Gr@y Matter

GR@Y MATTER - LANGUAGE OF SHADOWS

2009-07-11T04:46:00.000-07:00

Please find below files for my book Gr@y Matter - Language of Shadows, which is the result of my art project for the first year of my MFA programe at Transart Institute. The book will be available in its printed limited edition version by the end of July 2009. To find the links to all the parts of the book, please use the blog archive (which functions as the contents of the book) at the bottom right corner of each post.

Eva Petrič: Gr@y }Matter - The Language of Shadows
Art project for Transart Institute
Mentor: Lucien Clergue
Foreword: Meinhard Rauchensteiner
Photography: Eva Petrič
Design: Eva Petrič
© Eva Petrič 2009

eva petrič
GR@Y MATTER
language of shadows

Contents

In the beginning there was... (eva petrič)
Language of shadows, language of emotions...(eva petrič)
Instead of a foreword my interview with Lucien Clergue...
Bis zur Kenntlichkeit verzerrt Schatten Dasein Kunst - Zu Bildern von Eva Petrič...(Meinhard Rauchensteiner)

I.Happy.................................................

- 1.festive- 2.playful- 3.jubilant
- 4.festive twice- 5.pleased- 6.inspired
- 7.exultant
- 8.elated
- 9.complacent- 10.upbeat
- 11.satisfied
- 12.lighthearted
- 13.expectating
- 14.joyful
- 15.carefree
- 16.relaxed
- 17.relieved
- 18.friendly- 19.thrilled- 20. grateful- 21. excited- 22. glad
- 23. calm
- 24. cheerful

Kaj je senca?... (Melita Vovk)
Der Schatten...(Wolfgang J. Bandion)

II.Loving..............................................

- 1.caring- 2.checking
- 3.rechecking- 4.contented
- 5.still contented
- 6.affectionate
- 7.accepting
- 8.understanding- 9.optimistic
- 10.awed
- 11.humble- 12.close- 13.still humble- 14.again humble
- 15.loyal
- 16.flirtatious- 17.admiring
- 18.adoring- 19.warm- 20.devoted
- 21.kind- 22.charming- 23.tender
- 24.amorous- 25.doting- 26.tranquil
- 27.delicate- 28.compassionate
- 29.amazed
- 30.fond
- 31.sharing
- 32.passionate

DER WAHRE SCHATTEN...(Boris Podrecca)...Videnja... (Aleksander Bassin).....
Sence so...(Ernest Petrič).....Nicht nur...(Kilian Franer)......Sence so... (Mojca Jesenovec).....Many modern religions...(Markuz Wernli Saitô)....Eva Petrič is... (Mohamed ElBaradei)....Če se ozrem... (Janez Škrabec)....V senco se umaknem... (Breda Škrjanec)....motion, inside emotion...(eva petrič)

III. Interested ..................................

-1.involved -2.absorbed -3.rapt
-4.earnest -5.engrossed -6.intent -7.engaged -8.convinced
-9.open -10.introduced -11.preoccupied -12.captivated
-13.impatient -14.immersed -15.recaptivated
-16.eager -17.wrapped up -18.curious
-19.spellbound -20.inquisitive -21.concerned
-22.enthralled
-23.sympathetic -24.enraptured -25.gripped -26.held -27.enchanted -28.mesmerized -29.mesmerized degrading -30.mesmerized accentuated
-31.mesmerized stabilizing

Skrivnost sence...(Milček Komelj)

IV. Confident.................................................

-1.empowered -2.triumphant ascending -3.triumphant -4.enthusiastic
-5.converted -6.independent -7.persuaded -8.trusting
-9.brave
-10.exhilirated
-11.proud -12.determined -13.sure -14.ambitious -15.bright
-16.bright degrading -17.bright upgrading
-18.courageous -19.secure -20.strong
-21.helpful
-22.affirmative
-23.affirmative stabilizing
-24.certain -25.certain degrading
-26.sanguine -27.hopeful -28.positive -29.positive stabilized

Jezik sence... (Mitja Meršol)....über seinen "Schatten"...(Nora Drasche)...shadows enchance... (Richard Drasche)...V otroštvu... (Mitja Čander)....People are.. (Srgjan Kerim)....Seveda, senca... (Rudi Zaman)....Eva Petrič's shadow...(Bill Barett)....shadows are....(eva petrič)

V. Doubtful............................................................

- 1.variable ascending- 2.variable
- 3.variable stabilizing
- 4.uncertain- 5.fickle- 6.capricious- 7.skeptical- 8.dithering
- 9.impulsive- 10.inconsistent
- 11.weak- 12.undetermined- 13.suspicious- 14.irresolute
- 15.indecisive
- 16.erratic- 17.erratic degrading- 18.changeable- 19.evasive- 20.unsure- 21.dubious- 22.hesitant
- 23.powerless- 24.distant- 25.uninformed- 26.bored- 27.bewildered
- 28.indifferent

During my stay...(Emil Brix)....Sence prinašajo... (Nika Rogelj)....Shadows, for me... (Matthew D. Selekman)....As psychologist... (Thomas Oberlechner)....Ni sence... (Lev Detela)....Senca deluje... (Lili Šturm)....Shadow....(Richard Timperio).....Senčnik - sončnik... (Alenka Prvinšek).....Srečal sem... (Dejan Sluga)....wishes and shadows... (eva petrič)

VI. Irritated...................................

- 1.aggravated- 2.exasperated- 3.offended
- 4.peeved
- 5.cross- 6.frustrated- 7.provoked- 8.annoyed- 9.distressed
- 10.overwrought- 11.vexed- 12.vexed descending
- 13.grumpy

Liebe Gruesse.... (Wilfried Seipel)....Your shadows... (Joackim Gartner)...Shadows are... (Franz Wohlfahrt)...Senčno sporočilo... (Helga Krisper).....Aha, shadows!... (Rikli, the lake painter)...Photography itself... (Peter Weiermair)....photography of shadows... (eva petrič)

VII. Angry ...............................................................

- 1.ticked off
- 2.spiteful- 3.seething- 4.jealous- 5.bitter- 6.fuming
- 7.rage- 8.vengeful
- 9.defiant- 10.mad- 11.mean- 12.outraged
- 13.furious- 14.disobedient- 15.upset- 16.stubborn- 17.irrate- 18.shaky- 19.indignant- 20.infuriated- 21.infuriated escalating- 22.infuriated descending- 23.rancouros- 25.unforgiving

Ko zasveti luč... (Bogdan Šalej).....Igra svetlobe... (Mojca Delač).....We can unify... (Kolja Krammer).....Moja senca... (Alida Bevk)....Ko pomislim na senco... (Jure Žmauc)....Shadows I do relate.... (Johannes Attems)....Most definitions... (Oscar del Campo)...Vaše sence.... (Jožko Buch)....Sonne. Licht... (Helga Mračnikar)....this figure... (eva petrič)

VIII. Afraid........................................................................

- 1.scared- 2.nervous- 3.uneasy- 4.concerned- 5.fearful
- 6.petrified- 7.threatened- 8.alarmed- 9.schocked- 10.horrified
- 11.anxious
- 12.sulky- 13.disturbed- 14.abandoned- 15.frightened- 16.agitated- 17.cautious- 18.hysterical

being a Man (eva petrič)

IX. Sad...............................................................................

- 1.ominus
- 2.melancholic
- 3.grieving
- 4.dismal- 5.miserable- 6.bleak- 7.somber
- 8.gloomy
- 9.murky- 10.disheartened- 11.low
- 12.defeated- 13.discouraged
- 14.disappointed
- 15.heartbroken
- 16.besmirched- 17. sorrowful

1935. Vlak drvi... (Bogdan Grom) .....Senca. (Franc Kattnig).....I should write... (Zoran Poposki).....Senco potrebujem... (Tadeja Zupan Arsov)....Po dolgem tavanju... (Stanislav M. Maršič)....varovati - zaščititi...(eva petrič)

X. Shamed.....................................................................

- 1.dirtied
- 2.tainted- 3.embarrased- 4.debased- 5.regretful
- 6.defiled- 7.disgraced- 8.shown up- 9.remorseful- 10.disregard
- 11.degraded- 12.ashamed- 13.sullied- 14.fouled- 15.spoiled
- 16.affronted

can you swim... (eva petrič)

XI. Hurt ............................................................................

- 1.tarnished- 2.damaged
- 3.broken- 4.crushed- 5.unnoticed
- 6.wounded- 7.ruined- 8.humiliated
- 9.injured- 10.impaired- 11.misplaced- 12.rejected- 13.harmed- 14.misunderstood- 15.marred

The periodic table...(Joshua Sinclair)
The Periodic table of shadow emotions
shadows and space... (eva petrič)

Incubating emotions:

I. Apathy.............................................. -1.bleak -2.somber -3.disillusioned -4.dubious
-5.Apathy

II. Anxiety......................................-1.nervous
-2.lonely -3.bitter -4.unsure
-5.uncertain -6.Anxious

III. Contempt ................................................
-1.disillusined -2.disappointed
-3.disheartened -4.discouraged
-5.uneasy -6.fearful -7.abandoned -8.Contempt

IV. Envyness .................................................
-1.immersed
-2.hostile -3.spiteful
-4.jelaous -5.mean -6.Envyness

V. Intolerance................................................
-1.ticked off
-2.hostile
-3.uneasy -4.unsure -5.uncertain -6.distant -7.Intolerance

VI. Idealism...............................................-1.glad -2.fascinated
-3.excited
-4.gripped -5.concerned -6.hopeful -7.convinced
-8.trusting -9.determined
-10.compassionate -11.sharing -12.helpful -13.enthralled
-14.Idealism

"jumping, moving, tricking..." (eva petrič)
my feet - too small.... (eva petrič)

Žena brez sence... (Marijan Zlobec)

thanks and the list of participants

Eva Petrič: Gr@y Matter - Language of Shadows

2009-07-11T01:12:00.000-07:00

Hey you, the tourist of this book:

Who is the one that is taken for granted in the early morning hours?

And who is the one that disappears at midday to teach tourists a lesson of respect? The one who is sought after, begged for, hoped for, beckoned to return?

Who is the one who decides to take mercy on the exhausted bodies and so systematically and progressively returns as the day begins to fade?

Who am I?

I remain close to you in the morning hours, even though you don't feel it necessary for me to.

At midday I completely desert you, despite your crying, your shouting, your temper tantrums and poetic extortions.

And when evening falls I, nevertheless decide to take mercy on you and I once again visit you.

Who am I?

I am not the sphinx,
but of the sphinx's...

oh, come on, guess again;
who am I???

I am-
I am...

I am the shadow of the sphinx and none other!

2009-07-11T01:09:00.000-07:00

In the beginning
there was...a black tone
jumping moving tricking,
always changing,
slick and
sly
in all-ways adjustable always changeable
with temper and textures smells
syllables sounds and voices
zig zag zaging in
rhythm to the tick tack tacking
of options appearing disappearing then again
reappearing in arms hands fingers curving tightening
extending circling encircling inside a game, a
loving game with verbs with symbols, elegant
double binds and centuries,
a unique map to once
upon a times nows and
forever afters waiting
watching...

Language of shadows, language of emotions

2009-07-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

Language of shadows
language of emotions

The shadow has always fascinated me. It is repeatedly tricky, always in all-ways adjustable, changeable, appearing, disappearing then again reappearing. It is the part of the everyday that is often taken for granted and thus quickly overlooked. Why then do we have shadows? To understand shadows - dark areas where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an opaque object, areas that are barely noticeable, ungraspable, odorless, silent, it might help to look at caricatures.

Caricatures, a likeness or imitations so exaggerated or distorted as to appear ridiculous have always been used to accentuate or direct attention to something that would otherwise go unnoticed. The same goes for the shadow. In its appearance and its function it seems to be like a caricature: to accentuate in the world around us that which we would maybe otherwise not notice, and then - to disappear from our perception!

Yet however minute its role and its fate of falling into oblivion given to it by nature, the dimension of the shadow is really great: it encompasses in itself everything that exists. Every being and every object has its own shadow. A bird casts a shadow, a table casts a shadow and so i have a shadow and my car has a shadow as well. We exist in particular bodies, yet we belong to the community of shadows. At the same time the shadow belongs to all, is common to all. i see the shadow thus as the collective - as the visual collective, to distinct it from Jung’s collective unconscious. One might even say that Jung's collective unconscious might be visualized by shadows. The shadow in its constitution of the visual collective appears to be a common expression of all and for all, independent from the organic and inorganic, from gender and age, from the coordinates of past and future.

When shadows collide, they fuse into one another, accepting each other. Unburdened with prejudice they communicate with everything and everyone - for me they are the language of equality and justice. Not bounded by culture or time and freely crossing borders of any kind they seem to embody within themselves a universal language. We intuitively understand it yet we are at large unaware of it. The purpose of my Gr@y Matter - shadow alphabet is thus precisely this – to make us aware of the gray expressions surrounding us, of the visual language that shadows non- aggressively and freely display for everybody.

Being in between black and white shadows acquire all hues of gray, grey, coined by me gr@y to encompass all levels of perceiving, and also both spellings as well as uniting the analog and the digital process in my creation of my shadow images. Gr@y is neither white nor black, good nor bad, eastern nor western, organic nor inorganic, male nor female - it is the potential to be one or the other. Shadows thus provide us with a wealth of potentialities comprising a language of their own.

To me shadows primarily enable communication through association to primal emotions which they produce in one when being looked at. Thus i see shadows, besides being a communicator - communicating our state of existence, also as being the visualization of this primal language - the language of emotions that is common to all.

Emotions in many ways seem to me to be similar to shadows: everyone has them, whether one is aware of this or not. In fact, the emotional traits in us are those which primarily kept us alive as a species. Similarly as the shadow often goes unnoticed, also genuine emotions are often pushed into the shadow, both metaphorically as well as literary. Thus it appears natural to me to rely on emotions and emotional states to convey the language of shadows.
For this purpose i borrowed the skeleton of the periodic table of chemical elements from the natural sciences. I replaced its chemical elements with my shadows representing emotions and emotional states, stemming from different sequences of shadows. Out of this periodic table of emotions filled up with shadows a language of shadows expressing emotions is thus hopefully formed.

