MAIL ART AND RUBBER-STAMP ART
A multimedia artist, Andrej Tisma, started his activities
in a new, mail-art medium, in the early 70’s. Mail-art has set out as a
form of art called guerrilla, or underground art which endeavored to establish
a closer contact with the recipient.
(TV Novi Sad, “Videopis” program, June 1992) |
PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO ART
Tisma uses polaroids
in very different ways, but the key system of combining them is based
on the principle of Hegel’s triads. In other words, he juxtaposes two
different pictures and it is up to the viewers to draw a conclusion
from them. On the one hand, there is life, represented by powerful erotic
scenes. On the other, he takes objects from nature, which could be called
“found” objects and scenes that represent the other, the Tanatos. In
such combinations, Tisma makes us wonder about the objective of art,
about the meaning of modern life and, indeed, about what is it that
artists should be doing.
(TV Novi Sad, “Videopis”, June 1992) |
ON (SPI)RITUALS
As the most convincing and most
authoritative protagonist of immaterial art forms on the contemporary
Yugoslav scene, but also as its outstanding theoretician, Andrej Tisma
calls his art works "(spi)rituals" – rituals of the spiritual exchange,
which means immaterial art intended to be perceived neither though senses
(like beaux arts), nor through a mental process (like conceptual art).
Instead, it was made for the human spirit, which is a great potential
waiting to be awakened, and the author thus elicits at the same time the
"material" he uses in his work, the spiritual energy. He considers it
a resourceful substance that can be shaped, directed, spread, absorbed,
etc, in order to reach an ultimate goal, which is inspiration, the pure
sensation of enlightenment and purification, and the touch with the meaning
of our existence, and that is the main target of every artwork. The artist
has almost been forced to give shape to the "material" he has chosen by
processes once used by shamans, artists of the ancient times, that is,
through ritual acts which function directly, without any object serving
as media, and in that way shorten the communication channel to a great
extent. |
NETWORKING, PERFORMANCES
AND STAMPS A keen observer of alternative art
on an international level, it is instructive in witnessing the changes
in the tone of Andrej Tisma's writings as his country is plunged deep
into war, and an economic and cultural embargo imposed on his native Serbia
by United Nations. Well traveled (New York, Paris, Stockholm, etc.), and
in touch with the international network of postal artists, Tisma was suddenly
forced to confront his peacetime position of universal brotherhood, international
cooperation, and concerted group action, against a backdrop of increasing
hostilities. John Held, Jr. (Foreword to the catalog of Andrej Tisma's rubber-stamps
exhibition, Stamp Art Gallery,
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RUBBER-STAMP
ART
The impression of an art stamp, created and
used by Andrej Tisma, is not only a carrier of artistic value. It is not
even its primary character. Many of the stamps made by this artist carry
short and concentrated messages of an engaged type, whether the engagement
is of an artistic, social, ecological or political nature.
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RUBBER-STAMP ART
At the outset,
it can easily be said of Tisma's stamps that they are a kind of sublimation.
In other words, they reflect the entire scope of the artist's work as a
performer and networker. He has transferred his most important performances
and mail-art actions to the stamps, thus continuing to use their agonic
energy from one medium to another.
