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PROGRESS, 365 post cards, 15 x 10 cm, 2016 - ongoing Progress is an ongoing project which Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak symbolically started on International Workers' Day May 1st, in 2016. From that day on they hand paint 'progress' on a postcard every day, date it and post it to their home address from wherever they are. The same, seemingly meaningless and absurd performative action is done day after day and in this way attempts to explore what is progress of mankind today. photos |
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ON / OFF (SWITCH TO TURN
OFF PLANET EARTH), installation, 60 x 40 x 20 cm, 2016 In 1961 Piero Manzoni made a Base of the World (Socle du Monde) and in 2004 Peter Weibel added a handle to the world (Die Erdkugel als Koffer). In 2016 Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak thought it's a good time to also make a switch to turn this planet off. photos |
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THE SCREAM, video installation,
60'' monitor, 2015 Video installation The Scream is inspired by Edward Munch's painting Scream. It shows performer concentrate deeply and then screaming out with full force. The powerful voice breaks the screen. photos |
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BORDER MOVER, kinetic video installation, 250 x 70 x 35 cm, 2015
Border Mover is dealing with contemporary individual being trapped by overwhelming technology and routine of our everyday existence, which more and more resembles monotony of operating machines. It is playing with ideas of physical and psychical boundaries as the consequence of capitalistic, neoliberal globalization, where it seems dreams are impossible and that a different world cannot exist. Software by Rado Miklavcic. photos / video |
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900 m3 SAND, video installation,
2014 900 m3 Sand is a response to the specific site, a 1st world war cavern on mount Sabotin near Nova Gorica, Slovenia. The volume corresponds to the volume of the cavern dug out by soldiers mostly by hand in the course of 2 years. On Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak's request a digger in a quarry composed a 900 m3 large pile of sand in a day. Action alludes to an absurd amount of the labor invested in constructing a battlefield and the pointlessness of warfare. photos |
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THE PLAQUE, site specific
installation, 45 x 30 cm, 2014 A memorial plaque in remembrance of Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak's presence is placed on a former building of Novia University of Applied Sciences in Nykarleby, Finland. The Plaque provokes a discourse on written history. photos |
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UNTITLED, series of photographs,
160 x 104 cm, 2013 Untitled is a continuum of Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak's regular practice of placing themselves in different roles or contexts. The series of photographs is playing with clichιs present in art. Titles of individual works thus originate from typical titles, which in art are constantly being recycled, like Homage to..., Untitled, Fountain ... . The Series is at present composed of photographs Fountain, after Duchamp, Nauman, Signer and many others, Homage to Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak and Untitled. photos |
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LOOKING FOR A GALLERIST
(VENICE), series of 20 photographs, 35.7 x 25.7 cm, 2013 Looking for a Gallerist is a site specific intervention, where Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak post flyers with a sentence 'Looking for a gallerist' and their phone number, which one can tear off, in three main venues for contemporary art: Chelsea in New York, Venice Biennial and Art Basel. By intentionally using the wrong approach, an inappropriate means of communication, Oblak and Novak aim to cause a sort of irritation or evoke a sense of paradox and the absurd. Modest, simple flyers refer to established power structures and expose exclusiveness of contemporary art. photos |
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REALITY IS OUT, kinetic
video installation, 73 x 42 x 10 cm, 2012 Reality is Out is an installation, which combines Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak's performance video, pneumatic mechanism and the actual cardboard sign, which appears as if exiting video frame and literally entering exhibition space. The work is a continuum of Oblak and Novak's exploration of relationship between reality and fiction. As according to Zizek, today's reality has appropriated a fictional structure. Software by Rado Miklavcic. photos / video |
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ACTIVISTS, mobile robots,
70 x 70 x 160 cm (each unit), 2011 Activists is an installation composed of mobile robots with protest signs. The robots move freely in the exhibition space, they respond to visitors and other displayed works. Each time they appear in public, they occupy the space and make a different action, fighting for a better society. Software by Jianjun Wang. photos / video |
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SISYPHUS ACTIONS, kinetic
video installation, 67 x 58 x 162 cm (each unit), 2011 In Sisyphus Actions Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak repeat monotonous, seemingly purposeless actions over and over. A surreal, absurd situation reflects contemporary global way of life, where people are trapped by daily routines and artificially produced consumerist needs. Software synchronizes custom designed pneumatic system with a particular video, thus transferring 2D video image into 3D actual space. Software by Rado Miklavcic. photo / video |
