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K-9_topology: CynomorphaMaja Smrekar (SI)

Installation, 2017

K-9_topology consists of a series of projects produced between 2014 and 2017. These projects explore the cultural intersections between the human and animal perspectives in order to promote reflection about a utopian society, which would be based on a balanced coexistence between humankind and its surrounding ecosystems. The etymology of the work’s title, Cynomorpha, derives from the name for a member of the obsolete taxonomic subgroup, the dog-like apes.

The final visual reference in the presentation of the K-9_topology projects (which consisted of four stages titled Ecce Canis, 2014; I Hunt Nature and Culture Hunts Me, 2014; Hybrid Family, 2015-16; ARTE_mis, 2017), is presented as a hybrid derivative of a dog stacker. This is a training tool, designed for dog breeders or handlers as an aid for correctly stacking their show prospect puppies and young adult dogs. The project series is thereby shown formally supported by the ultimate tool for a dog show competition, while the installation juxtaposes the atmosphere of the four projects with elements of Smrekar’s personal mythology, and further intertwines them with fragments of biotechnological facts and tools, shown as a radical possibility of the canine and the human worlds colliding.

K-9_topology won the Golden Nica for Hybrid Art at Prix Ars Electronica 2017. The installation has been designed and executed for the CyberArts 2017 - Prix Ars Electronica Exhibition at the OK Offenes Kulturhaus - Center for Contemporary Art Linz, as a part of Ars Electronica festival 2017 (September 2017).

Expert consultancy and support: G. Šutić

Visual Identity for the project photo: Anže Sekelj, Hana Jošič

Acknowledgment: Ada and Byron

Production: Kapelica Gallery / Kersnikova Institute, Praksa Institute

Co-production: Bandits Mages Rencontres, Freies Museum Berlin

Supporters: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Department of Culture of the Municipality of Ljubljana, European Comission – FP7 (KiiCS) and Horizon 2020 (DITOs), CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée

Maja Smrekar (SI)

Maja Smrekar was born 1978 in Slovenia. She graduated from the Sculpture Department at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, in collaboration with the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and holds a Master of Arts in Video and the New Media. She has exhibited in various fine arts and media arts museums, such as ZKM Karlsruhe (Germany), Musée de l’Homme (Paris, France), Het Neuwe Institut (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), Art Laboratory Berlin (Germany), Latvian National Arts Museum (Riga, Latvia), Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Milton Keynes Gallery (United Kingdom), and RMIT Gallery Melbourne (Australia), as well as festivals such as Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria), Transmediale (Berlin, Germany), Click (Helsingør, Denmark) and Musrara Mix (Jerusalem, Israel). She has received several awards and distinctions, among others the award of the European Centre for Arts Hellerau (Dresden, Germany) at the Cynetart festival 2012, a honorary mention at the Ars Electronica festival 2013 (Linz, Austria), the Golden Bird Award 2013 (Ljubljana, Slovenia), the Trend Award 2017 – Prize for Visual Creativity (Ljubljana, Slovenia), and the Prix Ars Electronica – Golden Nica 2017 in Hybrid Art (Linz, Austria). In 2018, she won the Prešeren Foundation Award – the highest national award for artistic achievements given by the Republic of Slovenia (Ljubljana, Slovenia). For various years she has been an artistic associate of production platforms, such as Kapelica Gallery / Kersnikova Institute (SI), The Culture Yard (DK), Cultivamos Cultura (PT), Quo Artis Foundation (ES), Aksioma Institute (SI), etc. Maja Smrekar lives and works in Ljubljana (Slovenia).