Zavod Sploh
Tomaž Grom, Špela Trošt: I Dream, Therefore I WorkUpcomingArchivePhotography

Tomaž Grom, Špela Trošt: I Dream, Therefore I Work

photo: Nada Žgank
photo: Nada Žgank
Performance
Work of the opus Let’s Work! (2022–2023) by Loup Abramovici, Tomaž Grom, Teja Reba, Špela Trošt

Concept: Tomaž Grom, Špela Trošt
Performer: Tomaž Grom
Text: Špela Trošt in Tomaž Grom

Production: Teja Reba 
Coproduction: Sploh Institute
Partner: Bunker Institute, within the European project Stronger Peripheries: Southern Coalitions
Financial support: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia


10. 2. 2022, Stara Elektrarna (Old Power Station), Ljubljana


Work is a way to integrate my surroundings into my life.
Happiness is when I experience my life as part of my work.
Work is an escape from happiness.
Happiness is work.
Work is a way of life.
Happiness is when I include my family in my work.
Work is the time when I need to find happiness in my life.
Happiness is when I find life in my work.
Work is happiness.
Happiness is when I lose myself in my work.
Work is when I don’t find happiness.
Happiness is when I dream while I work.
Work is when I have to wake up from a surprise that brings happiness.
Happiness is when I find surprise in my work.

Genesis:
We submit Tomaž Grom’s idea to the Bunker Institute Work and Happiness call for proposals. We force him to formulate his thoughts. He takes a step back and writes down fourteen sentences, and in one of them he writes I dream.

He is not selected.
 
But the strongly personal rejection flatters. When he realizes that Loup Abramovici received the same rejection in his inbox, the flattery fades and the intensely personal evaporates. But Tomaž and Loup are together by chance again.
 
To Work! starts on its own.  The meaning is created by Teja Reba and Špela Trošt.
Meanwhile Tomaž continues to dream. He dreams of selling a vinyl recording of his farts for €50. He dreams of selling his music. He dreams of selling his work. He dreams of selling his life. He dreams of selling himself.

Let’s Work! (20222023) deals with the problem of work. It invites us, through various artistic situations set in specific environments, to reflect on the meaning and value of work, the ways in which we experience work in everyday life, and how art is at work. In the first chapter (2022), artworks are contextualized in locations that play a constructive role in society in terms of the formulation of labor policies, and more specifically the formulation of strategies in the field of cultural labor, in public services that respond to labor problems, in institutions that educate the upcoming workforce, and in spaces that play a role in contemporary art practices. The spatial and temporal positioning of works for (re)viewing by both institutional staff and invited and casual visitors aims to widen the field of visibility of the artwork and its reception. In the second chapter (2023), the artworks will be presented in their entirety in exhibition and performance formats.

2.12.2022

Let's Work! #5: Warming Up | Loup Abramovici | Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia

2.12.2022, 8h–16h, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Maistrova street 10

Loup Abramovici
Warming Up
Action in duration.
In collaboration with Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia

Work of the opus Let’s work! by Loup Abramovici, Tomaž Grom, Teja Reba, Špela Trošt

#warming up for disaster, #warming up for the lion's leap into the future, #warming up in times of crisis, #warming up as recovery, #warming up for nothing, #warming up for a healthy mind in a healthy body, #warming up for something that is yet to come, #warming up for a performance you will never live to see, #warming up for the best performance in the world, #warming up for all the invisible workers, #warming up in solidarity...Warming up is a dancer's daily work. 

The work of the dancer always remains invisible to the eyes of the audience. What we see is only perfection, because the dancer is not working on stage but dancing. The dancer’s task is to erase any trace of work, any trace of effort. Dancers must transcend themselves so that the body’s involvement in its own reproduction is no longer visible. Only then can the real difference between art and life be established. The dancer is at once a medium and a work of art, using only the body: doing is not polluting. It leaves no trace. It does not accumulate anything. The dancer is always repeating and improving, not throwing anything away. The dancer is compact and healthy, rejoicing when a crumb of freedom is located in impossible constraints. Dancers do not need gas but warm themselves. They are flexible, reactive, in constant readiness. The dancer is equipped with everything to survive the various planetary crises.Th e dancer! Our future.

Performer: Loup Abramovici
Concept: Loup Abramovici and Teja Reba
Production: Teja Reba
Co-production: Sploh Institute
Financial support: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia
 
Let’s Work! deals with the problem of work. It invites us, through various artistic situations set in specific environments, to reflect on the meaning and value of work, the ways in which we experience work in everyday life, and how art is at work. In the first chapter (2022), artworks are contextualized in locations that play a constructive role in society in terms of the formulation of labor policies, and more specifically the formulation of strategies in the field of cultural labor, in public services that respond to labor problems, in institutions that educate the upcoming workforce, and in spaces that play a role in contemporary art practices. The spatial and temporal positioning of works for (re)viewing by both institutional staff and invited and casual visitors aims to widen the field of visibility of the artwork and its reception. In the second chapter (2023), the artworks will be presented in their entirety in exhibition and performance formats.

Upcoming events:
Happiness At Work
636,78

Previous events:
I Dream, Therefore I Work
I Don’t Work, I Practice Collectivity
Free Time
Self-Portrait

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