Petra Farac

Kantuni od Grada - Corners of the City

CORNERS OF THE CITY

This is not about corners you would immediately think of (street corners, town squares' corners) but it's about what we find behind these "corners" passing through Dubrovnik. Of course, when you walk through the City you can't go round St. Blaise, then Orlando, Sponza and our pigeons, it is also a great joy to see women in traditional national costumes, like women from Konavle (Konavoke) and people on Placa(market), to quench thirst on the fountain, to dance with Linđo or just admire the view of the Old Town port. These are all typical scenes of the City (symbols). Scenes which are often taken by camera.
This is exactly where this art story begins. I call it "filtrated photos", photos which passed through numerous media; filters. A digital photo is being processed in the computer and then printed several times. But, passing through these filters the original photo looses its quality, colour, contours. And all that, until it comes in that last media – the art media which revives it with colour and drawings. Then the scene becomes a part of the picture, it becomes the picture.
Coal drawings emphasize the black and white gamma of colours on the picture which we oppose to the accentuated colours of the background. These are the colours of summer, sun, sea, blooming plants, but also of people's murmur in the season because Dubrovnik is, after all, the most beautiful in summer.
But as well as these photos, which passed through several filters that wore them out, faded them, these typical scenes of the City (on postcards, illustrations, brochures),often taken behind the same corner, are already worn out. But, nevertheless, it is the iconography of the city we live in and scenes that make it so special. And art is the medium of different interpretations of these scenes, pictures inside pictures.
'Cause you never know what you'll find behind the Corners of the City.



KANTUNI OD GRADA

Ovdje se ne radi o kantunima na koje bi odmah pomislili (na uglove ulica , trgova u gradu ) već se radi o onome što susrećemo iza tih ″kantuna″ prolazeći Dubrovnikom. Naravno nezaobilazan je Sv. Vlaho kad prolazimo Gradom , tu je i Orlando, Sponza i naši golubovi, zatim velika je radost vidjeti žene u tradicionalnim nošnjama kao što su Konavoke , ljude na Placi , utažiti žeđ na fontani , zaplesati s Linđom ili se pak diviti pogledu na Gradski porat. Sve su to rekli bismo tipični prizori Grada (simboli).Prizori koji su rado zabilježeni fotografskim aparatom.
Baš tu započinje ova slikarska priča. Ja to zovem ″filtriranim fotografijama″ , fotografijama koje su prošle kroz više medija ; filtara. Digitalna fotografija se obrađuje u kompjuteru zatim se printa više puta. Međutim prolazeći kroz te filtre prvotna fotografija gubi svoje kvalitete, boju, konture. Sve dok ne dođe u onaj završni medij – slikarski medij koji je pomoću boje i crteža ponovno oživljava. Tad prizor postaje dio slike , on se pretvara u sliku.
Crtež ugljenom naglašava crno-bijelu gamu boja na slici koju suprotstavljamo naglašenom koloritu pozadine. To su boje ljeta, sunca , mora , rascvjetanih biljaka, ali i žamora ljudi u sezoni jer je Dubrovnik ipak najljepši ljeti.
Isto tako kao što su ove fotografije prošle kroz više filtara koji su ih istrošili, izblijedili, tako su i ovi tipični prizori Grada (na razglednicama, ilustracijama, brošurama) uhvaćeni često iza istog kantuna , već istrošeni. Ali to je ipak ikonografija grada u kojem živimo i prizori koji ga čine tako posebnim. A slikarstvo je sredstvo različitih interpretacija tih prizora, slika unutar slike.
Jer nikad ne znate na što će te naići iza Kantuna od Grada.

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