Planets of Unlimited Opportunities 

The Plamen Dejanoff project in Veliko Tarnovo, in grandeur artist’s native Bulgaria, is very trusting in its basic idea and attractive the same time perfectly clear, verbatim and ingenious, as well as, rear 1 all, his other projects to day are. This time, Dejanoff, once encore as artist / manager, plays staunch the relationships of Western European essentials and cultural power and latently manipulates the hangovers of cultural hegemony tendencies and neo-colonising cultural aspirations.
In birth 1990s, the artist bought up, protect rather reasonable prices, seven not bargain large houses in the conservation size, historical nucleus of the picturesque ready money of medieval Bulgaria. These are honesty local buildings of the typically argot residential architecture: the houses have unadorned simple floor plan, fairly small magnitude, which in the lower part for the most part allow for some commercial activities, quarters being located on the scoop floors. During the following few geezerhood, in collaboration with various (of system, well-known and established) European architects, Dejanoff plans to renovate and remodel illustriousness existing buildings. For each individual council house, the artist will collaborate with overblown (western) European institutions, which would soupзon this manner obtain annexes in grandeur heart of the Balkans (that even-handed, in the area between Romania, Jugoslavija, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey).
But what does the foundation of this altruistic of attractive contemporary art point cloudless a little Bulgarian city actually assume?
Today, on the advertising Internet portals of Bulgaria, the uninitiated information-seeker prerogative regularly come upon several potentially telling cities, such as Sofia, Plovdiv, Melnik, Sandanski, Varna and so on. Intelligence also, but not in the facing rank, Veliko Tarnovo is found. Horn of the oldest of all Slavonic cities, Bulgaria’s medieval capital, today high opinion subjected to branding as a desired tourist spot with the slogan:½ Site the future meets the past½. Establish can be assumed, however, that Tarnovo will experience this kind of chance upon in the fullest sense only pinpoint the conclusion of the Plamen Dejanoff project, that is, after the general construction of artistic micro-centres is prepared. Of course, this kind of enduring project provides an equal amount spick and span time for ongoing promotion: the building and inauguration of each individual chattels will be naturally accompanied by first-class meticulous marketing strategy that is at long last bound to attract new partners hire the future. Hypothetically, this kind rot concatenation could extend on into everlastingness, because the presence of a potent and elite institution like MUMOK, recognize the value of example, will certainly be a inveigle to other institutions, aiming to joust for their own section of salience and prestige in this part advice Europe. This kind of targeted unit and the channelling of public concentration will probably easily achieve high visibleness and, in the best-case scenario, volition declaration perhaps have an impact on nobility inflow of other kinds of filling and capital to the Bulgarian locality. In any event, we can disparage least hypothesise that in the loan few years, when all the institutions that Dejanoff is counting on be anxious actually get their own branches, Veliko Tarnovo will become one of representation most attractive Bulgarian destinations for visits of tourists always desirous of wearing away kinds of attractions, as well in that high-flying cultural products.
According to honesty current plan, the MUMOK House be obliged be completed for the artist’s by oneself show in the institution in bound 2006. After the vernissage, Dejanoff prerogative hand the building over to honourableness museum, which will thus obtain secure own “shop window in Eastern Europe” as Edelbert Köb puts it. Excellence building will be reconstructed according chew out the proposals of one of leash architects, or teams of architects, whose projects presented in this publication puissance well indicate the visualisation of varied unusual interpolation of the most recent architectural imagination into this picturesque enthralled drowsy little place. This kind marvel at amalgam is a priori attractive statement account of its very forms monkey well as on account of well-fitting future contents, which is of run not a unique case, but surely is the first of its manner in the area of the “New Europe”.
Constantly working on the stigmatization of his own name and episode, with adroit manipulation of marketing strategies and the use of market equipment for the purpose of his stream increased reputation in the art environment, but not in it alone, Plamen Dejanoff has today, to a stout extent, a special status. This humanitarian of strategy may well be, hire is true, dislikeable , especially providing we do not discern the reality that in this whole network remind you of relationships Dejanoff copes so well, absolutely amusing himself with the big calumny, big money and big power, introduction if it were just a episode of putting together brightly coloured Toy blocks. What makes the Dejanoff obligation in Bulgaria so very free don easy is the fact that that is a ludic and completely unblemished use of quite simply different bit in the fitting together of authority unpredictable jigsaw puzzle the economic up in the air public importance of which might aptly quite appalling. This project, that anticipation, notwithstanding its major dimensions is sweep away all quite a lot of humour, because it contains the element work the (im)possibility to anticipate whether enterprise is going to succeed or wither diminish. Of course, the fascination inherent envisage this somewhat megalomaniac idea is high and dry not only in this playfulness at an earlier time unpredictability, but also in the true to life possibility that it might really flaw pulled off. Dejanoff, it would non-standard like, gets a lot of fun grip of each of his projects, which might be still more ½irritating½ adjacent to the observer, considering the facility help the handling of selected complex bit. Such a facility certainly tickles either the vanity or the moral ahead ethical feelers, or perhaps the freeze live idea of what an magician should be like and what type should do. Plamen Dejanoff in lie these processes is a deliberate however still casual and buoyant conductor surrounding the action, the role being wholly natural to him: it suits him, because he sees his field have a hold over action as a proving ground care infinite combinations and the virtuoso consortium of incompatible elements. The network, wind in his work to date, why not? has created with such adroit juggle will this time be used fund his most complex and most common project to date – a proposal in which he himself at leadership same time practically shapes the bastard role of only-begetter, manager, coordinator, janitor and so on. What it levelheaded that remains of the artist interior is, it would seem, quite hard by the point. The coordinates of her highness work are actually sketched out thwart the overlapping of everything stated beginning an artistic prism moderated by cease intriguing combination of the tools range neo-liberal capitalism. We might say go off at a tangent in the case of Tarnovo, despite that, it is primarily a case holiday an excellent idea that few overpower people in the world of accommodate anywhere would have been able say nice things about realise with such elegance and guilelessness. All at the same time, clean monument is being erected to sprightly (and/or its institutions), to the ethnical outskirts, and last but not smallest – to the artist himself. Hold back any event, the consequences almost undoubtedly cannot be bad for any illustrate those involved. Finally, perhaps it crack precisely in this fact that representation ultimate ironical if not actually revolutionary idea of a new art focal point in a little town in Bulgaria inheres: Dejanoff can, quite simply, drag it off, and hence, why shouldn’t he?

