Foto: ZAMEK
ZAMEK Centre for Culture, Poznan
—
Mladen Bizumic
Bankruptcy and Reorganisation
The exhibition is a part of the series “time-specific” curated by Dorota Walentynowicz.
“If you ask me, as people did many years later, about digital photography as it started to mature in the late 1990s, I would say : Yes, I did take the first digital snapshot. So what?" - Steven Sasson
During his first solo show in Poland, Mladen Bizumic exhibits works which constitute yet another stage of a long-running photographic project dedicated to products of the legendary manufacturer Kodak. The title of the exhibition, Bankruptcy and Reorganization, refers to the most recent history of Kodak which, in 2012 (after over 130 years in business), filed for bankruptcy and began restructuring so as to remain afloat on the market.
In a series of photographs, publications, objects and collages which make up that long-running and multi-themed project, Bizumic shows pieces of material history bearing Kodak’s logo and, with characteristic elegance, “reorganizes” its individual fragments. The mass-produced items are treated as precious finds, as the artist closely analyses their historical as well as visual value. Simultaneously, Bizumic looks for the links between the structure of the Eastman-Kodak corporation and its production lines, between the decisions of the management and the finished product in the form of photographic material, with which we, the users, used to record our images and thanks to which contemporary visual culture emerged.
A key element of the project is the interview (excerpts quoted here) that Mladen Bizumic conducted with the legendary inventor Steven Sasson who, working nowhere else but in Kodak’s labs in Rochester, NY, built the first ever digital camera in 1976. The motif of invention appears in the exhibition on several occasions – in the quotes from the Patent Office where the camera was registered (KODAK (Patent Network)), as well as in the images of the device itself - reproduced using various photographic media and integrated into a collage (KODAK (Thin Layers of Dignity)), or multiplies and cut into a visual confetti, packed tightly into a photographic frame (KODAK (Tail or Tale?)).
"…These (corporate) Kodak guys weren’t dumb… I mean it was a crude photography and I wasn't endangering film photography in any way at that time [1976]. But they were also smart enough to know that I was a 25-year old kid in a laboratory doing no film, no paper photography and looking at the picture right away. What could happen?…" *
Paradoxically, the collapse of the photographic potentate was due precisely to the advances in digital photography, a technology which originated from Kodak’s own laboratories. The history of departure from photo-chemical processes and the “switch-over” of contemporary photography to digital solutions is a vital element for the interpretation of the displayed works. Not only does the artist analyse the very nature of image and the device which produces that image, but also attempts to detect the traces of materiality in the by default non-material digital image. Thus he poses art’s crucial question about the nature of “value” in the post-material era.
"We filed a pattern. I didn't even know what a pattern was. I worked with (an attorney) Dennis Monteith who wrote the fundamental of it. When I read it know - it was actually well-written. Dennis did a great job because he captured the essence of the invention. The essence of the invention was to electronically capture a photo-site (a charge pattern), digitise it and then, store it rather quickly all in real time, and then, read out from the memory slowly to a more permanent form of storage. That was the fundamental nature of the pattern and that represents the fundamental architecture of the digital cameras, even today. That's how it works."
Mladen Bizumic also annexes the context and the site of exhibition as part of the artistic material. When designing the exhibition, the artist drew upon the architecture of the pf Gallery and the linearity of display that the interior imposes. The artist “challenges” the Classicist-Brutalist colonnade, a characteristic trait of the gallery: he introduces a new exhibitive order and creates his own frame of display.
On the other hand, we encounter references to the history of local manufacturing – the works from the series U.S. Bankruptcy Chapter 11: Reorganization have been printed on paper collected in the bankrupt ZNTK (Railway Rolling Stock Repair Company) in Poznañ. Thus he draws attention to the fact that the neo-liberal strategy of “reorganisation” following the Western model, played a key role in the process of de-industrialisation which has been taking place in Poland in the two past decades.
The paper from the ZNTK plant, whose yellowed, subtle texture endows the photographs with a unique properties highlighting their materiality, was used in a different fashion as well: spread in dense sheets along the gallery’s axis it traces a horizontal line which surrounds all the elements inside. Consequently, the artist creates new perspective viewpoints and new opportunities of building relationships between the space and the viewer.