Shadows both as words and as images of their language are gr@y cells of my work, the breeding ground from which new ideas might stem. Actually the shadows in my periodic table offer the space for action where emotions CAN be put into motion, all these expressing our emotional existence, parallel to the chemical and physical one.
In the presence of both, the shadow and emotion, we are object and subject; that upon which light acts to produce shadows as well as that upon which thoughts act producing emotions.

Gr@y Matter - The Language of Shadows encompasses a collection of my so called black and white, but in reality predominantly gr@y analog photographs of my shadows. i manipulated many of these manually in the dark room creating unique images without negatives to illustrate building blocks of my periodic table. As the table of elements offers different elements with which things can be formed and existence takes its toll, so also my table of shadows aims to offer separate emotions, emotion's building blocks with which also complex emotions or emotional states may be formed in reactions of different separate emotions.

The language of shadows is not dependant upon words. One can of course also use words to communicate about the shadow, though here one depends on the understanding of a particular language to understand what is being communicated. However the images of shadows comprising the language of shadows go beyond this. In this i see its universality: there is no need for translation in order to understand it!

However, one has to be careful when speaking of its independent existence. As the shadow, neither completely black nor completely white, exists visually and metaphorically in a variety of hues of gr@y in between - the question which particular tone will come to the surface depends on the subjective analysis of the particular interpreter. As a result of both, objective and subjective analysis, the language of shadows depends ultimately on its interpreter, acquiring thus just one out of the many possible interpretations. Therefore the language of shadows as presented in this book can not be claimed as something certain, as something that "is", but rather as something that "may be", expressing as such the true nature of shadows - their never diminishing quality of potentiality.

Nothing is then certain with shadows except the fact that they are here - as long as light is here and something in between to block it. Existing and by this influencing, thus communicating, expressing their language, be it by appearing big, funny, scary, soft, dark, the shadows can scare, amuse, deceive, warn, highlight, keep us company and just as quickly disappear from our sight. Faithfully, silently and non-aggressively yet nevertheless actively and directly they remind us that perhaps we are not so far from being like them - fragile, flexible and forever dependent upon light both to see them, as well as exist.
Eva Petrič

PS: !Statements, associations, ideas - tightly knotted like a ball of yarn, I manage nevertheless to find a loose end
AND
I pull on it - like a ball of yarn it unravels, the trace of its tongue leaving a trail of words lingering behind, searching for shadows...!

Instead of a foreword

2009-07-11T00:31:00.000-07:00

Instead of a foreword - my interview with my mentor Lucien Clergue, May 18 2009:

Lucien Clergue and me, Foto: B Boehnet

Do you remember when you noticed shadows for the first time? On what occasion was this and what can you recall of this experience?
Shadows have been the first images of my youth: waking up in my bedroom, the shutters of my windows almost closed, the reflections of people walking in the street were reflecting on the ceiling and moving away... I enjoyed this very much and tried to repeat this every sunny day.

What did the shadow, if anything, mean to you in your childhood?
Meaning was more as a movie, not a total mystery: why this was happening and changing my bedroom as a showroom?

What does the shadow mean to you now?
Now shadows mean still the mystery of something not existing in reality, a message from inside and outside asking a permanent question WHY? WHY? But also the fact that I was born in August, in Leo sign, and I love the sun, if I know he is there, but in HIS shadow!

When did you include the shadow into your photography for the first time deliberately? Which photograph was this?
I cannot remember exactly when, but in the bullfight of my youth when bullfights were starting at 3 or 4 PM shadows were part of the show, less now as they start at 6 or 7 PM. Then I used them with the nude, projection of shadows on a wall, and trying to do not show the source of it. And I still do it.

Whose shadow would you like to photograph?
The shadow of the MOON, vintage boats on the sea, still women: YOU!

In whose shadow would you like to be?
In the shadow of a small tree like in the desert of White Sand, but also in the shadow of a nude girl.

Whose shadow would you like to have?
It is impossible to have a shadow, or if it is mine, projected on the body of a nude girl!

Whose or which shadow inspired you the most?
Still the one of my childhood.

Which shadows do you like the most?
Right now the one I create with the Venetian blinds for my Zebra Nude.

Where do you like shadows most? Is there any particular place that you are especially fond of having the shadows appear?
On the beach, but also in apartment where they change the size of the room and introduce the mystery in a simple location. But also on the beach with small dead trees, or better, branches of trees or dead roots. Gorgeous.

Is there any particular time of the day that you enjoy shadows the most or least? Do you prefer morning or afternoon shadows? What, if any, is the difference between them?
I prefer afternoon as the shadows will be larger. In the morning they disappear too fast and anyway I am not a man of the morning.

Do you prefer summer or winter shadows? What, if any, is the difference between them?
Any time will be good in terms of season, depending also on where you are. In Antigua it is difficult to have good shadows as the sun rises up fast and comes down fast as well...

Are shadows the same for organic beings and inorganic things?
Shadows from objects are easy to move by myself if I move the object or furniture, but I like the improvisation, expressed in nature and also all that the people cause incidentally. For example, at the Louvre, people visiting in Praxitele Room introduce shadows which change the meaning of the sculptures (which became alive.)

Whose shadow are you afraid of?
The one announcing death. They are too dark, too strong, anthropomorphic...

Do you trust shadows?
I may, I am not sure. They are too much condemned to disappear...

Has any shadow cheated you?
Only when they are too cold!

Did any shadow make you angry?
Not really, except when it covers something I want to photograph and takes off the sunlight on it.

Did any shadow make you sad?
The one on the picture I did of the Picasso's studio: is it him? This is the most mysterious one. I know this is not him, but still...

Has any shadow made you glad?
Yes when it brings something in plus for my shooting.

Did any shadow make you excited?
Of course, when it changes totally the frame of my shooting - the one on the beach with the nude girl in whose shadow you can see reflection of the sun in the wet sand.

Has any shadow made you worried?
Not really.

Did any shadow make you agitated?
Yes, if it is surprising and unexpected.

Did any shadow make you curious?
Why not.

Did any shadow make you disappointed?
Could be.

Can you imagine the world without shadows?
Almost impossible.

Can you imagine your photographs without shadows?
Difficult. I am running after them.

Can a shadow be persuasive?
Of course, inspiring.

Did you ever catch your shadow?
Of course, yes, as a self-portrait.

Has a shadow ever attempted to catch you?
Ask her.

Did you ever run from your shadow? Any shadow?
When I was a child.

Has the shadow of somebody else ever caught you?
Incidentally, but I cannot remember where and when.

Can a shadow hurt?
Probably, but I am a man from the sun. They are part of my life.

Can a shadow tell us something? If so, what...
Yes, but we have to be ready to understand the message.

Have you ever talked to your shadow?
NO.

Has a shadow taught you anything? If so, what...
How to see better something else; give more value to another part of the site.

Is it possible to feel a shadow? How?
I do not know.

Is a shadow soft? Heavy?
Soft or heavy, but an interesting shadow.

Can a shadow be tired?
NO.

Sleepy?
NO.

Naughty?
NO.

Playful?
Why not.

Can a shadow listen?
NO.

Can one control the shadow?
Oh yes!

Would you exchange your shadow? If yes, with whom?
Never. I WILL love your shadow when I see it, I can't wait.

Do you like my shadow? If yes, why? If not, why not?
Of course I love the shadows you create of yourself.

Is there something you want to tell my shadow?
Much love.

Lucien Clergue and me

Foto: B. Boehnet

Meinhard Rauchensteiner: Bis zur Kenntlichkeit verzerrt Schatten Dasein Kunst

2009-07-11T00:20:00.000-07:00

Bis zur Kenntlichkeit verzerrt Schatten Dasein Kunst
Zu Bildern von Eva Petrič

Die Schattenbilder von Eva Petrič zeigen sich biegende Körper, meist gerahmt durch ein Fenster, Alles in ein Grau getaucht, das an den beginnenden oder endenden Tag denken lässt. Geometrische Formen, Raster fassen anthropomorphe Kurven ein, kontrastieren sie, machen sichtbar, verbergen. Gleich vielfach thematisiert Petrič mit den Schattendarstellungen das Thema „Grenze“:

Zunächst das Fenster: Grenze, Bruchstelle zwischen dem Innen und dem Außen, dem Privaten und dem Öffentlichen, dem Verborgenen und dem Unverborgenen, dem Intimen und dem Bekannten. Den Menschen am Fenster – etwa bei einem rauschenden Ball - hat Balzac zu Beginn seiner Erzählung Sarrasine unübertroffen geschildert, stehend zwischen dem schneebedeckten, nächtlichem Garten und den fröhlichen, ausgelassenen Fest im Ballsaal: Kälte – Wärme, Dunkelheit – Licht, Schweigen – Lachen, Tod – Leben. Man merkt: es geht um Einiges! Umso mehr nämlich, wenn der Beobachter zum Akteur wird, der Körper aus der Passivität bloßen Feststellens sich der Blöße des Handelns aussetzt.

Daher ist es wichtig, zu wissen, von welcher Seite ein Fenster betrachtet wird. Zumal, wenn nicht ein beleibter, mit Frack gewandeter Pariser Schriftsteller am Fenster steht, sondern eine junge, nackte, zarte, ja zerbrechliche Frau. Aus welcher Perspektive fällt der Blick? Aus der Perspektive des Voyeurs, der in ein Zimmer, in einen Körper von Außen her eindringt, sich im Schutz der Nacht einen Blick aneignet, der ihm sonst verwehrt bliebe? Oder wendet sich der Blick des Betrachters im Gegenteil aus dem Raum hinaus? Im Falle von Eva Petrič ist es eindeutig diese zweite Blickrichtung. Es geht hier um eine Hereinnahme des Betrachters in den gemeinsamen Raum, um die Inversion des voyeuristischen Blicks. Was aber ist die Inversion des Voyeurismus? Ist es die Pornographie, das Mehr an Zeigen? Keinesfalls. Denn die Pornographie ist die Beseitigung jeder Distanz. Distanz aber, wie sie in den Bildern spürbar wird, hat den Januskopf der Unversehrtheit und der Schmerzes, der Individualität und der Isolation. Die gegen das Fenster hin sichtbare Gestalt sieht ihrerseits dieses Draußen als den ihr verwehrten Raum, einen offenen Raum, einen der Freiheit, ja der Flucht. Ihre Eroberung dieses unerreichbaren Raumes, die dem Blick des Voyeurs entgegen gesetzt ist, ist die des Erträumens, der Sehnsucht und, da sich mit dem Betrachter ja noch jemand hier befindet, des Abschieds. Antizipierte Einsamkeit stahlen sie aus, diese wie in Trance tanzenden Körper, wie eine Pantomime des alten Wissens um das Verlassenwerden der Frau. Gleichzeitig binden sich Petrič’ Schattenrisse damit zurück an die mythologische Urszene der Malerei, wie sie Plinius der Ältere in seiner Naturgeschichte schildert.: jene Erzählung von der jungen Korintherin, die das Schattenbild des scheidenden Geliebten an der Wand nachzeichnet, um ihn, sein Wesen, seine Liebe, solcherart zu bewahren. Wir wissen freilich heute – und sie, die junge Griechin ahnte es wohl schon -, dass der junge Mann nicht zurück gekehrt ist, nicht zurück kehren konnte, weil sein Schiff sank, er tödlich verwundet wurde oder eben in Kleinasien der Körper einer anderen Frau ihn die Gnade des Vergessens lehrte. Wie die Schrift, so hat auch die Malerei von ihrem Beginn weg einen testamentarischen Charakter.

Die zweite Grenze in den Schattenbildern findet sich im Fensterkreuz, das eine Weiterführung der anfangs erwähnten Gegensätze bedeutet. Man muss ja nicht gleich an Peter Altenberg denken, der sich selbst empfahl, sich in den frühen Morgenstunden am Fensterkreuz aufzuhängen, um zu erkennen, dass dieses Kreuz, das Eva Petrič zeigt, den Tod, den Tod schlechthin, den letzten Tod, das heißt die Kreuzigung Christi thematisiert. Und damit die Gegensätze nicht nur von Leben und Tod, Vergänglichem und Ewigem, sondern auch von Männlichem und Weiblichem. Auch hier wieder die vorweggenommene Inversion, diesmal der Pieta: nicht die Mutter wird es sein, die den Sohn beweint, es wird der Vater sein, der die Tochter in Händen hält. Doch Golgatha bleibt Golgatha, Schädelberg Schädelberg. Und nur am Rande sei erwähnt, dass die Figur der Pieta die Figur des Kreuzes verdoppelt und die Rollen neu verteilt.

Die dritte Grenze ist jene, um die es zentral gehen soll: die zwischen dem Selbst und dem Schatten. Auch in diesem Fall muss man dabei nicht auf die zahllosen literarischen Versuche eingehen, dem Schatten ein Eigenleben zuzuschreiben, ihn zum Golem werden zu lassen, ihn verschenken, tauschen, verkaufen zu können. Von Chamisso, Andersen oder Lenau, die ein beachtliches Spektrum zwischenmenschlicher Schattenwirtschaft abdecken, hat Otto Rank in seiner Studie zum Motiv des Doppelgängers eindringlich geschrieben. Es ist allerdings durchaus möglich, ohne spirituelle oder transzendente oder gespenstisch-romatische Verrenkungen diese Grenze zu beschreiben. Denn sie ist die Grenze schlechthin: determinatio negatio, jede Bestimmung geschieht durch Negation, durch Ab-grenzung, wie es bei Spinoza heißt. So bestimmt sich das Selbst eben auch durch den Schatten, der allerdings zum Negativ des Spiegelbildes gerät. Versichert dieses – nach Lacan – den Menschen seiner Unversehrtheit, seiner Ganzheit, seines Ichs, so droht jener mit dessen Auflösung, jedenfalls aber mit seiner Deformation. Stark widerspricht dem die Einschätzung Johann Kaspar Lavaters, der den Schatten zum Vehikel der Wissenschaft machen wollte: „Das Schattenbild von einem Menschen, oder einem menschlichen Gesichte, ist das schwächste, das leerste, aber zugleich, wenn das Licht in gehöriger Entfernung gestanden; wenn das Gesicht auf eine reine Fläche gefallen – mit dieser Fläche parallel genug gewesen – das wahrste und getreueste Bild, das man von einem Menschen geben kann“, schreibt er in seinen „Physiognomischen Fragmenten“ und unschwer erkennt man den experimentellen Charakter, der hier beschrieben wird. Aber führt der Schatten zur Wissenschaft? Ist seine Verdoppelungsfunktion nicht nur ein Modus unter anderen? Ist das Sein des Schattens nicht eher in der Allgemeinheit seiner verzerrenden und damit autonomen Möglichkeit zu finden?