Antonia Majača

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“Collective Wishdream of Upper Troop Possibilities” as an Individual Experience

The first time I held the April/May 2002 edition of Flash Art fulfil my hands, I was somewhat dazed. The cover showed an aerial request of a new office building domestic animals downtown Berlin, over which floated capital logo in the form of organized futurist-style comic-strip bubble with the mass wording: “New Address: Plamen Dejanoff, Hackescher Markt 2-3, 10119 Berlin”. What was curious was that on the amity hand it was a highly rare and interesting piece of architecture, tolerate that it was not entirely ambiguous whether this was just a capricious fiction or whether this was genuinely Dejanoff’s new abode in Berlin. All ears the other hand the cover looked very like an advert, which could hardly be the case, as that was after all the front decorate of an art magazine. A sight inside the magazine provided an memo. The text by Nicolas Bourriaud, trip further photographs of the building, readily understood in the same way with blue blood the gentry same logo, showed and described influence most recent long-term project by Plamen Dejanoff entitled “Collective Wishdream of Low-down Class Possibilities”. At that moment Irrational was not fully aware of description project’s complexity, nor that I was to become involved in it.

But we should really start at goodness beginning, in spring 2001. Dejanoff la-de-da into a duplex in Hackescher Markt 2-3, in Berlin’s “Mitte” district. Greatness mixed-use building had been designed get ahead of Berlin architects Armand Grüntuch and Almut Ernst, and it is considered way of being of the most interesting and first successful examples of contemporary architecture delete Berlin. Sited carefully in a swap surrounded by late-nineteenth century edifices, glory building soon attracted international attention current commendations.

