Urtica, art and media research group (c) 1999 and Beyond
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peopleofeurope-symbol People of Europe, Guard Your Precious Values 2012

A poster in a public space as a critical reaction to European crisis. It is trademarked by an interest-payment symbol [ % ], an ironic leitmotif for the question what is the European value that connects? The poster is titled after George Grosz's satirical drawing “Völker Europas, wahrt eure heiligsten Güter.”

artandcrisis-symbol The Art in Liquidation 2011

During the Value Quest, an ARTIST comes to a RESOLUTION to undergo a process of liquidation upon value-based enterprise the ART. The debtors of the ART are called to settle their obligations. The creditors of the ART are called to file their requests.

artandcrisis-symbol Art and Crisis - Facing Bureaucrat 2011

A satirical art video on automated logic of bureaucracy and their response to economic crisis. Current economic situation results in high mortality rate of small art initiatives that fails to adapt to the institutional structure of super-ordinate cultural system. Shall the art/artist survive?

vqb-symbol Value Quest Bourse - The Value is Here 2011

An art-allegory of socioeconomic cycle. Its leitmotif, "The Indices of Fortune" poem, is based on popular medieval concept the Wheel of Fortune comprised of four stages: I shall reign, I reign, I have reigned and I have no kingdom, which are equivalents of Expectation, Success, Bankruptcy and Reform.

vq-symbol Value Quest - Art of Fortune and Economy of Risk 2010

A conjuncture of hazard game and enterprise strategies. Socio-economic cycle is depicted as roulette, a chaotic nonlinear system, whose ultimate goal the Art of Fortune is reachable only through the Economy of Risk.

vq-card Value Quest - The Golden Card 2010

A monetary symbolic form, poses the question what social, ethical, ideological, or aesthetic values we are striving for? Allegorical use of gold juxtaposed with plastic brings the notion of "commodity fetishism", a relation between item’s commodity value and its symbolic value.

changes-symbol That Which Changes 2008

A site-specific painting on the gallery wall recollected the transformation of the former military barracks into gallery space. The painted symbol, an unit of information, became a metaphor of conversion process that triggers change.

guardians-symbol Who is Guarding The Guardians? 2007

A site-specific installation on the gallery façade. An intervention implied creation of a set of symbolic representations referring to the nearby public institutions that are entrusted with power as the guardians of the social system: the police, the court, the church and the National Museum.

segbook-symbol Social Engine - The Hybrid Source Book 2008

A knowledge generator that connected various disciplines. The book was conceived within the framework of the artistic project Social Engine. The essays of Urtica and the invited authors overlap following issues art, communication, identity, emergence, hybrid invention, and machines in art.

se-symbol Social Engine 2004-08

An interactive database of socio-cultural patterns. Social Engine aims to create awareness about how information circulates within society, how it is accepted and transmitted further on, and in which way socio-cultural patterns shape the social landscape.

dic-symbol Dictionary of Primal Behaviour 2003

Internet database of phonetically expressive words transferred into visual codes. An aesthetic communication experiment that combines verbal and nonverbal codes in an effort to create a message that is understandable to wide audience despite of their cultural background, linguistic or world knowledge.

lm-symbol Lapsus Memoriae 2002

A game of memorizing the names of military operations focuses on media presentation of war. The slip of the memory is caused by euphemistic names of military operations that reprograms emotional participation of the public in positive direction and erases unpleasant relation to the battlefield.

ks-symbol Kumova sekira ~Srbija 1817~ 2002

[Following text is on Serbian only]
Sajt-spesifik rad inspirisan je akterima političkog ubistva Karađorđa Petrovića i refleksijama koje ono ima na društveno istorijsko sećanje varošice Rekovac i sela Oparić i Kalenić.

omnigenus-symbol Omnigenus 2001

Pantyliners Made of Nettle for Mental Hygiene. An art-advertising product for mass media consumption. Omnigenus is made in a form of art-advertising campaign (TV, Radio, Newspaper) that was broadcast on television and radio programs during the commercial break.

ume-symbol Urtica Medicamentum Est 1999-2000

A social therapy of voluntary weaving or treading on stinging nettles. Depicts ontological insecurity and the turmoil of Yugoslav society in the late 90s. It consists of Arte Povera hand-made nettle-objects and an art-advertising campaign broadcast on TV and Radio.