The work Hold That Thought is conceived as a horizontally installed series of four silk-screen prints (Pg. 1, Pg. 2, Pg. 3, Pg. 4, dimensions 70 cm x 50 cm each/ framed) and a small intervention – the idiomatic expression Hold that thought, dimension 4 cm imprinted in red on the wall – following the last / fourth print (Pg. 4).

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Part One

A starting point for the silk-screen series was a four page essay titled Destabilization of Language – the Political Asset of Art, written during my PhD studies, that addressed and explored art’s (potentially) political nature. At the time, it seemed to me that it was far less difficult to address a notion of the political in art through a written language than a visual one, even though words were far less visually compelling (and ambiguous) than, for instance, the language of painting, printmaking or drawing. Nevertheless, as I was convinced that printed texts always seem to lack symbolic capital inherent to art pieces/objects/practices, the essay was “transformed” into a series of four silk-screen prints – four oversized “pages” / 4 artifacts – that, according to my altered thoughts and attitudes, have been gradually visually and conceptually altered. Over time alterations have multiplied, consequently obliterating and destroying the original meanings and (visual) unity of the essay. The most recent handwritten additions that mimic, institutionally standardized text form (Times New Roman, 12) either address the politicality of art (Pg. 1 and 4) or “instruct” the viewer on how to raise a mythological creature named Bazilisk and how to be protected from evil (female) eyes (Pg. 2 and 3). They “suggest” different ideas/“perspectives” that have shaped our world and its perceptions therefore implying cultural and historical conditioning and fragile nature of our reality that we have been creating all along.

Part 2.

Hold that thought (idiomatic often imperative) – to pause in a conversation for an interruption. Used for telling someone to remember an interrupted thought or idea, as it will be useful later in the conversation.

The meaning of the English idiom Hold that thought imprinted on the wall, creates formal and conceptual tension when positioned next to the silk-screen series. Personal reflections on art’s political potential combined with the archaic “instructions” on how to change one’s reality (silk/screens) are juxtaposed with an implied authority of the institutional power / authority/ state represented by the red stamp imprint. Created tension between personal and official (personal thoughts vs. red institutional stamp of “approval” or interruption) is reflected by the tension between two languages  (specific, national Serbian-Croatian/ globally dominant English).