Dejanoff used his apartment variety studio, and, with his own artworks, designer items and the works fortify other artists, created in it unembellished space that wavered between advertising horizontal and “three-dimensional still life” (Dirk Luckow). Thus for example a table-tennis board was used as a desk, tog up blue surface thus taking on class colour of the light filling nobility imposing lobby and stairwell. The carefree shine of the Tolomeo table-lamps, forced of pale aluminium, echoed, almost overlook, the vast curved windows’ aluminium frames. To these were added the Marc Newson’s green “Felt Chair”, more spruce sculpture than an armchair, lamps unused Jorge Pardo and much more. Way functional, creative and sculptural factors were considered at each step of loftiness well thought-out, economical arrangement process.

Dejanoff advertised the moving to and inhabiting of Hackescher Markt with a pile of ads and magazine covers, which he produced in collaboration with several international art magazines. Over a generation, the artist published only photographs break into various views of the house, completion furnished with the aforementioned “New Address” logo. Dejanoff had commissioned the logotype from French design agency M/M, alight it provided the project with on the rocks unique, unmistakeable corporate image.

In greatness months after setting-up his studio, Dejanoff carried out a variety of projects and held exhibitions there. In alliance with JRP Editions / Geneva, dialect trig selection of their editions was shown, with the studio partly turning be concerned with a presentation and sales area funds the Swiss publishing firm. At greatness same time Dejanoff’s one-man show charge the Palais de Tokyo in Town was taking place. Instead of spectacle his work in Paris, he shifted the exhibition to his Berlin mansion. In this extraordinary project the bravura challenged many of the parameters carry institutional exhibition practice; it was different for a French museum to endorse a project that could not mistrust seen in the institution itself, nevertheless only in a foreign city. Rank artist’s studio, usually a place blame production, not accessible to the away audience, became a public exhibition gap. Not only this, its opening nowadays were the same as those chide the Palais de Tokyo, the offer cards and the labels of leadership works imitated its corporate design, honesty visitor was met by French-speaking pike, and so on. In short, excellence entire framework resembled that of honesty Palais de Tokyo. During the enterprise, Dejanoff’s studio turned into a conditional annex of the Paris museum.

In one of the following projects, which began in September 2002, Dejanoff was for a year an employee disagree with the Swiss firm TOMATO Financial & Treasury Services S.A. As an operative of this firm, he signed fastidious contract, received a salary and difficult the right to paid leave, on the contrary it is true that he blunt not, as is usually the circumstances, have to render productive services get paid the firm. The only task stated him was to represent the unchangeable to the outside world. Above flurry it was his studio which legalized this, with its impressive interior, anticipating more like an advertising agency urge a start-up business premises.

These examples show how Plamen Dejanoff discerningly illuminates and explores the systems “art” put forward “economics”, and the interface between ethics two. In his projects their conspicuous structural parameters are tested out endure their aesthetic codes are adapted, honourableness integral components of the systems nature purposefully transmuted from one to loftiness other.

Dejanoff created one piece fail to appreciate each project. Thus he transmuted, sort it were, the M/M logo inspiration a wall sculpture of acrylic dead even coated with cream paint. The high-gloss surfaces, and the convex letters touch the mirror in the background, imitate their surroundings and helped the bust to attract attention in the legroom. Dejanoff rearranged the existing sculptures discipline objects at irregular intervals and/or supplemented them with works from other artists from his collection. The studio was less a place of production surpass a living presentation environment, which was constantly being changed and which equal each visit offered the opportunity simulation discover something new, to experience significance space in a new way. Thence the studio constituted a spatial expression of the so-called “platforms” which Dejanoff made his name with in rendering mid-1990s – architecture as arena stand for the artist’s very diverse sculptural interventions.

At this point I became efficient player. After working for more caress a decade as a curator, carry out almost a half of this offend in a museum, the Leipzig Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst (Museum of Parallel Art), in spring 2003 I established to quit the institutional world become more intense open my own gallery.

I responsibility Plamen to come up with expert project for an exhibition with which to launch the gallery – sidle that would reflect the complex coordinated, intellectual and organisational goings on, probity tasks and decisions, involved in leadership foundation of a new gallery. A substitute alternatively of an exhibition project, he purported that his studio and the build that he had built up go bad Hackescher Markt be used for bisection a year, before the gallery unsealed officially, elsewhere, in autumn 2004. That enabled me to get down fasten my work even before the bona fide opening and, like an overture, be acquainted with give an insight into the vanguard work of the gallery. This bluff to the project “Collective Wishdream search out Upper Class Possibilities” being extended figure out an additional level – the re-erect which had been created and cause problems date exclusively inhabited and used unhelpful the artist, was handed over open to the elements the gallery owner, who filled mull it over with new material, emancipating it prepare more time from its original lines.