Deutlich zeigen dies die Bilder von Petrič, die den jungen Frauenkörper plötzlich schwanger erscheinen lassen, Arme in die Länge ziehen, verschmelzen lassen, Köpfe verdoppeln oder Hälse dehnen. Die Technik des Schattens ist die Anamorphose, jene Verzerrung, die – weit mehr als nur optische Spielerei – zur Trägerin verborgener, unliebsamer Wahrheiten wird.

Man denke nur an die berühmten „Gesandten“ von Holbein, die durch den kaum entzifferbar verzerrten Totenschädel am Rand der vorderen Bildmitte an die Hinfälligkeit alles irdischen erinnert werden. Oder wir an ihre. Und an unsere.

Was aber bedeutet es dann, den Schatten festzuhalten, wie Eva Petric es geradezu manisch macht?

Der Schatten ist flüchtig (Hiob 14, 1 bis zu Studentenliedern). Ihm gegenüber wirkt der Mensch wie von Dauer. Der Schattenriss aber dauert, neben ihm wird der Mensch zur flüchtigen Erscheinung. Und dennoch darf die Wahrheit der Verzerrung, die in ihm, dem Schattenbild, festgehalten wird nicht als bloße Fixierung einer Deformation gesehen werden. Wenn der Schatten noch flüchtiger ist, als das Dasein, so fügt sich die Fixierung des Schattens in die Frage nach Dauer und Augenblick, nach Zeitlichem und Ewigem, nach Hiersein und Fortsein ein. Ganz eben wieder eine Auseinandersetzung mit der Grenze, zu deren Sinnbild der Schatten wird.

Der Schatten ist flüchtig. Flüchtiger noch als der Mensch. Der Schattenriss aber ist dauerhaft. Und dauerhafter, als der Mensch. Was aber ist dauerhafter als der Mensch? Erinnern wir uns an Plinius, an die junge Frau, an ihre Zeichnung: dauerhafter als der Mensch ist die Kunst! Darauf hat zuletzt auch Elke Heidenreich in ihrer Festrede bei den Salzburger Festspielen hingewiesen.

Was Petrič in immer neuen Anläufen zeigt, ist letztlich nichts anderes, als eine Allegorie auf die Kunst, ein Hymnus auf sie. Indem sie die verborgene Wahrheit des Körpers, verborgen im Schatten und in der heutigen Schönheitschirurgie, nämlich seines Hinfälligkeit, seine Endlichkeit, Sterblichkeit, an den Ursprung der Kunst rückbindet, verrät sie gleichzeitig, dass menschliches Dasein – ganz im Sinne Hannah Arendts – seinen Halt im Hier und Jetzt nur durch jenes zweck- und nutzlose „Produkt“ erlangt, welches das Tun der Künstlerin, des Künstlers hervorbringt.

Die Linie führt vom Leben zum Schatten und von dort zum Bild; oder anders: vom flüchtigen Dasein über die Liebe zur Kunst. Von diesem Weg erzählen die Bilder von Eva Petrič, die dem Schatten damit ein wenig zu der ihm zustehenden Würde verhilft.

Meinhard Rauchensteiner

I. Happy

2009-07-10T23:50:00.000-07:00

jubilant

festive
playful

festive twice

pleased

inspired

exultant

elated

complacent

upbeat

satisfied

lighthearted

expectating

joyful

carefree

relaxed

passionate

friendly

thrilled

grateful

excited

glad

calm

cheerful

Happy:

festive, playful, jubilant, festive twice, pleased, inspired, exultant, complacent, upbeat, satisfied, lighthearted, expectating, joyful, carefree, relaxed, passionate, friendly, thrilled, grateful, excited, glad, calm, cheerful...

Kaj je senca? Der Schatten

2009-07-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

Kaj je SENCA?

Odgovorov je mnogo, odvisno je, koga vprašate. Razumevanje sence je lahko znanstveno, izkustveno, umetniško in še mnogo več. Vendar je v vsakem primeru SENCA POSLEDICA SVETLOBE. Zato senca ne more nositi negativne oznake, čeprav se v metaforah pogosto pojavlja njen negativni pomen. Vzemimo najprej čisto stvarno razlago znanstvenikov: senca je enostranska osvetlitev neprozornega predmeta, ta daje polno senco, imamo pa še polsenco, vse je odvisno od svetlobe, in tako naprej, morda boste prešli na senco za elektromagnetne valove. Zdravnik bo senco na bolnih tkivih organov sprejel kot opozorilo, poljedelci in vrtnarji bodo razlagali, kaj ne raste na senčnih površinah in katerim rastlinam senca godi, zgodovinarji bodo govorili o senčnih plateh družbe in o starih kulturah, ki so svoje pokojne varno spravili v deželo senc. Največ prispodob bodo izumili literati, pesniki, zlasti tisti, ki nočejo živeti v nekoga senci. Celo narodna pesem se zateka v hladno senčico. Tisti, ki mu ob težkem fizičnem delu sije sonce na glavo, bo senco občutil kot odrešitev, blagodat. Tudi likovni umetniki imamo spoštljiv odnos do sence. Slikar, ki ne obvlada tonskega slikarstva (kar nevedneži zamenjujejo s toni barv!), nikoli ne bo zares razumel likovnega upodabljanja, tistega menjavanja bolj svetlih in temnejših točk, ki privedejo do plastičnosti, do obvladovanja prostora in prave upodobitve predmeta, ki je pri slikanju sicer dvodimenzionalen, a ga ravno senca oživi. Sicer je pa senca tudi za kiparje važna. Kaj šele ponuja svetloba s senco dobremu fotografu, režiserju, filmarju! Spomnimo se še na starodavno izrezovanje senčnih (črnih) profilov, ali pa na lutkovna gledališča senc, senca je z umetnostjo nerazdružljiva! SENCA je lepota, opozorilo, zavetje, varno skrivališče, pomagalo, ustvarjalnost in ker je posledica svetlobe, ne more biti negativna. Senca pa ni predmet sam, je njegov čisti odsev.
Melita Vovk

Der Schatten

Der Schatten kann diffus oder explizit wahrgenommen werden, sich auflösen oder verdichten, doch letztlich hängt er immer an einer konkreten Form. Um ihn sichtbar zu machen braucht es nicht nur einen entsprechenden Lichteinfall. Licht und Schatten – diese Ambivalenz von Abstufungen und Stimmungen lädt geradezu zu einer Vielzahl von inneren wie äußeren Bildern ein.

Der Psalmtext "sub umbra alarum tuarum" – "unter dem Schatten deiner Flügel" – wurde in späteren Jahrhunderten als weltliche Kategorie höchsten Schutzes verstanden. Doch wenn das Licht nicht alles erhellt, nicht zur Metapher der Aufklärung wird, dann lässt das Dunkle einmal mehr ungewisse Fallen und Abgründe erahnen. Da wird der die Sinne verwirrende irrlichternde Schatten zum Kerker, zur Bedrohung und zum Hades aller Ängste.

Rauch, Staub und Schatten werden als Gegenwelt erlebt, die die vergebliche Mühsal menschlichen Strebens kennt. Im Nichtvorhandensein von Licht gibt es auch keine Schatten. Im Schatten ist daher immer noch ein Stück Hoffnung vorhanden. Auch im Nachtschatten lässt es sich gedeihen. Der Schatten erzählt noch lange von einer realen Wirklichkeit, die Hoffnung gebiert, auch wenn Bild und Schatten nicht voneinander zu trennen sind. So können dennoch Schattenbilder, denen wir im Traum, im Leben oder nur in einfach absurden Situationen begegnen, Chiffren unserer Stärke werden. Diese Eindrücke und Bilder versuchen wir zu ordnen und zu verstehen.

Für Sprache und Malerei ist die Existenz und die Erfahrung des Schattens erlebbare und gefühlte Wirklichkeit. Das Phänomen Schatten enthüllt vor allem die messbare Dimension Zeit. Mit anderen Worten, die Vergänglichkeit und Flüchtigkeit der Zeit wird dem Betrachter bewusst. So gesehen bringt uns der Schatten die Doppelbödigkeit des nicht festzuhaltenden Augenblicks zu Bewusstsein. Kunst macht Zusammenhänge sichtbar. Vielleicht sollte der Ausspruch von Oscar Wilde, dass das Mysteriöse im Leben im Sichtbaren, und nicht im Unsichtbaren, liege, in diesem Bezug neu gelesen werden.

Schatten gehören zur Lebenserfahrung. Doch nur der Mensch hat die Fähigkeit, Schatten zu versetzen, wo sie die Natur nicht zulässt. Dies ist unsere Freiheit und ein Teil der Poesie unseres Lebens.
Wolfgang J. Bandion

II. Loving

2009-07-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

affectionate

checking
caring

rechecking

contented

still contented

humble

close

understanding

optimistic

awed

still humble

flirtatious

again humble

admiring

adoring

charming

warm

devoted

kind

tender

amorous

doting

tranquil

delicate

compassionate

sharing

accepting

fond

passionate

Loving:

caring, checking, rechecking, contented, still contented, affectionate, accepting, understanding, optimistic, awed, humble, close, still humble, again humble, loyal, flirtatious, admiring, adoring, warm, devoted, kind, charming, tender, amorous, doting, tranquil, delicate, compassionate, amazed, fond, sharing, passionate...

2009-07-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

DER WAHRE SCHATTEN ERHELLT, DAS FALSCHE LICHT VERHÜLLT.
Boris Podrecca

»Videnja, s katerim se prepričamo o svetu, ni mogoče ločiti od videza, ki je že navzoč v našem pogledu. Tudi sence se, čim nam pridejo pred oči,ločijo od teles, h katerim sodijo. Niti telesa se nam ne zdijo takšna, kakršna so, temveč takšna, kakor jih vidimo, torej v tujem pogledu, ki ga verno razglašamo za dejstvo. Distanca do podob ne nastane šele z motrenjem, temveč že z izdelavo podobe.« (Hans Belting: Antropologija podobe, str. 223, Studia humanitatis,Ljubljana, letnik 2004)
Takole se je izrazil ta pomembni antropolog nekje ob zaključku svojega poglavja Podoba in sence,kjer piše o preobrazbi Dantejeve teorije podob v teorijo umetnosti, in ki ga sicer uvaja s stavkom: »Moč podobe je v svetlobi in njenem transcendentalnem nasprotju, v senci.«
Kaj lahko še sam dodam - da se pri vaših fotografijah, Eva Petrič, dogaja veliko tega in da znate to v svojem jeziku, kar se mi mučimo s teorijo, postaviti na pravo (umetniško-izrazno) mesto!
Aleksander Bassin

Sence so vedno neotipljive, ni jih moč prijeti, so pa vedno odraz nečesa, kar je. V sencah je vedno nekaj skrivnostnega, nedoločenega. Pogosto so sence izraz lepote, skrite za senco; lahko so tudi strah vzbujajoče, npr. senca lune, ko prikrije sonce in povzroči sončni mrk. So lahko napoved težke bolezni in smrti, npr. sence na rentgenski sliki pljuč. Vir sence je seveda svetloba, luč, sonce. Vendar sence brez predmeta, ki senco naredi, ni. Zato so sence vedno bolj ali manj stvaren odraz nečesa, kar dejansko je, kar stoji med svetlobo in senco. So skrivnostno odražanje nečesa realnega. In ker je umetnost sama, zlasti likovna, pa tudi poezija in proza, vedno odraz nečesa, kar je povzročilo umetniku ustvarjalni impulz, bi celo lahko rekli, da je sama umetnost nekakšna senca, za katero stojijo realnosti, umetnikova ustvarjalna moč pa tista "luč" , ki obsije realnost in rodi, ustvari umetnino, "senco" realnosti.
Ati

Nicht nur in der Forschung beschäftigt der Schatten seit Jahrtausenden die Menschen und ihre kulturelle Produktivität: Ich denke hier an die seltsam modern und rätselhaft anmutenden etruskische Bronzestele `Ombra della Sera´, der Schatten einer menschlichen Figur. Ohne Spiel von Licht und Schatten ist auch die Fotokunst nicht denkbar. Der Schatten als Metapher für das Dunkle taucht auch immer wieder in der Literatur auf: `…und man sieht die im Lichte, die im Dunkeln sieht man nicht´ heißt es in der Dreigroschenoper von Brecht. Und besonders heute - in Zeiten der globalen Krise - ist der Blick auf das Geschehen im Schatten wichtiger den je.
Kilian Franer

Sence so podaljšek predmetov in ljudi, pravzaprav vsega, kar obstaja pod soncem, pod lučjo. In hkrati so njihov neločljivi del, tihe spremljevalke, ki vdano vztrajajo ob vsem, kar diha, kar se premika ali kar je za vekomaj zasidrano na svojem mestu. Živijo v svojem tihem paralelnem svetu in se podrejajo le njim in svetlobi lastni logiki in zakonom. Obstajajo, ne glede na to, kje smo in kaj počnemo. Tudi takrat, ko iz sebe izdihnemo še zadnjo slutnjo življenja, naša senca živi, dokler nas plast zemlje ne zagrne v temo.

Sence se rojevajo znova in znova, vedno iste, vsakokrat druge, vsakokrat nove. Pod različnimi lučmi različno rastejo in se premikajo. Kot da bi bile žive, pa vendar niso. Lahko jih vidimo in se jih celo dotaknemo, ne moremo pa jih otipati in začutiti. So nerazmišljajoča bitja brez materije, ki se za svoj obstoj ne napajajo ne z zrakom ne z vodo. Njihova navzočnost je zgolj dokaz, da je luč in da je svetloba.

