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<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Aksioma – Institute
for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, presents:</span><br
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<div class="moz-forward-container"><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<b><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Maja Smrekar</span></b><br
style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<i><b><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Crustacea
deleatur</span></b></i><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Solo show</span><br
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<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.aksioma.org/crustacea.deleatur">http://www.aksioma.org/crustacea.deleatur</a></span><br
style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<b><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Aksioma |
Project Space</span></b><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Komenskega 18,
Ljubljana</span><br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">27 November - 7
December 2012</span><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<b><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Exhibition
opening and presentation by Maja Smrekar and Al Vrezec: </span><br
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<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Tuesday, 27
November 2012 at 7 pm</span></b><br style="font-family:times
new roman,serif">
<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">The research into
the phenomenon of foreign species within the project based on an
example of degradation of biodiversity in the area of the
thermal oxbow lake Topla near Čatež in the Dolenjska region,
where several tropical species of flora and fauna have settled,
paraphrases the juxtaposition of ecology as a scientific
discipline and Ecology as one of the ideologies of contemporary
zeitgeist. Due to the changed mechanisms of natural selection,
which are caused by globalisation and which establish new
relations within ecosystems, behavioural and genetic
transformations in foreign as well as domestic species have
become quite common. These transformations result in the changed
potential of their ecological niches; as a consequence, from a
long-term perspective, these species represent the greatest
threat to the humankind of all species.</span><br
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<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">The installation
presents research into the possibilities of genetic or
ecological »switch«, on the basis of which the foreign species
from the thermal oxbow lake Topla could migrate into the near-by
environment. The “barrier” in the artificially established
ecosystem separates the living environment of the European
crayfish (Astacus astacus) as a representative of the
autochthonous species and that of the alochthonous (foreign)
species – the Australian red claw crayfish (Cherax
quadricarinatus). The environment offers both species the
opportunity to confront one another, which has not happened yet
in nature.</span><br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">The so-called
“genetic reservoir” is designed as a prototype for a mobile
live-in research unit, which metaphorically presents the human
as the most invasive species of all.</span><br
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<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif"><b>Maja Smrekar </b>was
born 1978 in Slovenia, 2005 graduated at the Sculpture
Department of Fine Art Academy in Ljubljana, currently finishing
MA at the New Media Department. Her main interest is based at
the phenomenology of perception which she first started
reseraching through space phenomena by composing live video
among various collaborations in interactive sound/visual
projects with other artists. Her main artistic focus remains at
the intermedia art field. Among others, she has been
collaborating with Kapelica Gallery in Ljubljana for the last
five years and with Aksioma Institute for the last two years.
Under their production she has executed projects within which
she was researching frequency phenomena through biofeedback and
thelematic presence in relations to body, privacy and
(inter)subjective perception of space. During the last two years
she has been developing projects within the field of bioart with
focus on living organisms. In 2010 she organised International
Festival HAIP10/New Nature which has been focussed to
interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration ethics between
scientists and artists. The festival took place at Multimedia
Centre Cyberpipe in Ljubljana where she has been active as an
artistic director for two years. Maja Smrekar currently lives
and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia.</span><br
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<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">The project has
been carried out in collaboration with the Department for
freshwater and land ecosystems at the National Institute of
Biology in Ljubljana.</span><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Consultancy on
foreign species and collaboration on the infrastructure of live
systems: Dr Al Vrezec</span><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Architectural
concept: Maja Smrekar and Andrej Strehovec, B. Arch.</span><br
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<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Author of
architecture: Andrej Strehovec, B. Arch.</span><br
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<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Concept, design
and execution of infrastructure: Marko Žavbi, B. Eng.
(Laboratory Biomedicine)</span><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Anthropologico-sociological
research: Neža Mrevlje</span><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif"><b>Production:</b>
Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, 2012</span><br
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<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif"><a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.aksioma.org">www.aksioma.org</a>
</span><br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Artistic Director:
Janez Janša</span><br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Executive
Producer: Marcela Okretič</span><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Assistant
Production: Sonja Grdina</span><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Public Relations:
Mojca Zupanič</span><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Technician: Valter
Udovičić</span><br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<b><br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
</b><i><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">The
programme of Aksioma Institute is supported by the Ministry of
Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of
Slovenia and the Municipality of Ljubljana.</span><br
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<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Sponsor:
Datacenter d.o.o.</span></i><br style="font-family:times new
roman,serif">
<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<i><b><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">The project
was conceived as part of the ARSCOPE project (Art-Science
Co-OPeration Environment), which is co-funded by the EU
Programme for Culture and which is carried out in
partnership between TAKOMAT (Germany), CIANT (the Czech
Republic) and AKSIOMA (Slovenia).</span><br
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</b></i><br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<br style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<b><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Contact:</span></b><br
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<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Marcela Okretič,
+386 41 250 830, <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:aksioma4@siol.net">aksioma4@siol.net</a></span><br
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<b><span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Aksioma |
Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana</span></b><br
style="font-family:times new roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif">Neubergerjeva 25,
SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia</span><br style="font-family:times
new roman,serif">
<span style="font-family:times new roman,serif"><a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.aksioma.org">www.aksioma.org</a></span><br>
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