ALU AND GRF / CONTRA

Group exhibition

A group exhibition created in cooperation between the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb and the Faculty of Graphic Arts in Zagreb.

FROM THE PREFACE OF THE EXHIBITION

"The representation of the three-dimensional in two-dimensional space is a challenge that has occupied scientists and artists alike for centuries. While the latter mainly dealt with optical illusions and thus, trying to evoke depth through the play of light and shadow, created timeless works of art, scientists went a step further. They developed a method of photographic recording of a light field that results in a seemingly three-dimensional image that can be seen with the naked eye. They called this innovative method – hologram.
Originally conceived as an attempt to improve the resolution of electron microscopes in 1947, holograms quickly turned into a visual and technical phenomenon, a new tool for exploring the representation of objects and the space around them. Although almost seventy years have passed since their discovery, holograms continue to fascinate scientists, engineers and researchers as well as artists.

Among them are dr. sc. Vladimir Cviljušac and prof. dr. sc. Damir Modrić, scientists from the Faculty of Graphic Arts in Zagreb who, together with enthusiasts from the student ranks, have developed a completely new method of making transmission holograms in the world.

In order to continue exploring the boundaries of art and science, students of the Faculty of Graphic Arts joined forces with colleagues from the Academy of Fine Arts, and the result of this cooperation is an exhibition of holograms called "Kontra", where the public will be able to see as many as twelve works of art – holograms for the first time.

Holograms fascinate us partly because they offer a new way of shaping with light, and partly because they can reproduce three-dimensional objects in astonishingly high fidelity, so convincingly that they seem real. In doing so, it is important to distinguish holograms from other illusionistic techniques in order to appreciate the visual and conceptual possibilities of holography as an artistic medium.

With the help of mentors, students computer-generated holograms of different motifs and sizes and produced them in different techniques – printing on transparent and non-transparent materials and mechanical engraving of plastic surfaces – and their knowledge of the physical and mechanical properties of materials and the physics of wave optics enabled them to express themselves creatively in a completely new way.
The works presented in this interactive exhibition can thus be classified under the category of "art 3.0", a term used to describe the way in which an increasing number of contemporary artists express themselves. They, in addition to the already standard multimedia approach, are looking for innovative methods of further digitization of art, while using modern technologies to add new, digital layers to their works.

Collaborations between artists and scientists, as well as the focus of independent artists working exclusively with holography, continue to develop and redefine the medium through creative practice and process. As advances in printing technologies are reflected in new formats and possibilities of (re)production, the hologram continues to fascinate by expanding the artistic and visual fields that lie before our eyes.

Holography still, as it was at the beginning, represents a disruptor that continues to "disrupt" the standard settings of art and fascinate, broadening artistic and visual horizons for both artists and audiences."

The exhibition was realized with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the City Office for Culture of the City of Zagreb, the Academy of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Graphic Arts of the University of Zagreb.

You can see the exhibition in the Šira Gallery during the working hours of the Gallery (Mon-Fri: 9-16 h, 18-20 h, Saturday: 11-16 h) until 1.6.2023.