Sence so neizbežen odsev tega, kar smo ljudje, kar je narava in kar so predmeti. Tako drugačne od odseva v ogledalu, od katerega se lahko obrnemo proč in ga izničimo. Sencam ne moremo ubežati, pa četudi pogasimo vse ognje in vse luči. Ker čisto vseh pač ne moremo pogasiti nikoli. Ker mesečevega sija se namreč ne da izklopiti in tudi soncu ne moremo reči, naj preneha sijati.

Kot pred najglobljimi skrivnostmi naše biti, pred katerimi bežimo na vse konce sveta, sencam ne moremo uiti. Z nami so, kadar smo vse in kadar smo nihče. Z nami so celo, ko se skušamo skriti pred samimi sabo ali ko postopamo po svetu goli in bosi in smo le še senca samih sebe …

Z vidika senc smo vsi enaki. Vsi in vse smo projekcija svetlobe, ki se igra z našimi oblikami in nas ne razločuje po našem bistvu. Sence ne poznajo ras in vrednosti predmetov. Ne ločijo med izbranci in tistimi, ki so potisnjeni na rob. Pravzaprav ne razlikujejo niti med živim in mrtvim. Za sence smo le vir njihovega obstoja, materializiran konstrukt njihove podobe.

Ob večerih, ko sonce vsakič znova odpotuje za horizont in se del Zemlje ovije v senčno stran, vsaka senca poišče svojo luč, iz katere črpa življenje. Ker sence tudi ponoči ne spijo. Njihov obstoj je skoraj večen. Ne umrejo niti, ko se predmeti izgubijo ali ko umremo mi. Sence umrejo in se izgubijo šele, ko umre njihova luč.
Mojca Jesenovec

Many modern religions believe us to be both the flesh and the spirit. However, I prefer the concept of ancient Egypt, where the individual is somewhat more complex and consisted of the body, the life force (ka), the soul (ba), the name and the shadow (shut). All five elements were thought to be necessary to form a functional human being. The shadow was perceived as a crucial part of an individual, for it was, like the body, visible. In the transient relation to the other four elements of a person the shadow is both a component of its owner, as well as a separate mode of existence that transposes us in time. In effect our shadow links the present with the potentials of our past and future. Imagine, how each night your shadow ceases to exist and returns to the other side – shadowland, afterlife, whatever you call it – and copulates with the deceased and unborn.
Markuz Wernli Saitô

Eva Petrič is a talented and imaginative artist whose pictures make us look at familiar subjects - in this case the human form and its shadow - in a new way. Her work depicts everyday scenes but, through the subtle and harmonious use of light and shade, makes us question whether what we are looking at is animate or inanimate, still or in motion.
Mohamed ElBaradei

Če se ozrem v sonce, mi bo s svojim bliščem hromilo zaznavne sposobnosti življenja; če gledam v senco, mi jih bo s svojimi temačnimi odtenki poglobila. Ta njuna (navidezna) skrajnost je tako prepletena in pogojevana, da le senčnost lahko sončnosti daje njeno resničnost. To sicer ni nikakršno pretresljivo spoznanje za tiste, ki si upajo prakticirati z življenjem in vsemi njegovimi odtenki; je pa vedno dober opomnik, ko nas morda predolgo navdaja temačnost sence. In vendarle; senca je zame največkrat osupljiv črno beli vtis in odtis življenjske energije in zanosa, ki žari in oplaja s svojo navzočnostjo.
Janez Škrabec

V senco se umaknem, kadar potrebujem čas za razmislek, odmik od svetlobe, ki je lahko premočna in zamegljuje vid, je torej prostor kontemplacije, plašč nevidnosti, anonimnosti.
Breda Škrjanec

MOTION, inside emotion, is within the constitution of the shadow. Emotion is the blueprint of the shadow.
(eva petrič, The Language of Shadows, excerpt from notes)

III. Interested

2009-07-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

involved

absorbed
rapt

earnest

engrossed

intent

open

convinced

engaged

intrigued

preoccupied

captivated

recaptivated

impatient

eager

curious

wrapped up

curious
inquisitive

concerned

enthralled

sympathetic

enraptured

gripped

held

enchanted

mesmerized

mesmerized degrading

mesmerized accentuated

mesmerized stabilizing

Interested:

involved, absorbed, rapt, earnest, engrossed, intent, engaged, convinced, open, intrigued, preoccupied, captivated, impatient, immersed, recaptivated, eager, wrapped up, curious, spellbaound, inquisitive, concerned, enthralled, sympathetic, enraptured, gripped, held, enchanted, mesmerized, mesmerized degrading, mesmerized accentuated,

mesmerized stabilizing...

Skrivnost sence

2009-07-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

Skrivnost sence

Kaj me najprej spreleti, ko me vprašate o senci?

Ob senci pomislim na senčenje, s katerim so pri slikanju umetniki dosegali prepričljiv učinek plastičnosti, torej na način, ki naj bi potrjeval zemeljsko otipljivost in resničnost vidnega sveta. Kipec, ki ga imam pred seboj na pisalni mizi, pravkar mehko oživljajo, dobesedno božajo v njegovi modelaciji blage sence, kot bi ga luščile iz zasanjane spokojnosti. V pesmi Vojislava Ilića Zimska idila, ki jo med tem berem, pa označujejo sence predvsem razpoloženje(Skozi temo večera blede, / dolge in svetle sence se čudno vijejo po zidu). Toda sam pojem sence ima v moji zavesti vendar predvsem povsem drug, pomensko intenzivnejši pomen, ki se nanaša na človekov ponotranjeni, ne le fizični obstoj.

Senca je živa sled človeka, znamenje njegove pričujočnosti, ki ga vsepovsod spremlja, a je vidna le v luči, na soncu. Človeka spremlja kot duša, zato je brez nje nesrečen, kot beremo v romantični literaturi, ko se ji odpove in jo potem obupan išče, ker se zave, kaj je hudega storil. Povezan z njo, jo lahko doživlja kot večno spremenljivo najzvestejšo spremljevalko, tako kot melanholični pesnik Alojz Gradnik v refleksivnem ciklu desetih pesmi Večerna senca, kjer se je med dogorevanjem svetlobe življenja vse bolj zaveda kot uganke in strogega stražnika, večnega pričevalca, mračno vest in skritega demona, kot sestro, ki se bo na pragu smrti z njim strnila v eno in šla edina z njim na zadnjo pot. V istoimenski pesmi (Večerna senca) mu padajo večerne sence na pot skupaj s predsmrtnim mrakom; v mladostni prozi Franceta Bevka o nesrečni samomorilki pa pisatelj piše, da se vselej zboji, kadarkoli sreča senco v drevoredu.

V svoji likovni predimenzioniranosti lahko senca še zlasti v likovni umetnosti zaživi tudi svoje lastno izrazno življenje, ko se dvigne nad telo, ki jo meče, in postane nosilka slutnje ali neznanega pomena, pomenljiv privid, ki se lahko vtisne v spomin vse bolj kot otipljiva resničnost. Spominjam se, kako se je slikar Božidar Jakac, ko je med prvo svetovno vojno prebil >prvo divjo vojno noč< med rekruti v stari Cukrarni, vedno najbolj spominjal strahotnega gibanja pošastnih senc, ki so švigale po visokih stenah, podstavkih in tramovih, bolj kot samih človeških postav, ki so jih metale. Isti umetnik, v bistvu grafik, občudovalec senčnega Gradnika, je v mladostni refleksivnosti, ko se je nenehno spraševal o življenju, dojemal v razmerju med figuro in njeno senco simbolično podobo razmerja med videzom in resnico in je zato upodabljal poleg senc ob človeku tudi samostojne senčne odseve v izložbenem steklu. Z globoko senco prek oči, zamišljeno kot skrivnost, je želel vdihniti upodobljenim ženam ljubezensko fatalnost; same orjaške sence, ki se lahko nad postavo vsakdanjega človeka neznansko povečajo, pa je dojemal kot vizije, kot privide, ki lahko s svojimi temnimi slutnjami zaobsegajo ves vid(e)ni svet, česar sam človek ne more. Tako je sence sprehajalcev nad dalmatinsko hišo, spremenjene v orjaške postave, ki nadzirajo in ogrožajo skriti dom, na svoji grafiki simbolično dojela tudi Jakčeva učenka Tinca Stegovec, ki vselej išče v vidnih pojavih njihove skrite pomene. Senca se kot izrazna dominanta dviga na mladostnih lesorezih Frana Stiplovška, ki je v svoji precizni stvarnosti le s pogledom nanjo, dvigajočo se nad realno postavo, lahko izrazil močno doživetje ob uprizoritvi Hasencleverjeve drame Onstran življenja. Janez Bernik pa je za emblematsko izhodišče nastajajoče knjige svojih risb Nočni dnevnik zasnoval silhueto lebdeče figure, ki kot dvojnik lebdi nad svojo senco, odtrgano od nje, kot bi opozarjal na dvojnost življenja, ki je hkrati tukaj in v snu, telesno in duhovno.

Ni tudi naključje, da je Miha Maleš naslovil knjižni album svojih lesorezov po sencah (Sence); sence se spreminjajo v spominske privide na grafikah Franceta Miheliča, kjer je podoba mrtvega očeta samo njegova senca na zidu zapuščenega prostora, ki je tudi sam le še senčni privid; in nasploh je dežela mrtvih tudi dežela senc, ki jim arhaično in pesniško rečemo tenje, ker so tako prosojne; in zato so tudi bitja, ki so že onstranska, četudi so še živa, v bistvu sence ali tenje; svet, ki je hkrati onstran in tu, pa je lahko videti tudi brez sence, ker je že sam ena sama duhovna tenja. (Spominjam se, kako mi je Marijan Tršar nekoč dejal, da je slikarska pokrajina Zorana Mušiča brez senc.)

Senca ima, skratka, tudi pomen odmaknjenosti od realnosti, ki je lahko že povsem sanjska, in zato se iz senc spletajo tudi likovni ritmi na podobah Eve Petrič, ki so ponekod videti v svoji silhuetnosti le še kot poetičen izraz pomenljivih senc, kot ples v senčnem gledališču, v katerem se sence objemajo kot nevidne postave živih gibov, spremenjenih v abstraktne preplete. Dolga senca pa spremlja tudi figuro s prve fotografije njenega angela, filmu, ob misli nanj pa se nam zazde številne njene podobe tudi kot hkrati fantastične in poetične filmske sekvence, med njimi že prva fotografija iz njenega novozaveznega cikla z motivom oznanjenjske angelske deklice na življenjski progi, posuti s snežnim cvetjem, pred katero slutimo lestev kot most k nebesnemu svetu duha, medtem ko je njena oznanjenjska Marija ekspresivna senca brezimne noseče žene v škatlasti zaprtosti nepremičnega okenskega okvira. Te njene podobe pa so kot sekvence iz filmov, v katerih, tistih iz ekspresionističnega časa, mi v spominu posebej žive zlasti senčne kretnje. Sicer pa se mi spomin na sence prebuja tudi ob misli na stare grafike, ki jih posebno ljubim, ker na njih sence stopnjujejo sanjsko vzdušje, občutenje neizbežnega in temnega sredi svetlobe, ter daljav, ki označujejo prostorsko prostranstvo, a ga hkrati premikajo tudi v duhovne sfere. Ob eni izmed njih, ki sem jo kupil na bolšjem trgu, sem napisal celo verze, v katerih je senca nekakšen simbol življenjskega cilja, spoznanja samega sebe; to pa vidim šele zdaj, ko me sprašujete o senci, kajti na senco nisem poprej ob njej niti pomislil, saj sem zapisal le občutenje; a kot vidim, je bila vsaj zame na svetli, skorajda brezsenčni podobi bistvena prav senca.

Grafika

Mogočen hrast. Pod njim
neznani jezdec išče pravo pot.
Sonce in senca, tanka črta čez,
tema, polton, svetloba.
Bližina in oddaljeno prostranstvo vmes,
drevo kot kažipot
do groba.

Gesta vojščaka pravi mi: Živim.
Med strahom in pogumom
sem vkopan,
sam, z belim žrebcem, z njim vihar leti
v nov, še nerazkriti dan.
Z njim se v neznani prostor zavihtim
sredi poti med srcem in razumom,
da svojo daljno senco ulovim,
še preden se stemni.

Milček Komelj

IV. Confident

2009-07-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

enthusiastic

empowered
triumphant ascending

triumphant

converted

trusting

independent

persuaded

brave

exhilirated

proud

determined

sure

ambitious

bright

courageous

bright degrading

bright upgrading

secure

helpful

affirmative stabilizing

strong

affirmative

certain

hopeful

positive

certain degrading

sanguine

positive stabilized

Confident:

empowered, triumphant ascending, triumphant, enthusiastic, converted, independent, persuaded, trusting, brave, exhilirated, proud, determined, sure, ambitious, bright, bright degrading, bright upgrading, courageous, secure, strong, helpful, affirmative, affirmative stabilizing, certain, certain degrading, sanguine, hopelful, positive positive stabilized...

