10 min Geozavod
video
10’25”
edition: 2/5 + 1 a.c.
2012
The work was created for the needs of the 53rd October Salon and filmed in the exhibition space of the Geozavod Building in Belgrade.
During his stay in Belgrade, Samuil recorded himself as he was spinning a light bulb (on a cord) over his head in an empty room of the Geozavod Building, non-stop for ten minutes. This work is the first in the series of site-specific portraits of space, which, after Belgrade, the artist realized in the Museum of Natural History in Sofia.
By disabling all sources of light – natural or artificial – that would clearly identify the space in which he is, the artist actually creates his own cosmos. As he spins the light bulb over his head, he is referring to movement in space. On the one hand, he takes on the role of a pseudo-scientist performing an experiment, and on the other, he becomes a black hole that keeps the orbit around in motion. Wondering where the space of art is, he opens the topic of the so-called “thinking vision”. To think while looking or to look while thinking is a process that is primarily related to the conceptualization of a visual action, that is very often related to the number 10, which refers to a certain period of time, but can always be longer.
© Cultural Centre of Belgrade, the October Salon Collection and the artist
Gift Contract: III-5-297/29.9.2014.
Inventory No. 1365
Photo: still from the video work
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Samuil Stoyanov (1975, Dobrich, Bulgaria) is a visual artist who lives and works in Dobrich, Bulgaria and Arusha, Tanzania. He graduated from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia. In 2010, he was a resident artist at the International Studio and Curatorial Program ISCP in New York. In 2011 he won one of the most important awards for contemporary visual art in Bulgaria, RUF. In the jubilee issue of the art magazine Frieze, Samuil’s work was presented by Nedko Solakov, and he is one of the artists included in the book on avant-garde art in Bulgaria The Bulgarian Nouvelle Vague. More information at https://openartfiles.bg/en/people/2394-samuil-stoyanov