(“Politika”, Belgrade, July 1997) |
DIGITAL PRINTS /EXCERPT/ Since the beginning of the seventies, Andrej Tisma has been a part of the Vojvodinian art scene in a distinct, alternative and nonexclusive way. This artist has expressed his engaged relationship towards everyday life by means that are, themselves, a product of the world and time which he lives and creates in. Photographs are the main artifacts in his mail-art works, his Xeroxes and electro graphics, his video and computer web-art achievements. In keeping with the desired type of statement, Tisma utilizes photographs as documentary proof of a completed piece of work (actions, performances, records), as a creative gesture by which he expresses his own privacy and artistic personality (a series of Polaroids from the eighties), or he actualizes meaningful, engaging, at all times sarcastic and metaphorically rich conclusions about the current moment of humans of our time, by using found or scanned photographs. Sava Stepanov (From the essay "Archeology Of Privacy" in the catalog of "In My Room" show, March 2005) The
meanings of Andrej Tisma's works reside and resound in the contrast between
the perfection of the advertising image and the reality in which
we actually live. Mr. Tisma would like us to be aware that these images
exist to convince us to alter our behaviour, i.e., to purchase something
which we might not have previously considered purchasing. Or, perhaps,
more subtly, to act as yet another in a virtually endless string
of such images that, taken in total over our lives, goes a long way toward
influencing our thought, and circumscribing the possibilities of our thinking. Mr. Tisma reminds us that decay and decomposition is inevitable. Timeless perfection is a chimera, all we can know is transformation. And, didn't we know this already anyway? Mr. Tisma's works are here to remind us. John Byrum ("Pin in the Inflated Bubble of Expectations", Catalog essay "Mental Survival, London, 2006)
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VIDEO /EXCERPT/ Andrej Tisma, one of the leading international contemporary artists, works with a variety of artistic media including video art. The main characteristic of his videos is that they are short and, when seen together, explicitly complex. Contemporary society and changes in the modern world clearly affect his sensibility and manner of artistic expression. Political and social environments, war, social misery, the changing of social systems, disease, and total chaos of the "new order have clearly made a marked impression on his video work. The United States, as the global superpower in this new world order, has had a strong influence on Tismas videos, and he reacts through them in a spirited style. He depicts with realistic detail, the situation of individuals in the world which are induced by the will of the mightiest. Biljana Mickov ( From the essay "The Satire of Media Lies", 2006 |
WEB.ART /EXCERPTS/ Tisma's work acts as a constructive protest, a creative healing process to both the lives of individuals and the sour relations cultivated between rulers and the ruled.
Within these web works the user is an active component reading and untangling the web specific languages whilst watching Tisma's ideas and beliefs unfold. Questions are raised concerning the users own opinions, confronting and challenging their position. In combining language with structure and ideas Tisma has ensured a successful artwork whereby the viewer leaves the piece but retains the message and purpose of it. In this case the ethical principles, an awareness of ones circumstances and the ability to engage with ones social and political environment.
While the conflict of the former Yugoslavia has made its presence felt on the Internet, it has also led to some creative artistic endeavors. During the threat of NATO bombing, for instance, artist Andrej Tisma organized an Internet contest for the "humanitarian bombing of Serbia" in which contestants contributed bomb designs. The winner was awarded with a set of Monica Lewinsky's lips.
Andrej Tisma is another virtual friend of mine and we work on couple of web projects together. He is a funny and clever man who can reflect the bitter happy soul of the Balkans. He never lost his sense of humor even in war, under the air raid.
Andrej Tisma of Yugoslavia presents "Famous US Products," which connect US-based multinational corporations such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola with US military adverturism. "American Toys": fictitious toys combine US pop culture with weaponry. His "USA Questionnaire" puts US military action in historical context, referencing Iraq and Vietnam, and repression of Native Americans. Questionnaire places blame on Madeleine Albright and proposes that she be exterminated. In "Glorious Victory," Andrej Tisma juxtaposes soft pornography with missiles and bombs.
April 2000)
("Adult
Censored Pics, or the Censorship as a Weapon"
The United States may not realize up to what extent its image as an imperial power has developed around the world. One of the most alarming pieces inspired by Anti-Americanism that I have experienced online is Andrej Tisma's "American Art School", which consists of a series of photo-stills presenting U.S. American soldiers destroying images of Saddam Hussein. The net project appropriates the photos in order to present U.S. soldiers as conquerors rather than saviors of Iraq. The war with Iraq is obviously a very delicate matter, which consists of so many variables that it would be impossible for me to write a just analysis in this short review. But, one thing that can be sensed in many net projects that spurred around the web as the war with Iraq developed is a sense of anger combined with fear of what a super-power could do around the world. This is the image that the U.S. now has to demistify, and this may prove to be a bigger battle than any other fought up to this point. Andrej Tisma's "American Art School" exposes the ideological global crisis the U.S. faces. Tisma's piece does demonize the United States; and while such extremism exhausts any criticism from Tisma's work, what should be noted is its alarming message: that the U.S. is dealing with a much bigger problem than finding weapons of mass destruction.
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