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RED CARPET, site specific
installation, 5000 x 300 x 95 cm, 2011 Red Carpet is an installation based on the increasing divisions present in contemporary society. A 50 meters long red carpet is placed on the beach, leading from the strolling path across the sand into the sea. It is enclosed with velvet rope and brass poles, typical of contemporary media events, where the so called very important persons are separated from the ordinary crowd. photos |
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JUMPERS, kinetic video
installation, 57 x 57 x 163 cm, 2010 Jumpers is a kinetic video installation, which shows Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak as protagonists, with their image being multiplied. In a process which is reminiscent of a factory, of assembly line, their multiples endlessly repeat always the same, automated gestures, which are translated from a 2D video image into actual 3D space. Software by Rado Miklavcic. photo |
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LOOKING FOR A GALLERIST
(NEW YORK), series of 20 photographs, 35.7 x 25.7 cm, 2010 Looking for a Gallerist is a site specific intervention, where Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak post flyers with a sentence 'Looking for a gallerist' and their phone number, which one can tear off, in three main venues for contemporary art: Chelsea in New York, Venice Biennial and Art Basel. By intentionally using the wrong approach, an inappropriate means of communication, Oblak and Novak aim to cause a sort of irritation or evoke a sense of paradox and the absurd. Modest, simple flyers refer to established power structures and expose exclusiveness of contemporary art. photos |
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THIS IS A PERFORMANCE,
performance (Holbaeck, Denmark, 2010; Maribor, Slovenia, 2013) This is a Performance is a performance where 100 T-shirts with a statement 'This is a performance' are given out to visitors at exhibition opening. As a consequence whenever and wherever people wear these T-shirts, new performances will occur. With this T-shirt anybody can make a performance any place, any time. photos |
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RECOMMENDED BY CURATORS
WORLDWIDE, installation, 8 min 26 sec (video) and 75 x 125 cm (photograph),
2009 A 3 by 5 meters advertising billboard promoting Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak is placed deep in the woods in north Wales. The billboard is placed in a spot where it can hardly be seen, like a tree falling in a forest with no one around to hear it fall. Placed in a surrounding where it is likely not to be seen by anyone evokes questions to its purpose. photos |
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GOING SOUTH, video installation,
31 min 15 sec (video), 2009 Going South is a documentary about how Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak achieve a Guinness World Record by pushing wheelbarrows from Ljubljana, Slovenia, to Sharjah in the U.A.E., for 14.500 km in 3 years and 12 days. photos / video |
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SHUND, video, 2 min 23
sec, 2008 Shund is a frame by frame visually reconstructed original trailer of the movie Pulp Fiction. Entire trailer is made in the studio, using green screen and simple props, like toy cars and guns, cardboard, paper Backgrounds of scenes are constructed photo collages. Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak act all parts. As actors in a trailer of fictive, nonexistent film, Oblak and Novak become fictional superstars. photos / video |
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CAB DRIVER, video, 2 min
59 sec, 2008 Cab Driver is a frame by frame visually reconstructed original trailer of the movie Taxi Driver. Entire trailer is made in the studio, using green screen and simple props, like toy cars and guns, cardboard, paper Backgrounds of scenes are constructed photo collages. Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak act all parts. As actors in a trailer of fictive, nonexistent film, Oblak and Novak become fictional superstars. photos |
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COMING SOON, series of
posters and light boxes, variable dimensions, 2008 - 2009 Coming Soon is a series of visually reconstructed original movie posters of cult movies, in which Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak appear as actors of all parts. Series of posters and light boxes becomes like a de-ja-vu of originals, presenting Oblak and Novak as fictional superstars. photos |
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WE DID THIS AND THAT, series
of 43 photographs and 13 videos, 75 x 100 cm (photographs), 2005 -
2007 We Did This and That shows Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak by achieving Guinness World Records. These are absurd records based on uncommon ideas, where Oblak and Novak use a strategy of gaining attention with spectacular and entertaining stunts, as a reference to obsession with success and fame in contemporary society. photos / video |
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SAETCHI COLLECTION, installation,