Biografie
Einzelausstellungen
2025
Archeologies of the Future, KCB-Cultural Centre of Belgrade, Serbien
2023
COPIA: Collection of Post-Industrial Arts, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Wien
2019
The Ecology of Attention, Georg Kargl BOX, Wien
Interiors of Photography (with Sophie Thun), Camera Austria, Graz
2018
Kunstbüro (with Yuki Hugashino), Wien
BOOK (Photo Boom Photo Box), Kunstraum, Retz
2016
Kodak Employed 140.000 People. Instagram 13., MOSTYN. Wales
2015
Kodak: Reorganization Plan, Georg Kargl BOX, Wien
Artissima (with David Maljkovic), Oval, Turin
2014
Bankruptcy and Reorganisation, ZAMEK Centre for Culture, Poznan
Kodak: la présence de l’image, galerie frank elbaz, Paris
2013
Kodachrome Presents, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland
Keep Me. Protect Me. Share Me, Galerie Karin Sachs, München
2012
Hotel Jugoslavija, Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrad
180° (with Andreas Fogarasi), Neuer Kunstverein Wien, Wien
Hotel Jugoslavija: A Repository with a View, Georg Kargl BOX, Wien
2011
Untitled (Window Painting #5) (with Benjamin Hirte), Ve.sch, Wien
2010
From Cube To Ball (Chapter 1), Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
From Cube To Ball (Chapter 2), Adam Art Gallery, Wellington
2009
Global Truths vs. Local Reflections, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
America (with Ovul Durmusoglu), Parallel Event/Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul
After the Party, Hirschfeld, Berlin
Everyone is Welcome!, Uszynska Schaufenster, Wien
2008
1st Translator’s Note – Le desir de philosophie, Zoo Galerie, Nantes
Everyone is Welcome!. Te Tuhi - Centre for the Arts, Auckland
2007
How If - A Translation in III Acts, Künstlerhaus Bethanien & PROGRAM, Berlin
Colonial Atmospheres, Physics Room, Christchurch
An Expedition Yet To Happen, Two Rooms, Auckland
2006
Superstructure Doubled (with Øystein Aasan), Korridor, Berlin
Crystal Memorial, Charim Galerie, Wien
2005
Planet Wittgenstein, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
2004
event.horizon.black.hole, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
Aipotu: Love Will Tear Us Apart, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
Aipotu: Love Will Tear Us Apart (again), Hocken Collections, Dunedin
2003
Fiji Biennele Pavilions, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
The Night Shift, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
event.horizon, Ramp Gallery, Hamilton
2002
Tauranga Guggenheim, ARTSPACE, Auckland
A Beautiful Afterlife, Window, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland
7000 Rimu Trees, Rear Window, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
2001
Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
Gruppenausstellungen
2024
By the Means at Hand: Vlatka Horvat, Kroatischer Pavillon, 60. Venedig Biennale
Bringing Owls from Athens, Georg Kargl BOX x Callirrhoë, Athens, Georg Kargl BOX, Wien
2023
Synchron, Ela Nord Studio, Wien
Unearthing the Collection: October Salon Collection, Cultural Center, Belgrad
Little Precious Things, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Wien
2022
Metadata: Rethinking Photography from the 21st Century, The Ringling, Sarasota, FL
AFFAIR, Savremena Galerijy Contemporary Gallery Subotice, Szabadka
Mutual Aid, Neadertal, London
2021
Enjoy - the mumok Collection in Change, mumok, Wien
GEORG KARGL EDITIONS, Georg Kargl Permanent, Wien
2020
OUTGOING DISPATCH, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland
Would You Be Available…, Georg Kargl Permanent, Wien
Bakelite: The Georg Kargl Collection, MAK, Wien
Mulberry Tubes, Galerie Göttlicher, Krems
2019
Uncanny Values, 3rd Vienna Biennale, MAK, Wien
Dialogue, Gesellschaft für projektive Ästhetik, Georg Kargl, Wien
2018
Futurs Antérieurs, Maison Guerlain, Parcours Privé de la Fiac, Paris
Between Us, Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrad
Concentration - A Tribute, Gesellschaft für projektive Ästhetik, Georg Kargl, Wien
Reduction, Gesellschaft für projektive Ästhetik, Georg Kargl, Wien
2017
Traces of Time, Leopold Museum, Wien
Ponovo Upotrebiti, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw
Out of Site, Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University, Wellington
Secret Art Sale, Te Tuhi – Centre for the Arts, Auckland
2016
A Matter of Memory, Eastman Museum, Rochester, New York
This Is Your Replacement, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
Ouverture pour inventaire, FRAC Pays de la Loire, Nantes
Undreamed of..., Dunedin Public Gallery & Hocken Collections, Dunedin
2015
Le bon ton, Cultural Centre Belgrad, Belgrad
