process will start with each passing day. Every day, the artist will recycle the pieces from the previous day to create new ones. By constantly repeating the process, he will build an artificial geological structure consisting of artefacts, scraps and photos of products within a limited time frame. Winkler believes that archiving can satisfy one’s own desire to collect and study products, as they can exist forever in photographic form, and says that “digital documentation is an alternative to physical collecting, which in my case is almost impossible, if not pointless”. The archive can be edited and updated on the fly, even when the creator is not in the exhibition space. In this way, the creation process will be cyclical and the artist’s involvement will be active even when it is not in the eyes of others.

Tom Winkler is an artist of the youngest generation, who in his practice uses various techniques for the indirect design of materials, with which he creates unusual objects on which there is mostly no visible trace of the artist’s hand, which creates doubts in the viewer about their origin. Here, Winkler is primarily interested in the processes of transforming the material into a work of art, which are often not shown but are present in the work itself (he likes to leave traces of the manufacturing method in the works). In the past, he devoted most of his attention to clay, which he transforms with special devices that he also makes himself. In his practice, he likes to transfer / extend the artwork to other techniques or uses a certain element of one work to develop a new one.

If in previous works Winkler mostly focused on artefacts, the design potential of devices and hyperproduction, this time he will focus on the artistic process – kneading clay, sitting, drinking coffee, admiring, thinking, etc. The viewer will be able to see all this. But this is not something new in art. Let us recall, for example, the performance Studio (1996) by the artist Janja Žvegelj, who turned the premises of the Kapelica Gallery into a studio and paid more attention to the process than to the sculptural portrait. The use of unusual machines will definitely be interesting, but many craftsmen also have unusual machines for processing materials. Since Winkler does not create anything useful, he cannot be called a craftsman.

Perhaps the key question at this point is what does he actually do? “I used to search for some perfect product and develop new forms of devices to get hold of it, and collect all the products so that I could own the best, but all these attempts were unsuccessful. I’m still creating with devices, but I haven’t figured out what exactly I’m looking for yet,” says Winkler.

Ambient sound bath of representatives of the  Cooperativa Artigiana Suono, Tuono e Frastuono, which is a non-club pseudonym of  the Cosmic Sex collective, with a set of texturally rich soundscapes, abstract harmonies, caressing electronic and organic frequencies. Arrive early to get comfortable. Don’t forget a pillow or blanket for greater comfort! Cosmic Sex is a group of friends who organize events with modern electronic music in Ljubljana. Cosmic Sex (also known as Sexo Cósmico) began in 2017 as a series of events focused on bassy, ​​breaky, percussive electronic music in the vein of Hessle Audio, but has gradually become a movement of like-minded fans of trans-genre electronic music past, present and future. Cosmic Sex events have become famous for their joyful and warm atmosphere, eclectic program and impressive light spectacles prepared by the lighting master of the TiWi collective, and they set an example for progressive clubbing in Slovenia. Performed by: @jasabuzinel / @blaz-pavlica / @tim-winkler-10 / @russellsprout  / @zvven. CS events take place in the Channel Zero club in Ljubljana. Past guests have included Toumba (JO), Nick León (USA), Ploy (UK), Bruce (UK), Hermeneia (PL), Samuele Pagliai (IT), Szch (HR), Alleged Witches (SI), N/ OBE (HR), Lil Taty (RS), Kornet (HR) and others.

Production: Cirkulacija 2
The project is part of the Cirkulacija 2 program – co-financed by the City of Ljubljana