variable dimensions, 2007 - work in progress Saetchi Collection is a collection of replicas of artworks by commercially successful contemporary artists, which is dealing with the relation between global economy and marketing of contemporary art. Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak slightly changed the names of the represented artists and thus used a strategy common in copying fashion or technical trademarks, where the original name is changed, but still recognizable. Thus like the famous sports company Adidas becomes Amidas, Saetchi Collection presents for example Jeffry Kunst, Trace Amine, Damon Horst... Replicas of artworks are being produced by craftsmen in countries, which offer cheaper work force. photos |
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SMARTIST, mobile robot,
90 x 90 x 44 cm, 2006 (in collaboration with Stefan Doepner) Smartist is an independent mobile robot that replaces a person - more precisely, an artist - and performs this person's tasks. It lives in the exhibition area, where it moves freely and responds to visitors and other displayed works. Occasionally it writes Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak's signatures on the floor of the gallery, turning it into Smartist's signature. Software by f18 institute. photos |
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THE BOX, kinetic video
installation, 57 cm x 57 cm x 145 cm, 2005 The Box shows Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak being trapped, trying to escape to the outside. As they hit their fists against the walls of the interior surrounding them, trying to break through, each hit is visible, since the rubber bends outwards. The work is influenced by constant exposure to mass media messages and inability to avoid its effects. It evokes detachment, the possibility to exist outside prevailing systems. Oblak and Novak's attempt of escape is a reference to an escape from an all encompassing media world as well as an escape from the white cube. Software by Rado Miklavcic. photos / video |
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THE CORNER, THE SINK, THE
BUSHES, site specific video installations, variable dimensions, 2005 The Corner, The Sink and The Bushes are site-specific video installations, which can function in the corner of a gallery, in its kitchen or somewhere else. On the screen there is a video loop of the recorded space, which is occupied by the TV set and thus the machine functions as if it was see through or as an endless reality show of the site. photos |
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PERPETUM MOBILE, video
installation, 99 TV sets, 2005 In the video installation Perpetum Mobile 99 TV sets are placed on the floor forming a circle. The videos show Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak circling endlessly on children's bicycles from one TV screen to the other. photos |
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CECI N'EST PAS UNE FONTAINE,
photograph, 68 x 46.5 cm, 2004 Ceci n'est pas une Fontaine combines two ideas; Duchamp's readymade Fountain and Magritte's painting Ceci n'est pas une Pipe. By stating 'this is not a fountain', Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak in fact say, 'this is not a work of art', which is true for the object in the photograph, a functional urinal in a public toilet. However, its concept makes even Ceci n'est pas une Fontaine an artwork after all. photo |
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ARTWORK BASED ON ART SINCE
1940, photograph, 68 x 46.5 cm, 2004 Artwork Based on Art Since 1940 is a complex work based on an extensive period in 20th-century art. photo |
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MONTY PYTHON, video installation,
variable dimensions, 2004 In the video installation Monty Python, a TV set and a VCR are removed from their plastic casing, though they are still functioning. The viewer is able to hear the sound of the popular TV comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus, which is being played from the video tape in the VCR. But the TV screen cannot be seen because it is turned toward the floor. photo |
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EXPLOSION, video, 16 sec,
2003 The video shows Primoz being blown up. It plays with idea that artists have to exert a tremendous amount of effort in order to be successful, and at the same time, it mocks the strategy of shocking the audience as a formula for quick success. photos |
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BABY, video, 4 min 13 sec,
2003 The video Baby shows a sexy blonde in a cheesy environment overflown by colorful balloons. She is posing in front of the camera and telling jokes about stupid policemen, which rather evoke jokes about stupid blondes. photo |
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LAUGHING, interactive video
installation, 2 min 1 sec, 2003 On the wall of the exhibition space there is the projection of a video still, a frozen image of Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak sitting on a sofa. When the viewer approaches the projection, he or she triggers a motion sensor that causes the video to start playing. In the video Oblak and Novak are sitting on a sofa and looking out at the viewer. They gradually start laughing, obviously amused by what they see. photos |
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LE DEJEUNER SUR L'HERBE,
video, 19 min 22 sec, 2003 The video shows Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak having picnic in a snowy landscape next to a highway. The postcard-like landscape is beautiful to look at, but it also isolates us from the rest of the world. photo |