Repeat / Personal, Porous Space, Wien
New Acquisitions, Moderna Galerija, Subotica
Etiquette: New Acquisitions October Salon, Cultural Centre of Belgrad
Our Hearts of Darkness, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
2014
Hier & Jetzt, Stift Klosterneuburg, Klosterneuburg
Cut it, Scratch it, Stitch it, Keep it, Fotogalleriet, Oslo
Artists Using Photography, GESSO, Wien
Freedom Farmers, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland
2013
Chambres de luxe, Kunstmuseum, Thun
Memory of Space – Space of Memory, Moderna Galerija, Subotica
Was ist Kunst? Resuming Fragmented Histories, KM – Künstlerhaus, Graz
Ephemeral Self, Finite Projections, The Gallery of the National Technical Library, Prag
21st Century Collecting, Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University, Wellington
2012
Good Life, 53rd October Salon, Belgrad
Long Day, Fei Contemporary Art Centre, Shanghai
2011
Erschaute Bauten, MAK, Wien
Dancing in the Rhyme, Kumho Art Museum, Seoul
Pawn Shop, Kopfbau, Basel
This is Happening II, Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Wien
Opening Borders/Opening Objects, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Wallpaper, Motel Campo – espace d’art polyvalent, Geneva
Drift of Summer, RM, Auckland
Dienstag Abend Editions, Ve.Sch, Wien
First Impressions, TSB Wallace Arts Centre, Auckland
All Black, Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga
2010
Phoenix vs. Babel, Fondation d'Entreprise Ricard, Paris
Thriller, Rigaerstr. 69, Berlin
The Forgotten Bar, Galerie Im Regierungsviertel, Berlin
2009
Video from Aotearoa, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg
For Keeps, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland
2008
Common Affairs, steirischer herbst festival, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz
Space Chase, Magnus Müller Galerie, Berlin
Zapping Unit, Le Ferme du Buisson, Paris
If You Carry A Hammer A Lot of Things Look Like Nails, Skalitzerstr. 64, Berlin
Earth Matters, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland
Video from Aotearoa, Co-Lab, Copenhagen
In Shifting Light, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland
Drawings, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
2007
Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul
00s’, Lyon Biennale, Museum Of Contemporary Art, Lyon
Art of the Nation, Te Papa – Museum of New Zealand, Wellington
Through the Painting, 2nd Moscow Biennale, Federation Tower, Moskau
Invisible/Invincible, Curators Without Borders, Berlin
2006
Hidetide, Zacheta National Art Gallery, Warsaw
Hidetide, CAC, Vilnius
Busan Biennale, Metropolitan Art Museum, Busan
Don't Misbehave, SCAPE Biennale, Christchurch
Play, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth
Play, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington
2005
Re: Modern, Künstlerhaus Wien, Wien
Truer Than the Truth, Charim Galerie, Wien
Playground, Art Play Architecture & Design Centre, Moskau
Skin Oil, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland
Small World, Big Town, City Gallery, Wellington
Showcase, The Wallace Trust Gallery, Auckland
2004
We are the World, Chelsea Art Museum, New York
Everyday Minimal, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland
Break-Shift, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
International Art Fair and Cake Stall, Blue Oyster Gallery, Dunedin
2003
Vecu, Conical Artspace, Melbourne
Break, Govett-Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth
2002
Sublime Indigo, Waikato Museum of Art and History, Hamilton
Botanica, Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland
7000 Rimu Trees, Rear Window, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
Video, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
I See, The Croft Institute, Melbourne
2001
Bright Paradise, 1st Auckland Triennial, Auckland
Public Collections / Museumssammlungen
MUMOK - Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien
MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst / Gegenwartskunst Wien
Fotosammlung des Bundes – Museum der Moderne Salzburg
FRAC - Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain, Nantes
Te Papa - Museum of New Zealand, Wellington
Victoria University Art Collection, Wellington
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland
Wallace Arts Trust, Auckland
Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
Hocken Collections, University of Otago, Dunedin
Moderna Galerija, Subotica
October Salon Collection, Kulturni Centar, Belgrad
Eastman Museum, Rochester, New York
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