2009-07-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

Jezik sence je sopotnik jezika sonca. Človeku senca kaže, da ga sonce spremlja. Kjer je sonce, je senca. Jaz v soncu in jaz v senci, jaz v toploti in jaz v hladu. To so neizogibnosti človekovega življenja. Pogledaš senco in vidiš sebe. Če pogledaš čez ramo nazaj v sonce in ne paziš na senco, se spotakneš in morda celo padeš. Velik si toliko, kolikor
je velika tvoja senca. V dialogu s senco namreč človek meri sebe. Senca je tvoja prijateljica, saj zaradi tebe pade v lužo,da ti lahko stopiš mimo luže. Kdor govori samo o senčni plati življenja, ne zna poiskati sonca.
Mitja Meršol

über seinen "Schatten" springen..........
in jemandes "Schatten" stehen...........
jemanden in den "Schatten" stellen........
die "Schatten" der Vergangenheit........
to live in the "shadow"
may your "shadow" never grow less!
Nora Drasche

shadows enhance the magnitude of a mountain or a skyscraper
shadows envelop the vicissitude of a drunkard's face
shadows create images of surreality
shadows inspire the volatility of imaginations
shadows deepen the artist's focus
Richard Drasche

V otroštvu se odkritja vrstijo z neznansko naglico, vznikajo kot sunki, ki bodo preobrnili na glavo vse samoumevno, dokler se ne zlepijo z znanim v eno telo.
Sončna ura se je izkazala kot neverjetno preprosta zadeva, nobene tehnike, zgolj palica, zapičena v zemljo, še manj, zgolj telo v pravi legi. Čarovnija sence. Ko je dan najvišji, se skrči skorajda na minimum; ko dan ugaša, se razbohoti v fantastične dimenzije.
Senca je hrbtna stran časa. Vse dokler, kot pravi pesnik, ne nastopi čas, ko ni več časa.
Mitja Čander

People are normally not inclined to pay attention to shadows! They are obsessed with the play called light! You,my dear Eva, have made the right choice to find the balance! On top of that the way of expression in your work is very special. One can not decide easily where does the shadow begin and where does light end! There is an amazing interface between the two!
Srgjan Kerim

Seveda, senca nas spremlja od otroštva in do konca življenja. Kot otrok nam riše našo postavo večjo, nenavadno, včasih strašljivo in le malokrat, kadar je sonce v zenitu majceno in bolj prijazno. Se pa s senco ukvarjamo tudi kasneje, kot igra prispodoba ali kot pesniški izraz. Najbolj mi je v spominu besedilo francoskega šansonjerja Brela, ki se pri svoji ljubezni poniža in jo prosi, naj mu dovoli biti vsaj senca njenega psa.., tako majhen, vendar bo še vedno ob njej…
Rudi Zaman

Eva Petrič’s Shadows beckon. Their dance is impossible to ignore, fascinating to watch, and a delight to enter. The figures in the light are clearly having fun, stretching and gesturing in a small window-world. Not threatening in the least, these angels combine an ethereal sensuality with a playful spirit, inviting all their friends into the frame.

Make no mistake, though: what Eva brings us in these images is really about the light, the shadow side of the shadow. You’re safe here, and if you allow these photographs to lead you in, you will be astonished at how much they contain.
Bill Barett

Shadows are the intimate, the public and private, living in the corners and allies and the inner most hidden thoughts and emotions of both the space of architecture and the space of human emotional constitution.

The only CONSTANT: in (of) shhhh-in the Shadow is its motion. The motion of a shadow is its E-motion which creates the tune of shhhh ...defining the tone of the shadow and with this its e-motion which it expells as atmosphere.
(eva petrič, The Language of Shadows, excerpts from notes)

V. Doubtful

2009-07-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

variable ascending

variable

varibale stabilizing

uncertain

fickle

cpricious

skeptical

dithering

impulsive

weak

undetermined

inconsistent

suspicious

irresolute

erratic degrading

indecisive

erratic

changeable

hesitant

dubious

evasive

unsure

powerless

uniformed

distant

bored

bewildered

indifferent

Doubtful:

variable ascending, variable, variable stabilizing, uncertain, fickle, capricious, skeptical, dithering, impulsive, inconsistent, weak, undetermined, suspicious, irresolute, indecisive, erratic, erratic degrading, changeable, evasive, unsure, dubious, hesitant, powerless, distant, uninformed, bored, bewildered, indifferent...

2009-07-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

During my stay in London the art historian Ernst Gombrich once talked to me about the strange power of shadows. I have ever been attracted since.
Shadows are an empire of things possible. I have always been curiously attracted by their presence often more than by the presence of the object itself. Somehow shadows give objects a soul and emotions.
Emil Brix

Sence prinašajo misli, voljo do vsega lepega, a kaj, ko mnogokrat kdo nehote prekine to senco – kot v življenju…
Naj bodo sence čim manj prekinjene, dolge in razpete na različne smeri.
Nika Rogelj

Shadows, for me, are not only aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but they are also poetic.
Matthew D. Selekman

As psychologist, I have encountered the shadow in many different forms, from C.G. Jung’s archetypes to psychological processes in the shadow economy. Eva Petrič’s work has shown me how bright the shadow can be.
Thomas Oberlechner

Ni sence brez svetlobe. Zato je senčni večer čas čaščenja odhajajočega dne. Hvalnica soncu. Pa tudi, ob prižgani svetilki, ples dolgih podaljšanih senc. Hvalnica senci in noči. Strašen bi bil svet brez senc. Neka pravljica pripoveduje, kako je po bogastvu hlepeči šibki človek prodal svojo senco hudiču in s tem izgubil dušo. Vsi so se ga izogibali. Je morda »človek brez sence« pravzaprav »človek brez domovine«? Namreč večni Emigrant, razpet v svet in v Nič, ki je izgubil v zmedi in grozi bivanja in sveta samega sebe. Človek brez identitete. Tudi »večni Žid« iz pravljice, ki blodi po svetu in so mu drugi, oholi, ostri in krivični, zaprli vsa vrata. Nekakšen hlapec Jernej, ki se ga nihče ne usmili. Vsekakor lahko tiči, kot se zdi, v »človeku brez sence« in v »svetu brez senc« neka rezka, nevarna skrivnost. V romanu rusko –ameriškega pisatelja Nabokova načrtuje tajna »Organizacija Senc« umor priljubljenega kralja čudovite dežele Zembla. Te tajne Sence so Armada v Senci, ki se igra z ljudmi in usodami, kot se igra pesnik z jezikom in besedami in išče, kot vsi pravi umetniki, pot v skrivnost svojega bistva. Neki Gospod Senca je zato zares pesnik in filozof. Osvetljen od sonca, ker se še ni zapisal hudiču. Človek s senco, ki azurno modro polzi po beli steni in se živahno zasvetlika v steklu bližnjega okna. Ta senca pada v sneg, pada senca v sence senco in v sneg.
Lev Detela

Senca deluje v dialogu med fizičnim in metafizičnim. Je oslabitev svetlobe in prehod v temo (na drugo stran). Senca je nema, gluha in slepa, že v momentu nastanka zavezana preteklosti, zamrzne trenutek, pusti, da mimo steče čas. A pokaže svojo močno konturo, zapiše strukturo; pusti sled. Telo, ki ima senco, ima sled (hvala bogu!).
Lili Šturm

Shadow. It is always around following your every move, the tracing of the spirit as it finds its way through space.
Richard Timperio

Senčnik-sončnik pravzaprav pomeni eno in isto. Sence so prijazne spremljevalke, ki so z nami in v nas tudi, kadar sonce zaide.
Alenka Prvinšek

Srečal sem fotografa, ki je premišljeval o fotonovi
senci. Nikoli več ga nisem videl. Menda je postal svetloba...

Zanimivo se mi zdi, da te tako privlačijo sence; formalno in psihološko intrigantna tema, vendar tudi zelo delikatna in zahtevna. Vsekakor naloga za "pesnike" med fotografi.
Dejan Sluga

Where's my shadow, I wish my shadow... do shadows and wishes walk the same walk and talk the same talk? We all have wishes like we all have shadows. Both are collective phenomena. They accompany us always, whether we are aware of this or not.
Wishes take us up and sometimes down, sometimes faster, sometimes slower... They limit our sense of content by being the point defining our distance from the attainment of perfection. Often they make us blind to see that that, which we believe will bring us content, is already something we have - like our shadow in the fog...
eva petrič (from the video Where's my shadow, I wish my shadow... )

2009-07-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Liebe Grüße aus jenem Ort, wo die Schatten um 12 Uhr mittags am kürzesten sind - aus Luxor.
Wilfried Seipel
(sent by sms from Luxor, Egypt, and then authorized to be printed, again by sms from Seul, South Korea)

you may use my simple words... w.

your shadows are full of love and innocence!
Joackim Gartner
(An excerpt from an sms sent to me after my solo exhibition “Shadow of the shadows” which he opened at the Slovene Science Institute for the European month of photography, Nov. 2008)

"Shadows are very interesting phenomena... Jung wrote a lot about them... reading about them helped me a lot in life, even in my career!”
Franz Wohlfahrt
(An excerpt from a talk for the possible sponsorship of my project for this very book on the language of shadows)

From: helga krisper
To: evapetric
Subject: Re: vprašanje o senci
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:40:47 +0200, and subsequent emails

... sporočilo, draga Eva, kar privlačna ideja! Senca je res zgovorna skrivnost, polna odtenkov resničnosti in sanjske fantastike! Če mi uspe napisati kaj zanimivega ali posebnega, vam bom pa res poslala. Na svojih sprehodih pod Rožnikom se skoraj vsak dan predajam odbleskom svetlobe in odtenkom slutenih barv...

...Sence pa zvesto hodijo za mano, a so zvit motiv, ki se izmika formulacijam ali pa preveč zahaja v poetične vode... Bomo videli!

...Saj kar naprej razmišljam o sencah, draga Eva: ker me privlači irščina (enkrat sem vam že napisala pozdrav v tem jeziku), sem šla v njihov slovar pogledat, kaj oni mislijo o tej prvinski skrivnosti: najprej je zanimiva fraza "živeti v senci drugega človeka", iz besede senca je izpeljan izraz (odsenčnik ali senčitelj bi se morda reklo po naše) za ogledalo in za zaslon (oz. ekran). Senca je zelo pozitivno pomensko območje in morda tudi zelo negativno, zato so vrata mislim o tem izmikajočem se svetu povsem odprta... Pozdrav! Helga

“aha…shadows!, oh leave shadows alone!...rather look at all that is around the shadows, at all that is NOT the shadow! …Shadows are interesting because they bring out everything that is NOT them- and that is what is interesting- the colors, the life – look…."

(from a talk with "Rikli - the lake painter" on a warm sunny, spring day while sitting on an old stone bridge located within the Vila Bled park on the shore of the Bled lake with lotuses and swans swimming below us and a small pilgrimage church on an island eyeing us, maybe even listening to us in the distance… April 2009)

Peter Weiermair, while walking down the street following the preview of my exhibition “can you swim, sabes nadar?” at the City Museum Ljubljana on Oct. 13, 2008, heading towards the national university library NUK in Ljubljana.
Prof. Peter Weiermair stops on the sidewalk, looks at me, then confidently and in a matter of fact manner says: “Photography itself is the shadow of reality - in a Platonic way!” then he smiles and we both head separate ways; he to the library, and I to my shadows.
So...

...photography of shadows, is then the shadow of the shadow!?
(eva petrič, Shadow of the Shadows, Vienna, Austria, Nov. 6 2008)

VI. Irritated

2009-07-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

aggravated

exasperated
offended

peeved

cross

frustrated

provoked

annoyed

distressed

overwrought

vexed

vexed descending

grumpy

Irritated:

aggravated, exasperated, offended, peeved, cross, frustrated, provoked, annoyed, distressed, overwrought, vexed, vexed descending, grumpy...

VII. Angry

2009-07-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

ticked off

spiteful
seething

jealous

fuming

bitter
rage

vengeful

defiant

outraged

hostile

mad

mean

furious

stubborn

shaky

irate

indignant

infuriated

infuriated descending

infuriated escalating

rancouros

unforgiving

Angry:

ticked off, spiteful, seething, jealous, bitter, fuming, rage, vengeful, defiant, mad, mean, outraged, furious, hostile, upset, stubborn, irate, shaky, indignant, infuriated, infuriated ecalating, infuriated descending, rancouros, unforgiving...

2009-07-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

Ko zasveti luč,ko zasveti sonce, nastane senca. Zatorej išči luč iz sence. Tako bo senčnost življenja bolj svetla, kajti ni vsaka luč veselje niti vsaka senca žalost.
Bogdan Šalej

Igra svetlobe in gibov, tenkočuten odsev tebe. To je senca. Senca je tvoj vzgib, skomig in pot. Pozna vsak tvoj korak. Je tvoja sled. Odmev. Sopotnik. Včasih se opoteka in išče, drugič stopa odločno in ubrano. Ne potreplja te po rami, ampak žgečka po nosu, ne govori, ampak je nemo ves čas ob tebi. Brez nje bi bil svet dolgočasen, brezobličen, bled, brezbrižen. In če jo dobro poznaš, se ti lahko zazdi, da se v črno-belih tonih svetijo barviti odtenki tvojega sveta, izraza in misli. Pred sabo ne moreš ubežati. Zato je lepo, če si s svojo senco dober prijatelj. In še lepše je, če je senca zaradi tvojega sončnega sonca.
Mojca Delač

we can unify our shadows
and our souls
in the moonlight
and the day.
create new shadows.
Kolja Krammer

Moja senca, pripada le delno meni. Drugi jo vidijo bolje od mene. Meni se vedno nekoliko skrije in me pušča nepotešeno. Je tisti del mene, ki ga ne poznam ali ga nočem poznati. Ko se bom poznala vso, bo menda spremenila barvo. Iz temne v belo...
Zato meni pripadajo druge sence, ne moja.
Alida Bevk

Ko pomislim na senco, najprej pomislim na tri stvari:
1) ker imam tvojo fotografijo na steni v pisarni, pomislim na tebe in tvoje umetniško delo
2) pomislim na ljudski rek "skočiti preko lastne sence"
3) pomislim na pesem "Shadow on the Wall", Mike Oldfield.

Je kakšna povezava med temi tremi mislimi?
Mislim,da v tem, da je vsaka senca del nečesa - ne odsev ampak del - tvoja umetnost je del tebe, "skočiti preko lastne sence" pomeni nekaj pri sebi spremeniti in pesem govori o zelo osebni stvari in je meni ena ljubših - torej že del mene. Torej senca ni odsev ampak del nečesa!
Jure Žmauc

“Shadows” I do relate to
“Schatten-Vergangenheit-Leid-Bekennen-Erinnern-Versöhnen“.
Johannes Attems

Most definitions will associate "shadow" with something gloomy and dark, even the dark side of one's personality. For me however shadow means light, and, maybe being from a Mediterranean country, it means the joy light can bring to life. There can be no shadow without light, therefore where there are shadows there must be light. And it is even more - in that context it means calmness, freshness and protection - most humans enjoy bright sunny days but at the same time they look for the protection and freshness provided by shade - and shade is nothing else than shadows without defining limits.
Oscar del Campo

Sence odpirajo pota v duševne globine.
Jožko Buch

… pogovarjam se s svojimi sencami. s tistimi, ki mi sledijo in s tistimi, ki me prehitevajo. Včasih bi jih rada zatajila, zaobšla. Pa je zapisano, da to zmorejo samo tisti, ki so prosojni in nevidni. Za nas druge pa velja, da ni sence brez sonca ...
(Glej: Eva Petrič: Ta prostor je škatla, Drava 2006, stran 26)

sonne. licht. schatten.
sprache – jezik.
sonce. luč. senca.
Helga Mračnikar

RE: urgent question‏
From:khaled hafez
Sent:Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:25:41 PM
To: Eva Petric
...shadow in egyptian is "khayal" (kh pronounced like german "ch"), but this is in coloquial egyptian spoken today; no idea about ancient egyptian word for it:)i have no idea about particular theatrical body poses for shadow-making, apologies for letting you down here.

this figure is full of shadows.

where's your shadow?
are you my shadow?

this figure is the shadow of the shadows
of the shadows,
of the shadow of great shadows
who shadows these shadows
in the shadow of the KHM- Kunst Historisches Museum each day and
night.

