9 May 2016
PRESS RELEASE
Vžigalica Gallery
Lighting Guerrilla: Nature
16 May 2016–18 June 2016
You are cordially invited to attend the opening of the festival Lighting Guerrilla: Nature on
Monday, 16 May 2016, at 9.30 p.m. at the Vžigalica Gallery in Ljubljana.
The Lighting Guerrilla international
festival, that celebrates its tenth
anniversary this year, is dedicated to
contemporary visual arts whose main
medium of expression is light. In the year
when Ljubljana boasts the title of Green
Capital of Europe, we’ve chosen the topic
of Nature to be the main theme of this
year’s edition.
Photo: Gilberto Esparza
Numerous artistic interventions thematise different meanings that nature has for the man in
the modern society. Nature has been inspiring artists since time immemorial, but the
contemporary ones are not satisfied with merely portraying it, but instead they use
advanced technological tools to actively explore her mysteries. The members of the ČIPke
collective emphasize that "our conception of nature as a static, balanced and harmonic
ecosystem that does not include the man or technology, is naive". Humans thus have a place
in nature as much as is the other way around. Either as the god-mother of creative
inspiration, even mystical contemplation, or a venue for mysterious forces and process that
raise scientifical and artistic curiosity, nature provides both artists and audiences a limitless
quantity of material. The projects, shown at the festival, re-create the sublime beauty of
nature, make space for playful substantial and formal arrangements and provide many
starting points for various explorations and artistic experimentations.
Gilberto Esparza, Urša Vidic, Špela Petrič and Shreyasi Kar, Natan Esku, Tilen Sepič
Gilberto Esparza's project is based on the coexistence of organic and electronic elements
that enable a production of electric energy, so it can sustain the life of this green biotope.
The hybrid infrastructure that invokes images of distopic scenarios, represents a selfsufficient system of plants and microorganisms that are able to survive the human
destruction of nature. The project by Urša Vidic aims to encompass all of nature in all her
greatness and beauty. The artist re-creates the idea of the sublime with her vitrine that
generates its own atmosphere. In her own words, her work cradles an allusion to the utopic
process of exploring the enigmatic substance that as a dark ghost hides in us all. Špela Petrič,
joined by the Indian artist Shreyasi Kar, concieved a project that deals with the role of plants
in a contemporary economy. The project, that uses techniques of photobiochemical printing
of different images of currencies onto plant leaves, faces us with the realization that money
as a symbol for an economic system contemporarily exists also as a sign for many plant
species that, thanks to their metabolic networks, enable emergent phaenomena,
characteristic for the human culture. Natan Esku with his ambiental layout recycles his older
projects. The organism, based on throwaway plastics, constantly evolves and develops,
keeps or does away with certain elements according to their function, adaptability and
transparency. The video in the gallery window by Tilen Sepič presents material from the
everyday world, but taken out of its context, isolated to create a contrast to the suggestivity
of visual oversaturation, present in the urban environment.
Contributors to the realization of the project by Urša Vidic: Zoran Srdić Janežič (planning and
execution), Otto Urpelainen (automatisation) and Kristijan Tkalec (consultant). The hosting of
Gilberto Esparza is a part of the international project European digital art and science
network, carried out by Kapelica Gallery in collaboration with international partners and
supported by the EU's Creative Europe program. The hosting was supported by the Mexican
agency for international cooperation for development and the Mexican embassy in Vienna.
Other locations close to the Vžigalica Gallery
Facade of 13, Gosposka ulica
May 16, 2016 at 9.30 p.m.
Lenka Đorojević, Lina Rica, Maja Burja, Staš Vrenko: Koda Kup
light projection
ZRC facade, Novi trg
May 16–21, 2016 at 9.30 p.m.
OCUBO: Details of Natural Light
light projection
Trg francoske revolucije
May 16–June 18, 2016 at 9.30 p.m.
NTF - Chair of Textile and Fashion Design: Cocoon
light object
Križanke lobby
May 16–June 18, 2016 at 9.30 p.m.
Students of the School of Design and Photography Ljubljana: Caleidoscope or The
Observation of the Beauty of Shapes
light objects and installations
Novi trg
May 16–June 18, 2016 at 9.30 p.m.
André Bahna: I've Saved the Sunset for you
light sculpture
ZRC lobby, Novi trg
May 16–June 18, 2016 at 9.30 p.m.
Atsara: [M]ondes
kinetic light installation
Vegova ulica
May 16–June 18, 2016 at 9.30 p.m.
Tina Drčar: Turritopsis nutricula – Immortal Jellyfish
light installation
Breg
May 16–June 18, 2016 at 9.30 p.m.
Sabina Černič, Janez Grošelj: Tree Heartbeat
light installation
ACCOMPANYING EVENTS
Guided tour on bicycles through Lighting Guerrilla's locations
June 4, 2016 at 9.30 p.m.
start: Vžigalica Gallery
Museum Summer Night
ČIPke: Nature_I Wear Electrified, responsive installation
June 18, 2016 from 10 to 11 p.m.
Trg francoske revolucije
Lenka Đorojević, Lina Rica, Maja Burja, Staš Vrenko: Koda Kup
June 18, 2016 from 9.30 to 12 p.m.
Facade of 13, Gosposka ulica
Production: Strip Core / Forum Ljubljana
Co-production: Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, Kapelica Gallery/Kersnikova, School of
Design and Photography Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering
This project is supported by: Ministry of Culture, Municipality of Ljubljana, Radio Študent,
Mexican Agency for International Cooperation for Development, Mexican embassy in
Vienna, EU's Creative Europe program (Spectrum 16 – Transnational Light and European
digital art and science network)
Donators, sponsors: Inplet pletiva, Riwal, Trnovski zvon, Foculus, Parma
More about Lighting Guerrila festival: www.svetlobnagverila.net
Opening hours in time of the Lighting Guerrila festival: from Tuesday to Sunday, 12 a.m. to
11.30 p.m. Mondays closed. Free entrance.