Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak

Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak have been working as a collective since 2003. In their artistic practice they examine contemporary media and capital driven society as they dissect its visual and linguistic structure. They have exhibited worldwide, in venues like the Sharjah Biennial (UAE), Japan Media Arts Festival, Tokyo (JP), Istanbul Biennial (TR), Transmediale Berlin (DE), FILE Sao Paulo (BR).

Oblak & Novak received numerous grants and awards, including the CYNETART Award (DE), an honorary mention at Biennale WRO (PL), White Aphroid Award by MMC KIBLA (SI) and Rihard Jakopic honorable mention, highest national award for visual arts (SI).

ARTWORK

WHERE DO WE COME FROM? WHAT ARE WE? WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Kinetic video-installation

WHERE DO WE COME FROM? WHAT ARE WE? WHERE ARE WE GOING? Kinetic video installation, 2019 (Co-produced by: MMC Kibla, Maribor, Slovenia; ACC_R Creators in Lab, Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, South Korea; Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia).

This artwork presents a situation of performer being caught inside the screen, walking endlessly as if he is spinning a giant wheel, but awkwardly enough spinning a rectangular, a 16:9 LCD monitor, a screen among countless screens, information boards, smart phones, which flood our contemporary existence. Unconventional device appears like perpetum mobile, but alludes to contemporary definition of a rat race, an endless, excessive or competitive work, a pointless pursuit without a purpose.

The title of installation is taken after one of Gauguin’s final and iconic work D’ou Venons Nous / Que Sommes Nous / Ou Allons Nous, painted in Tahiti. Like Gauguin’s painting the installation proposes a fundamental question where the world is headed. It is an introspect of human condition.’s final and iconic work D’ou Venons Nous / Que Sommes Nous / Ou Allons Nous, painted in Tahiti. Like Gauguin’s painting the installation proposes a fundamental question where the world is headed. It is an introspect of human condition.

Artwork Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLHUS18TjVE

Website
http://www.oblak-novak.org/