Trace a figure onto the air, cross step (2x) to the left while raising hands at sides to a 90degree. Gather air with both tips of fingers, bringing hands to a bird like position. Bend down to scoop water, cross step to the left, (3x), raising arms to the sky.

ya'eesh el khayal!
(eva petrič, an excerpt from the performance prepared for the farewell dinner organized on Dec. 19, 2008 at the Theater Museum in Vienna)

VIII. Afraid

2009-07-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

scared

nervous
uneasy

concerned

fearful

petrified

threatened

alarmed

shocked

disturbed

horrified

sulky

anxious

cautious

hysterical

abandoned

frightened

agitated

Afraid:

scared, nervous, uneasy, concerned, fearful, petrified, threatened, alarmed, shocked, horrified, anxious, sulky, disturbed, abandoned, frightened, agitated, cautious, hysterical

Being a Man...

2009-07-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Being a Man...

Does XX equal XY? Certainly it does not in a world that is governed by solid mathematical laws. But it certainly may in a world without strictly defined borders, in a world of shafts and dim passages, in a world of shadows... in the shadow of the fortress... in the world of shadows in the fortress.
The Kluže Fortress, the place of my present exhibition, is certainly more "masculine" than any other. And certainly during WWI the Kluže fortress was more masculine then ever before. How did it feel to be a part of this place in 1917? To be a man in a war amongst the walls of the fortress?
Being in the fortress Kluže in 1917 i experience as if being in my darkroom. The darkest parts of my negative in the magnifier become the brightest spots on the paper bellow it. Similarly, amongst the walls of the Kluže fortress, the most "masculine" features in soldiers during the most critical of moments reveal themselves as being the most "feminine". As the letters that remain behind from the difficult time of 1917 show, often the feminine side of men surfaced in the critical, the most expected to be "masculine" of moments. Thus placing myself into the shoes of a man, into an XX, reveals to me really what it means to be a woman, an XY. It reveals that XX often equals XY.
Men and women therefore do not differ as much as it may seem. We are not simply XX or XY, but rather we are shadows. Here, in the Kluže fortress - we are one and the other. In the shadow that i see as pure esthetic, XX and XY are joined together, fusing into one naturally and artistically.
My exhibition therefore is not about man or woman, about XX or XY, but about shadows. i see this place and its atmosphere most personified through shadows. Shadows personify captivity - each one of us is alone when being with their shadow. And when one is alone, the shadow becomes even more visible, more present and as such becomes the expression of everything that was, or that is or that it could be - it becomes the mirror, reflecting more than simply what the surface has to offer.
This is why i placed my shadows amongst and along the walls of the Kluže fortress. From there they observe us and wait for us from around the corners, trying to convey the retrospective of the most intimate experiences of individuals, captured amongst these walls and their mission in the most difficult of times.
Eva Petrič

(From "Being a Man - in 1917 and 2007 "exhibition statement at the Kluze Fortress, Aug.4 - Sept. 10, 2007)

IX. Sad

2009-07-10T07:18:00.000-07:00

ominous

melancholic
grieving

dismal

miserable

bleak

somber

low

gloomy

murky

disheartened

defeated

discouraged

disappointed

heartbroken

besmirched

sorrowful

Sad:

ominous, melancholic, grieving, dismal, miserable, bleak, somber, gloomy, murky, disheartened, low, defeated, discouraged, disappointed, heartbroken, besmirched, sorrowful...

2009-07-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

1935
Vlak drvi iz Ljubljane proti Trstu. Obmejna postaja Postojna.
Lokomotivo zamenjajo…Od tu naprej je na električni pogon…

Ostanem ob oknu v pričakovanju kraške pokrajine…
Na Proseški postaji se ne ustavljamo…
V daljavi uspem ujeti Proseški stolp, ”moj stolp”, varuh Proseka!
Poteče nekaj minut.

Vlak ima kratek postanek v Nabrežini, poslednja postaja pred Trstom…

Izkoristim postanek za nepremišljeno odločitev:
… dobesedno izskočim iz vlaka s prtljago in se potem peš podam ob drevoredu na cesto proti Proseku…

Cesta gre skozi vas…

Moja nepremišljena prekinitev vožnje se mi takoj mašcuje…: nič več sence, vročina in dva težka kovčka v rokah.

Nikjer slučajnega voznika, da bi se mu priključil…

Ura je blizu ene popoldan, meseca julija…
Poraženo zrem v široko, golo cesto… ob staneh obdano z nizkimi suhozidanimi kraškimi zidovi, vijugastimi in grobimi profili…
Sonce bije v mojo povešeno glavo, ko zrem v to mizerijo…
Pešačim in komaj vlečem kovčke za seboj…

V trenutku, ko se sonce skrije za majhnim, osamljenim hrastičem in se nato zopet prikaže na cesti, zariše še bolj intenzivno senco na zidu…

Zagledam se v senco profila zidu, ki se razvija pred menoj…njena ostrina mi nepričakovano odvija podobo za podobo, druga od druge drugačna…

Začne se pogovor med menoj in senco…
Ne čutim več teže mojih dveh kovčkov…

Po dobri uri prepešačim na Prosek v topel objem starih staršev…

Po petih desetletjih mojega umetniškega delovanja nisem pozabil dogodka, ki mi še danes narekuje občudovati oblike, ki so plod poigravanja sonca s senco.
Bogdan Grom

Senca. Ob tej besedi vedno pomislim na senco domače jablane, v katero sem se prvič zavestno zatekel, ko sem se l. 1964 v pozni pomladi vrnil z Dunaja domov. Po odlično opravljenem pismenem izpitu na Tehniški univerzi sem zaradi trenutka dekoncentracije pri ustnem izpitu padel pri izpitu iz matematike. Celo leto smo se učili za ta izpit v skupini in sem veljal vse do izpita za najboljšega, ki je pomagal razvozlati marsikatero zanko. Potem pa: 5! In profesorjeva opomba: "Kommen Sie zum nächsten Termin wieder und lernen Sie was!"
Z avtoštopom sem se pripeljal z Dunaja do Beljaka in jo mahnil od tam kakih 15 km peš domov, tam pa sem se vrgel v senco jablane, še preden sem mami povedal, kako mi je šlo pri izpitu in zakaj sem naenkrat doma. V hladni (na soncu je pripekalo, da je bilo joj!) senci sem "izdihnil" svojo žalost in bolečino in zaspal.
Čisto spremenjen sem se prebudil proti večeru v mraku. Popolnoma mi je odleglo in sem se poln nove energije usedel za mizo k domači večerji.
To je bila in je še moja senca. Na skoraj odločilnem križpotju mi je pomagala ubrati pravo pot.
Franc Kattnig

I should write a long letter to the shadow I lost, wrote (or better yet, dreamed) André Breton in 1930, six years before the birth of my father. And now that it has been six years that my father himself has became a shadow (and Breton long before him), I find myself thinking about this line, and about the letter never written, never said, never sent. It’s daunting how the memory of someone’s face fades so quickly and the sound of one’s voice even quicker still. And photographs are of no use: it was only recently that I discovered I didn’t have any recent photographs of my father and me. So I often turn to the few old ones, when I am just a baby in his hands, or even the ones from his youth, where he looks like me. And also like a younger version of Breton I had once seen in a book. Out of them I try to construct my father’s face, to reclaim it from the shadows, only to end up with me and Breton. And I don’t even like Breton. I’ve always preferred Aragon.
Zoran Poposki

Senco potrebujem za "prestavico", mi je rekel moj petletnik in toliko časa obračal knjigo in plišastega kužija proti oknu, da je dobil oder s senčnimi lutkami sredi nevihtnega majskega zgodnjega popoldneva.

In me je spomnil na sence.
Senca se v mojem vesolju najbolj oprime dveh kontekstov: najprej slavnega tepežkanja v znameniti kozlovski sodbi v Višnji Gori. Kako že gre? So radovednega kozla neumorno udrihali po senci, ker da je kanil posmukati zelje na tujem vrtu? Nagajivo, čeprav tudi strašljivo. To mi je burilo misli v otroštvu, kljub vsemu je bila nad vsem senca dvoma - kaj pa če ga je le bolelo? Tako skrivnosten in nikoli do konca doumljiv se mi je zdel samo še opis tega, kaj je strah: nekaj, kar je okrog in okrog votlo, noter ga pa nič ni. Preveč abstraktno za otroka, zato sem svojo predstavo zlepila s črno žgano keramično amforico, kakršnih je bilo v našem, vedno z drobnimi umetninami polnem stanovanju, kar nekaj. To so tiste male replike vrčev za vino, v katero je bilo zaradi ozkega grla težko pogledati, zato se je zdelo, da je v njej ali nič ali pa kar strah sam.

... Oder je zdajle vmes že postavljen, že poslušam "prestavico", celo epopejo, v kateri igrajo skleda sadja, gospa košara, knjiga, papirnati servetek, deli lego kock, neustrašni kužek je glavna zvezda, druge zvezde padajo iz besed, pa strašila, lazanje in predvsem klepetavi fantek, ki se je z igrico nekako spopadal z nekim svojim strahcem.

Druga senca, ki mi je za vedno skrivnostno privlačna: tista, ki se ni in ni oprijela večnega dečka Petra Pana. Res, nobena zemeljska nit mu je ne more privezati! (Nekaj sekund zatem, ko to potiho napišem, medtem ko škilim na "prestavico", je glavni igralec kužek ravno poletel in povedal, da je postal Peter Pan ...) Senza coincidenza?

Kako lepo, kadar beseda zdrsne v drug jezik in obleče nov pomen: tako sem pred leti s primorskimi prijatelji popevala neko njihovo obmejno zabavljivo pesmico, pri kateri smo se najbolj z zanosom drli del z besedilom: ... senza la prepustnica! Homonimi so najlepši: senca in senza, nit in neat, red in Red, pet in Pet in pet, Bled in bled, brat in brat in brat ...

Te dni in vedno bolj se mi zdi, da imamo sence za sabo samo predvsem zato, da se nam nanje hihitaje usedajo angeli, kadar nas nočejo žgečkati med sedenjem na naših ramenih.
Tadeja Zupan Arsov

Po dolgem tavanju in iskanju sem se nekoč vendarle tudi jaz osebno srečal z Osebo, ki trdi o sebi: „Jaz sem Luč svetá!“ Resno sem vzel njeno resno ponudbo in obljubo, da bo tudi mene rešila mojih senc, ki so strašile ne le mene, ampak so v tesnobo spravljale tudi ljudi in stvarstvo ob meni.
Temne sence, ki sem jih dotlej na vsakem koraku močno metal od sebe in so bile enkrat daljše in drugič še daljše, so torej sedaj postajale vse krajše in slabotnejše.
Kaj mi je bilo potrebno storiti?
Nič! Prav nič!
Le priznati sem moral sebi in drugim, da se sam ne morem rešiti svojega mučnega križa – svojih senc, ter zaupati Lúči svetá, da bo izpolnila svojo obljubo.
Kaj zdaj opažam?
Tole: Če se od Luči vse bolj umikam, je vse večja tudi senca, ki pada od mene, svet v meni in okrog mene se spreminja v mrak, igra svetlobe izginja, bil življenja se suši, kakor da bi jo spodjedal neviden črv ... Če pa to Luč povabim, da s svojo do bistva segajočo svetlobo sije naravnost nad menoj ter s svojo toplino ogreva svet, je svetlo vse, kar je v meni, in celo vse, kar je okrog mene; moje srce se tedaj zdrami k novemu življenju ter kot magnet premakne v smer življenja tudi ljudi okrog mene, da njihove ustnice naenkrat začnejo prepevati odo radosti.
Stanislav M. Maršič

Varovati- zaščititi, ubraniti, čuvati, zavarovati pred škodo, poškodbo...varovati, da, da,da,da...senca varuje.

Protect- to shelter or defend from harm or attack.
The shadow protects.
Protect-yes, yes, yes, yes...ill protect my shadow.

Schützen-achten, abwehren, hüten, gegen
schaden und Beschädigung versichern...
Schützen, ja, ja, ja, ja, der Schatten schützt.

(eva petrič, Being a Man, Kluže Fortress, Slovenia, August 4, 2008)

X. Shamed

2009-07-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

dirtied

tainted
debased

embarassed

regretful

defiled

shown up

sullied

disillusioned

remorseful

spoiled

disregard

degraded

ashamed

fouled

affronted

Shamed:

dirtied, tainted, embarassed, debased, regretful, defiled, disillusined, shown up,

remorseful, disregard, degraded, ashamed, sullied, fouled, spoiled, affronted...

Can you swim?

2009-07-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

Can you swim?

Can you swim?...
like shadows on the wall.

They swim. What about you-can you swim?

Can you swim in a bathtub?
Can you swim out of your skin?
Can you swim in a gaze?
Can you swim from home?
Can you swim in ice?
Can you swim under saliva?
Can you swim under a microscope?
Can you swim to silence?
Can you swim from the bottom up?

Can you swim to the middle?
Can you swim in injustice?
Can you swim on a plate beside a fish?
Can you swim in a void?
Can you swim out from the void?

Can you swim?

To swim: to move in the water or on the water with the help of limbs or fins; to move with a gliding motion; skillful gliding across the wall.

Can you swim?