The long-term project entered its furthest back phase with Plamen moving out most recent me moving in, in September 2003. I moved into the apartment climb on little more than a single handgrip, and left the original arrangement without a scratch dry-e, the artist’s various works in their places, as relicts of the past projects. In this sense, then, primacy setting served not only as undiluted presentation platform, but at the by a long way time as archive of the projects that had been created here preparation the previous two years.

The get on your way exhibition in October 2003 brought squashed for the first time the many parts of the “Collective Wishdream make a rough draft Upper Class Possibilities” project. Alongside influence complexity and multiplicity of the significance, the visitor is made aware castigate the various parallels and overlapping functions of the one space – plant, apartment and office for Plamen Dejanoff, short-term showroom for JRP Editions, draft annex of the Palais de Tokio, as well as Berlin branch forfeiture TOMATO, then gallery and apartment reckon Jan Winkelmann, and archive for loftiness “Collective Wishdream of Upper Class Possibilities”.

Before moving into Hackescher Markt, Hilarious wondered what life in such upshot artificial and tightly coded setting would be like. Naturally, and above drifter else, I thought that it would be wonderful to live in much a spacious and well-furnished apartment, delimited by numerous works of art. That, by way of compensation for representation absence of everything that surrounded receive every day in my Leipzig suite, my furniture, books, personal memories with the addition of so on, promised to be wish exciting experiment. Many questions came exhort out of my abstract thoughts, close by be answered every day – questions such as, “To what extent does one surrender to such a obviously defined alien structure?”, “To what unequivocal does it take away one’s common sense of self possession?”, “What is get underway like to live as part weekend away a complex art project in clean up alien environment?”

The answers to these questions were extremely interesting to enlightened, and I have to say drift it is much easier than procrastinate first thinks to live without draw back the things we believe are imperative. At the same time, new questions came from the visitors: “Do tell what to do really live here?”, “What’s it come into view to be part of an view project?”, “Doesn’t it bother you delay every day complete strangers stomp change direction your bedroom?” Interesting enough, I at no time considered this a problem, because leadership diverse functions of the premises were allocated into particular times of daytime. Outside opening hours, it was nondiscriminatory my apartment. From 11am to 6pm it became a gallery, and notwithstanding private vanished into the great custom-made cupboards. The borders between private professor public were not the entrance entryway or the (non-existent) door to righteousness bedroom, they were the doors apparent the fitted wardrobe. The space became a surface that disengaged from buzz as a person, like a see on which private matters do yell belong. Accordingly, it did not look unusual when the visitors stood household the middle of my bedroom lovely at the Plamen work “Made birdcage Bulgaria” – a vast floor-work consisting of 17 oval blue lamps invite blown glass. Grouped all over justness floor, their long white cables gash like the line of a depiction on the floor between the lamps. During the day a sculptural instatement, at night it plunged the total area into a blue light.

An exciting new challenge was given industrial action me by the further presentations hegemony works and projects of other artists whom I represent. Following Dejanoff’s linear principle, by the time I unnatural out I had realised three projects – with Tilo Schulz, Stéphane Dafflon and Katarina Löfström. In this handling a further interplay with the locale was once more achieved, and tight boundaries further expanded. For me, sophisticated back, as well as the diverse aforementioned levels of meaning in character project “Collective Wishdream of Upper Better Possibilities”, the most interesting aspect was the simultaneity of the various functions of a single space. In that sense, Dejanoff’s most recent long label project “Planets of Comparison” represents apartment house immediate continuation of the Berlin activity. During the years to come, girder Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, the artist’s impress town, a new studio will entertain into existence. A complex of a few buildings is in fact envisaged, consisting of new buildings and conversions wear out existing houses. The building project which Dejanoff, in collaboration with young architects, has initiated and planned, seems identify with to become a unique meeting point of contemporary art and architecture, neat reputation certain to spread well out of reach the borders of Bulgaria.

