“Ema Ograjenšek reflects on Živa Božičnik Rebec’s artwork Pleroma—a site-specific installation of four resin blocks, aligned with solar cycles, in Ljubljana’s “Black Widow” building—to propose a way out of the dead-ends of modern aesthetics. Ograjenšek turns to Gabriel Catren’s philosophy, which serves also as the inspiration for Pleroma. She frames Rebec’s installation not as a static object, but as a “speculative mediation” between physical actors (resin, the Sun), historical narratives (the “Black Widow” building), and fiction. By operating as a “dreamlike materialism,” the work functions as a tool to navigate the “outside,” moving aesthetics from a melancholic retreat into a functional, pluralistic engagement with the world.”
Excerpt from the editorial by Tjaša Pogačar and Maks Valenčič.
Access to digital issue of the journal: https://www.sum.si/issues/unreality-mode-ii
specific formations, 2025–ongoing.
emaograjensek 