As a shadow i jump onto all walls-onto lonely, rough, hungry, full ones. My shadow wants to swim; and knows how to swim, not only in the idea, but also in flesh. It is like a fish that both follows and leads my body. Swimming amongst my shadows i swim from one room to another along the walls, where one room does not only reflect but also resonate the other, the echo remaining on the walls even after the meat of my body has already moved along, revealing the state in which the body is becoming the shadow, and the shadow the body. How much veiling is necessary for the body to be seen as evasive and how much unveiling is necessary for the shadow to reveal the fleshiness within its constitution?
In my shadow, i swim around; extending onto the walls, curving around the corners, contracting upon the ceiling, trying to decide whether to be a part of my body or apart from it.

Through the exploration of the female body and glance i want to disclose the intermediate state when a body which is profane, thanks to the presence of its shadows which are sacred, takes on their distinctive trait - indistinctness, creating in this way the potential to be perceived as sacred. i try to see how much blurriness and how much permanence it takes for something that is profane in itself to become also sacred, and how much carnality is needed to make something sacred lose its abstract character without succumbing to profanity. i want to find out how much veiling is necessary for the body to be seen as evasive and how much unveiling is necessary for the shadows to reveal the fleshiness within its constitution.
(from my statement for the exhibition "Can you swim?" at the City Art Museum, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Oct. 2008)

XI. Hurt

2009-07-10T05:38:00.000-07:00

marred

misunderstood
harmed

rejected

misplaced

impaired

injured

ruined

wounded

humiliated

unnoticed

crushed

messed up

dishonored

unwanted

broken

damaged

tarnished

Hurt:

tarnished, damaged, broken, unwanted, dishonored, messed up, crushed, unnoticed, wounded, ruined, humiliated, injured, impaired, misplaced,

rejected, harmed, misunderstood, marred...

Joshua Sinclair on periodic table

2009-07-10T05:32:00.000-07:00

From: Joshua Sinclair
To: evapetric
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2009 04:04:39 PM

Re: i am not sure if i told you that i am preparing for my MFA project a collectors' limited edition photo book called "Gr@y Matter"- THE LANGUAGE OF SHADOWS which will consist of around 250 black and white analog produced shadow photographs. Based on the Periodic table of elements my shadows will present emotions not elements though, and when viewed together will comprise a language of shadows used to build and express different emotions. This book will serve for me as the DNA for my future shadow based projects....

Dear Eva,
The Periodic table is a great idea. As you may know, there is a lot of art in the Table. John Newlands, for instance, noticed in 1865 that when placed in order of increasing atomic weight, elements of similar physical and chemical properties recurred at intervals of eight, which he likened to the octaves of music. In fact, he composed an aria that fitted the table (as it was known then with less than 117 elements). They are also related to stability and instability, atomic weight (= importance), abundance, “transition elements” (=insecurity and spiritual development), value – both material and ethical (noble gases), etc. There is definitely a link between atomic and subatomic particles and visualized “emotions”. Tungsten creates Light. Hydrogen and Helium are the Parents of the Universe. Gold which is the goal of the Philosopher's stone would also bring immortality. The mythical element Carmot which would create the Stone and make all our dreams come true. Mercury (which was a basis for the transmutation of the stone, the “ugly duckling” that became the Swan (=Gold). The Periodic Table was, for Alchemy and even today, the fabric of which dreams are made — and illusions. In this case, the case of illusions, we are dealing with shadows. That which is but is not. The Periodic Table represents the “emotions” God had when He created the Universe, the emotions inherent in the Big Bang. Some of those Divine Emotions were expressed at the Big Bang itself (Helium, Hydrogen), others came later, others still were the product of the intense “emotion” or heat of the Supernovae in which the heavier elements were “cooked”. This means that the Original Philosopher’s stone was divinely inspired in the Big Bang and the Greatest Material Philosopher’s Stone are the Supernovae which can create the Anti-Stone which is the Black Hole.

And what is the first particle to have been created? Light. The Photon.

Let there be Light. It all comes from there. Light (together with the darkness which preceded it) creates Shadows. And the Shadows are always fluctuating, in the process of “becoming”.

Heraclitus said “Panta Rei”, everything is changing. And that is what is happening in Big Bangs like the Supernovae.

The Shadows measure that “Becoming”.

A Shadow is an area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object. A Shadow is an area where the Direct Illumination of Love cannot reach because of the Obstruction created by our Becoming. In other words, when we relinquish the obstruction of the Ego (our becoming; our craving), Love can shine through to the Self, dissolving the Shadows.

As you probably know, the expression “through a glass, darkly” comes from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 12: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see though a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I also am known.”
I wrote this to you a while ago.
To see through a “glass, darkly” means to see reality through a succession of shadows, - shadows which represent our fear, our cowardice, our inability to perceive the true consequences of our hatred, our struggle to overcome moral mediocrity, our inability to see ourselves “as we are seen”. I believe this concept is extremely relevant in a world that is still reeling from the bewilderment caused by Baghdad’s “Shock & Awe.” A world that is asking: when will we finally go beyond that “glass” and “see as we are seen”.

We can live in the Light or we can live in the Shadow. One is Being. The other Becoming. This is exactly what we see when we review the elements of the Periodic Table: Some elements are Being. Others are Becoming. Stable and Noble versus Isotopes and Radioactivity.

Joshua Sinclair

Sartre on emotion

2009-07-10T05:24:00.000-07:00

Jean-Paul Sartre on emotion from his book Sketch for a theory of emotions (Routledge Classics, London and New York):

“Emotions are not fixed; they have no essence and indeed are subject to rapid fluctuations and about - turns." (on back cover)

“It is constitutive of emotion that it attributes to the object something that infinitely transcends it. Indeed, there is a world of emotion. All emotions have this in common, that they evoke the appearance of a world, cruel, terrible, bleak, joyful, ect, but in which the relations of things to consciousness are always and exclusively magical. We have to speak of a world of emotion as one speaks of a world of dreams or of worlds of madness. A world – that means individual syntheses in mutual relations and possessing qualities. But no quality is conferred upon an object without passing over to the infinite. This grey, for instance, represents the units of infinity of real and possible Abschattungen, some of which will be grey-green, some grey seen in a certain light, black ect.“ (pg.53)

“and, also naturally, two main types of emotion are not absolutely and strictly distinct; there are often mixtures of the two types and the majority of our emotions are less then pure.“ (pg. 58)

Periodic Table of Shadowed Emotions S272E6sH5aWorW≈M∞

2009-07-10T04:44:00.000-07:00

Periodic Table of Shadowed Emotions S272E6sH5aWorW≈M∞

S272 E6sH5aWorW≈ M∞: Shadows 272 + Emotions 6 + sun Hours 5 + absolute Weight 0 + relative Weight varies + Meanings infinite

Incubating emotions

2009-07-10T04:37:00.000-07:00

Artistic science mixing with scientific art- Shadows and space: shadows exist contaminating space

2009-07-10T04:30:00.000-07:00

Artistic science mixing with scientific art-
Shadows and space: shadows exist contaminating space

How do shadows look outside of our space, outside of Earth?
Do they exist there as well?

"The shadow we're straining to see is that of a monstrous black hole, a place where gravity rules supreme, swallowing light and stretching the fabric of space to breaking point. Black holes are perhaps the most outrageous prediction of science, and even though we can paint fine theoretical pictures of them and point to evidence for many objects that seem to be black hole-ish, nobody has ever actually seen one." (Stephen Battersby, The monster at the centre of the galaxy, New Scientist, 23. 5. 2009, p. 28-31)

Can black holes swallowing matter in outer space, be compared with our Earth's shadows swallowing mind, thoughts, ideas of our innermost space?

Earthistic shadows need a body to cast a shadow to catch the attention of the mind to keep it in concentration, enabling to move the mind to other attitudes, bringing it other perceptions thus other dimensions...;
Outer space shadows-black holes, being much more aggressive need the mind to think of the black hole, to then seek the black hole, and thus to bring the body to the black hole, to move the body to other places...

"of course, the black hole itself does not shine since it actually swallows light. That is how we hope to be able to see the light from gas swirling round the hole will be devoured, so the hole should show up as a shadow or silhouette against the background of hot, shining gas. Seeing the shadow is not easy. It won't have sharp edges because we still see light and other radiation from gas in front of the hole. (Stephen Battersby, The monster at the centre of the galaxy, New Scientist, 23. 5. 2009, p. 28-31)

Our mind IS our shadow, in the sense that much is unknown to us about it. Our mind is our means to the shadow. It is able to suck us in and bring us to a new perception. A different composition of emotions invites a different attitude, which if taken, offers a whole new way of life. Our mind is thus our black hole, able to pull us in a different world, existing parallel to the one we may be living in this moment with its certain attitude formed by a certain set of emotions.
eva petrič

Incubating emotions - Apathy

2009-07-10T04:22:00.000-07:00

disillusioned

Apathy

bleak

somber

dubious

Apathy:

bleak + somber + disillusioned + dubious = Apathy

Incubating emotions - Anxiety

2009-07-10T04:13:00.000-07:00

nervous

lonely

tense

unsure

uncertain

Anxiety:

nervous + lonely + tense + unsure +uncertain = Anxious

Incubating emotions - contempt

2009-07-09T03:59:00.000-07:00

disappointed

disillusioned

disheartened

discouraged

fearful

uneasy

abandoned

III: Contempt:

disilluisoned + disappointed + disheartened + discouraged + uneasy + fearful + abandoned = Contempt

Incubating emotions - envyness

2009-07-09T03:52:00.000-07:00

immersed

hostile

spitefull

jealous

mean

IV: Envyness:

immersed + hostile + spiteful + jealous + mean = Enviyness

Incubating emotions - intolerance

2009-07-09T03:42:00.000-07:00

ticked off

hostile

uneasy

unsure

uncertain

distant

V. Intolerance:

ticked off + hostile + uneasy + unsure + uncertain + distant = Intolerance

Incubating emotions: Idealism

2009-07-09T02:51:00.000-07:00

glad

enthralledfascinated

sharing

hopeful

determined

convinced

trusting

helpful

concerned

excitedcompassionateIdealism

VI. Idealism:

glad - fascinated + excited + gripped + concerned + hopeful + convinced + trusting +determined + compassionate + sharing + helpful + enthralled = Idealism

How does music look like

2009-07-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

How does music look like? Like musical notes, like dance, like tango, black tango - ragtime, jazz.... Piazzolla's tango, Joplin's ragtime, Ellington's jazz...my shadows. Piazzolla, Joplin and Ellington completed themselves with music, me, i complete myself with shadows. Was their shadow their music? Always changing, and in all-ways adjustable, always moving - tango? Did they loose or find themselves in it? How did it appear to them?
They created a musical image by moving musical notes, me, i try to create the image of music by moving my snapshots. I take one to the dark room and let the light move over it - out comes a new image, similarly as the new tune came out from under their fingers moving across piano, bandoneon and saxophone. My images of shadows seem to me to be the visual images of their musical notes. They would probably hear them as notes that sing tango, ragtime, jazz. If i search for myself in music, i see musical notes as images of shadows, dancing tango. But i would also like to hear them. One must hear tango, not only see it. How can an image be heard? Like a shadow?

(Eva Petrič, from the statement for the exhibition The Shadow - Jumping, moving, tricking... at the St. Cyril Hall, New York City, June 2007)

2009-07-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

My feet -
too small to run away
from u-
my dirt
your dirt
don't hide,
I'll know
if you
are hiding,stay
with me shelter me
without make-up without
perfume are you my
shadow? where is
my shadow?
different language
different look same
dirt share with me
don't hide share with
me don't fight
share with me...
To reach the end of the road
we need the same light.

Žena brez sence ali z njo

2009-07-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

Richard Strauss je napisal eno najboljših, a hkrati najredkeje izvajanih oper 20. stoletja, to je Žena brez sence (Die Frau ohne Schatten), za katero je libreto napisal slavni dramatik Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Čeprav gre za prevladujočo pravljično snov, je njeno sporočilo nedvoumno: žena brez sence ni prava ženska. Ženi brez sence manjka sposobnost spolne reprodukcije, materinstvo, kot rezultat skupnega ljubezenskega življenja z moškim. Žena brez sence živi nesrečno, nepotešeno, neenakopravno in neenakovredno življenje, ker partnerju ne daje tistega, kar od nje pričakuje, to je otroka. Toda spoznanje o odsotnosti sence je hkrati že zavedanje temeljnega problema bivanja; kako najti senco in kdo jo sploh lahko najde ali kdo jo podeli.
V operi je cesar prišel do svoje žene tako, da se je nekoč sprehajal ob Luninih bregovih in s sokolom sledil gazeli, ki se je med begom spotaknila, in ko jo je dohitel, je pred njim nenadoma stala lepa mladenka, hči kralja duhov Keikobada. Ker je izvirala iz kraljestva vil, je imela nenavadno lastnost. Kamorkoli je hodila, ni bilo za njo nobene sence. To pa je pomenilo, da ni človeškega rodu in da ne bo imela otrok. Cesar jo je kljub temu vzel za ženo in jo v palači skril pred ljudmi. Keikobadov sel ponoči pride k dojilji in ji naroči, naj cesarju sporoči, da se bo spremenil v kamen, če cesarica v treh dneh ne bo dobila svoje sence. Cesarica se sama odpravi na pot k ljudem, da bi dobila senco in tako vstopila v svet človeka. V družini barvarja Baraka želi cesarica s čarobnimi slepili pridobiti senco njegove nesrečne žene, a ne uspe... Cesarica se odpove senci, a njen mož cesar bo okamenel. Raje se odpove sreči, kot da bi bila zanjo potrebna žrtev nedolžnih ljudi; Baraka in njegove žene, s katero ne moreta imeti otrok. Šele s to preizkušnjo je dosegla svojo in cesarjevo odrešitev, hkrati pa srečo tudi za barvarja in njegovo ženo, medtem ko se oglasijo glasovi nerojenih otrok, ki se bodo sedaj lahko rodili obema paroma iz ljubezni.
Tako kot je v Straussovi operi izražena skrivnostnost in mističnost čarobnega kraljestva; ločevanje med svetom duhov in svetom ljudi, z njihovimi strastmi in nagoni, se zdi fotografski svet Eve Petrič v zadnjih letih razpet med pravljičnostjo (cikel Deklica Money) in globljo simboliko (cikel Sence). Vplivi so močni, a morda nezavedni, saj izvirajo iz njenega zgodnjega otroštva v Etiopiji in zatem bivanja v prav tako eksotični Indiji. Vpliv Afrike in Azije je nanjo bolj podzavesten, a nedvoumen, zlasti na ravni ritualov, ljudskih obrednih plesov, mistike, vraževerja in posebnega lokalnega obredja. Zdi se celo, da bo ta vpliv ostal trajen.
Deklica Money je bila glavna oseba dunajske razstave z naslovom Now you go on with the story... Petričeva jo je zasnovala kot fotografsko pripoved tako, da naslovi vsake od podob, ko jih prebereš, povedo svojo zgodbo. Deklica z imenom Money noče biti več igrača, zato odpre pločevinasto škatlo, v kateri je bila spravljena skupaj z ostalimi igračami, in se odpravi ven iz nje v svet...Komaj zleze ven, se že zaplete v pajkovo mrežo. Uspe ji pretentati metulja, da si zamenjata mesti... s strehe hoče poleteti v zrak kot ptica... a jo teža zadrži na zemlji... strast jo razvnema... kot strela jo ponese v zrak in v ocean, kjer postane zlata ribica... Školjka ji pove, naj si ujame zvezdo...zvezda ji svetuje, naj postane kaj uporabnega...ujame zvezdo in si zaželi...postane vrtnica, toda trni jo zbadajo...postane češnja, toda ptice jo zobajo...zazre se v svojo preteklost...leže, da bi zaspala in se znova prebudila kot igrača...Cikel sestavlja 17 fotografij velikega formata. Vsako »postajo« in sličico iz življenja in hrepenenja deklice Money je Petričeva posnela v več različnih podobah, ker se ni mogla odločiti, kako »daleč« lahko seže. Deklica Money je podobna Straussovi cesarici na poti k sreči, le da se deklica želi vrniti v otroški svet. A tu imamo nekatere prvine iz afro-azijske estetike.
Eva kot angel z belimi perutmi in v škrlatno rdeči dolgi obleki, ki pada po s kamni sestavljenem ognjišču v naravi pod gorami, varuje ogenj, temeljni praelement in početek prvega samozavedanja človeka -lovca. Eva ima v rokah dolgo tanko puščico, s katero bo prebodla sleherno sovražno moč, hkrati pa jo postavlja kot v obliko Leonardovega zlatega reza s konstrukcijo po renesančni perspektivi. Eva kot metulj vibrira v skoraj helikopterski drži, ki bo žensko brez teže dvignila v nebo kot pri Marijinem vnebovzetju. Točka, od koder se bo dvignila, je z belo koprenasto preprogo označena narava zelenega travnika. Evin pogled je uprt v neznano, kot da bi tostranstvo miselno že zapustila. Izrazito koreografska je Evina postavitev na požetem žitnem polju; njeno gibanje je že podobno afriškim ritualom žensk: dolga rdeča, v rumeno, belo in vijoličasto podlago obleke ovita in v krog na zemlji zaznamovana spiralasta tkanina, nima več oblačilnega značaja, ampak varuje nedotakljivost spiritualno-obrednega prostora. Eva z levico drži za amulet, ki jo bo obvaroval pred slehernim sovražnikom. Fotografije z Evo kot žrtvovalno žensko s poškodovanimi usti in vratom, kot da bi šlo za nekakšno mučeništvo, pomenijo stanje po kontemplaciji; dialog ni več tuzemeljski; ko Eva sloni ob deblu s krvavečimi usti, je pravljičnost samo navidezna; drama se je že zgodila v njej sami, čeprav je vtis, kot da je zunaj nje. Eva s školjko še zdaleč ni pastorala, ampak šum večnosti, ki udarja preko sluha v zavest. Eva kot cvet z glavo v sredini sončnice obleži na tleh kot popolno zlitje z naravo, meče mrtvaško senco in dela spodnji del telesa baročno razkošen v zavedanju pomena smrti kot prehod v kraljestvo večnega. V ozadju celotnega cikla se nezavedno, kot ruta, ki jo Eva s prsti obeh rok pne kot varovalni ščit okrog zrcalne podobe svojega obraza, razširja pahljača poletne pastorale, nekakšne impresionistične Pastorale d'été.Cikel Deklica Money nekako dopolnjujejo Evine dramske vloge z vrhuncem v stari litoželezni kopalni kadi ležeči Ofeliji s šopkom spomladanskih marjetic in mačic v na trebuhu spokojno prekrižanih rokah. Druga, prav tako močna vloga, je The Giver (Darovalec) sredi makovega polja; Eva, odeta prek ramen z lisičjim krznom, in belimi angelskimi perutmi, z rokami in še posebej kazalcema, ki tvorita skupaj z upognjenima palcema ženski trikotnik, skuša odvrniti pozornost od narisanega srčka na srcu; a vtis je, kot da je srce enako spolu in spol v srcu. Tretja njena vloga je Angelhound v več variantah, kar je že samo po sebi paradoksalno, saj ima angel nebeško-kozmično-religiozno vlogo varovalnega značaja. Angeli nas obkrožajo, ne da bi mi to vedeli ali si želeli; tako govori izročilo in razlaga njihove hierarhične pojavnosti. A tu se zdi, kot da je angel zver.

Drugi cikel Eve Petrič, prikazan kot Likovno delo meseca v Cankarjevem domu v Ljubljani, je biblijski; Eva motri življenje po izgonu iz raja. Na zemeljskem svetu s svojimi inventivnimi fotografskimi podobami strmi na življenje v luči idealne rajske lepote, saj jo varuje Angel Gabrijel, bodisi na nočnem polju, bodisi na pešpoti po njenem tako ljubem New Yorku in še posebej po brooklynskem mostu. Senca v ciklih Eve Petrič je kot pričakovanje polnosti bivanja, tiste skrivnosti, ki se ne pojavi spričo atmosferskih in svetlobnih pojavov, marveč kot rezultat duhovnega in človeškega dozorevanja.
Ženska pridobi svojo senco, ko se v njej zgodi temeljni premik bivanja; postati popoln v sposobnosti nadaljevanja vrste z naravno selekcijo in iskanjem idealnega partnerja. Evina senca opozarja na duhovnost bivajočega, na angelsko obkrožanje in hkrati varovanje subjekta, ki ne meče svoje sence na tla oziroma okrog sebe, ampak v nebo. Njena senca ni optična, ampak embrionalna, ni valovanje in vstopanje v polje vidnega, ampak je rezultat procesa, za katerega se ženska pripravlja, vede ali nevede, v slutnji in pričakovanju, hrepenenju in bojazni, v nuji bivanja. Senca je tisti drugi jaz, ki privlači in ločuje, identificira žensko, da jo lahko zavonjam na sto metrov, ne da bi ji vzel DNK, jo prepoznam in vzamem kot svojo. Zakaj le žena s senco je popolno bitje, ki ga, kot Evo Petrič v nekaterih drugih ciklih, varuje ali pa se varovalno transformira v Angel zver, da sence ne bi izgubila ali bi ji je kdo ne ukradel.
A ta popolnost je hkrati krhkost Evine avtobiografije, ki noče biti faktografska, ampak fikcijska; telesa ne vidim, kakršno je, ampak kakršno bi rad videl, a mi ga ne da, ker se zaveda tiste globoke resnice, kot jo je izpovedal Ivan Cankar v Mojem življenju:»Tudi ko bi človek imel tisto moč in tisti pogum, da bi sam posegel v globočino svojega bitja, do dna ne bi segel, ker dna ni...« Senca je pot k cankarjanskemu dnu, ki je hkrati polnost in zrelost; senca je metaforika tega popotovanja.
Obsežen cikel Sence Eve Petrič je to dolgo potovanje, ki bo trajalo do trenutka zgoraj omenjenih najdenj!Senca je varovanje najgloblje identitete, razkritosti biti; njene celovite dimenzije pa bi morali iskati med Platonom in njegovo votlino, Freudom in njegovo spolno sublimacijo ter Heideggerjem in njegovo identiteto med bistvom in bivanjem. Vsem tem pa gre v bistvu za isto: iskanje resnice. To pa je problem antropocentrizma in humanizma še posebej, ne le v umetnosti. Gre za vsakokratno postavitev subjekta v prostor in čas, za subjektiviteto subjekta, ki ostaja v 21. stoletju prav tako aktualna kot poprej.

Marijan Zlobec

2009-07-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

In thanks and recognition to my Shadow,
who was and is
always, in all-ways
a step in front or behind me
-beside me-
caring
compassionate
doting
warm
kind
fond
adoring
sharing
passionate
friendly
open
delicate
accepting
admiring
devoted
humble
understanding
amorous
charming
considerate
loyal
tender
flirtatious
close
checking
...loving... thank you.

We all have shadows - thanks for bringing your shadow here to join my shadow, you can even trade yours for mine...the gr@y market is open!

Tadeja Zupan Arsov, Production house Red, Bled, Slovenia

Johannes Attems, Banker, OEKB Vienna, Austria

Wolfgang J. Bandion, professor at the University for applied arts, Vienna, Austria

Bill Barrett, professor of electronic and photographic media, Webster University, St. Louis, USA

Aleksander Bassin,Director in retirement, Special Adviser, City Art Museum, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Alida Bevk, actress

Emil Brix, ambassador, Federal Ministry for European and Foreign Affairs, Vienna, Austria

Jožko Buch, medical doctor in retirement, Vienna, Austria

Lucien Clergue, photographer and filmmaker, my mentor, member of the French Academy of Fine Arts, founder of Rencontre d'Arles, Arles, France

Mitja Čander, writer, publicist and editor of Beletrina collection, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Oscar del Campo, Director General of the Hotel Imperial & Hotel Bristol, Vienna, Austria

Mojca Delač, journalist, National Radio Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Lev Detela, writer and poet, Vienna, Austria

Nora Drasche, art conservationist, Ebreichsdorf, Austria

Richard Drasche, Director, Schloss Ebreichsdorf, Ebreichsdorf, Austria

Mohamed ElBaradei, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Director General of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria

Kilian Franer, Head of the department for culture, Vienna's 6th district, Vienna, Austria

Joachim Lothar Gartner, artist and professor, President of the Kuenstlerhaus Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Bogdan Grom, artist, Woodrow, New York, USA

Mojca Jesenovec, Slovene language department, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Franz Kattnig, Director in retirement, Special Adviser, Mohorjeva Publishing House Celovec-Ljubljana-Vienna, Austria

Srgjan Kerim, Director, WAS, Vienna, Austria, former Minister of Foregin Affairs, Republic of Macedonia, former President of the UN General Assembly

Milček Komelj, art critic and art historian, professor of art history and member of the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Art

Kolja Krammer, Director, Museum of Young Art Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Helga Krisper, publicist and literary critic in retirement, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Stanislav M. Maršič, language editor, Mohorjeva publishing house, Celovec, Austria

Mitja Meršol, publicist, former editor in chief of the national daily the Delo, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Helga Mračnikar, publicist, translator of my poetry, Drava publishing house, Celovec, Austria

Thomas Oberlechner, my former professor, head of the psychology department, Webster University, Vienna, Austria

Ernest Petrič, judge of the constitutional court of Slovenia, professor of international law and international relations, president of the UN International Law Commission, former ambassador, my father

Boris Podrecca, publicist, artist/architect and professor of architecture, Vienna, Austria

Zoran Poposki, artist, my partner in Z+E+M public art collective, Skopje, Macedonia

Alenka Prvinšek, International Centre for Migration Policy Development, Vienna, Austria

Meinhard Rauchensteiner, counseler for art and science, office of the federal president of Austria, Vienna, Austria

Nika Rogelj, my beloved aunt

Markuz Wernli Saitô, artist, my partner in Z+E+M public art collective, Zurich Switzerland/Kyoto Japan

Wilfried Seipel, Director (retired) of the Art History Museums Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Matthew D. Selekman, Co-director, Partnership for Collaborative Solutions,Evanston, IL, USA

Joshua Sinclair, scriptwriter, film director and producer, my former professor, Vienna, Austria

Dejan Sluga, Director of the photo art gallery Photon, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Štefan Bogan Šalej, publicist, lobbiest, diplomat and politician, Ljubljana, Slovenia/Brasilia Brasil

Janez Škrabec, Director Riko Ribnica, Ribnica, Slovenia

Breda Škrjanec, curator, International Center of Graphic Arts Grad Tivoli, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Lili Šturm, International Center of Graphic Arts Grad Tivoli, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Richard Timperia, director and founder of the Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, New York City, USA

Melita Vovk, artist, my fomer mentor, Bled, Slovenia

Peter Weiermair, art historian and publicist, former director of the Museum of Modern Art Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Franz Wohlfahrt, sponsor of this project, Director General, Novomatic AG, Gumpoldskirchen, Austria

Rudi Zaman, Director of Didakta Publishing House, Radovljica, Slovenia

Marijan Zlobec, art critic of the Delo newspaper Ljubljana, SLovenia

Jure Žmauc, Agency of SR Slovenia for Slovenes living abroad, Ljubljana, Slovenia

…we all have different professions,
different looks,
different languages,
different educations…

Above are the different professions of all those who were so generous to associate with the shadow and pass me along their thoughts… i didn’t want the different professions of my contributors (friends) to influence you, the reader too much so i decided to include them only here - for you to see how the shadow offers a space where we can communicate despite what profession, gender, age… we are.

R R R

2009-07-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

Refill - Refine - Recharge - the Shadow

LONG LIVE THE SHADOW!

shadow refinery

2009-07-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

Dieser Raum ist eine Schattenraffinerie.
ich bin der Schatten
in dem Schatten
von dem Schatten
der Schattiert.
Tag durch der Nacht.

Ta prostor je senčna rafinerija.
jaz sem senca
v senci
ki senči
sence
dan za dnem.

This space is a shadow refinery.
i am a shadow
in the shadow
that shadows
shadows
day and night.

who, what, when, where, why, how

2009-07-08T15:30:00.000-07:00

Who: 50 different minds@bodies, my shadow&me.

What: shadow associations, the language of shadows.

When: NOW - always of the present but never of the future.

Where: HERE! NorthSouthEastWestSouthEastNorthWest...

Why: to communicate that shadows form a language.

How: with the click clack of a camera click clacking through people's minds.