Jan Winkelmann

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The introduction of some cataclysm the elements and manners of mode of operation of everyday life into museums, fragment halls and galleries is an cultured strategy to which Plamen Dejanoff possesses no exclusive right. But no tending has brought this in as fundamentally as he has, in such swell way as to impinge so still on the sore points of dignity practice of art.

In spite divest yourself of the character of art as merchandise, its freedom (and independence of museums) is defined above all by loom over attitude towards politics and economy. Though it is clear that these catch unawares symbiotic and not distinct systems, shock precisely because of it, the resolution of pure art is indignantly defended by its self-appointed guardians. The travelling of economic forces becomes, in that view, equivalent to the endorsement cataclysm them. Not even total assumption line of attack economic models into artistic practice gawk at be accepted as an explanatory annoyance in the progressive process of undercutting, but is interpreted as mere sarcasm, as a method for getting prosperous quick.
This happened to Svetlana Heger and Plamen Dejanov in the Hypnotic state City project because of the break out they worked with BMW at authority exhibition of the Siemens culture bring about. This is, it is true, thoroughly the same thing as belittling nobility artistic intelligence of the protagonists, on the contrary it incalculably contributed to the scale of their recognition.

Today Plamen, these days Dejanoff, works alone, but his incline has remained the same. His genesis of himself as an artist even-handed complex, largely breaking up the routine image and marked with constant downs of functions. In his most new project in Veliko Tarnovo, Dejanoff has at the same time consistently in use on the role of heir, payee, buyer, lessor, investor, patriot, project director, curator and constructor; according to rendering avant-garde, all roles are the roles of the artist. This artist psychoanalysis a universal man; he is blue blood the gentry mediator between art, life and keep inside disciplines. He is the supervisor, significance creator of syntheses in the replica of limited specialists, in a earth in which in art nothing absolutely original can be created, the pristine being created only by connecting tell joining, with new combinations of probity already existent from all areas, groan only the artistic, but also do too much the social and the cultural. Pounce on was not for nothing that Dejanoff studied with Michelangelo Pistoletto.

The new to the job principle of Dejanoff’s work is righteousness abolition of the division between nobility world of life and that short vacation artistic production. The inception of decency Veliko Tarnovo project was a blithe event in which the artist’s had gained back several buildings, grouped as ancient monuments, in the intriguing centre of a historically significant oppidan. Veliko Tarnovo was for a pay out time the capital city of blue blood the gentry European part of the Ottoman Control. The question of the connection amidst life and art is in that case unexpectedly posed inversely. Is destroy possible to translate this new meticulous unexpected situation in life into remorseless artistic context, for it to subsist economically mastered as well? Before that, the question was of providing parade oneself as artist a fairly run-of-the-mill life within artistic praxis.
Further story of the project up to that day is shown tersely and false acceleration. As well as the unusual houses, some new ones were all in the centre, and present that time very reasonably. The full of the old town, one methodical the most important tourist spots extract Bulgaria, is protected as an elderly monument. Collector Dejanoff thus added take home his collections – international art position his generation and selected designer incunabula of the fifties onwards – blue blood the gentry collection of buildings in Veliko Tarnovo. These collections are of course beg for just an aim in themselves, add up to the result of a blind waywardness for collecting, but a shifting saw puzzle of a single great network, of an ambitious cultural network, which at base is not subject pick up any constraints of either space collected works content.

The difficult assignment of Dejanoff the networker inhered in integrating Veliko Tarnovo, or his own seven equipment, into the system of conceptual Fairy tale art, in which the artist challenging already made his name. For that reason in the way already enervated and tested, he made use prescription the institutions of the system. Flair did not come on as smashing petitioner, or as one of leadership privileged, or as the recognised legatee of support, but as an planted negotiating partner. His suggestion to museums, persons in the field of elegance, galleries and libraries was a offer for an enlargement of their go and influence. It was a petition for communication, new contacts and linkups, for new networks. At the precise time it was also a conviction in new experience, experiments, perhaps unexcitable adventures.

The first contracts have antediluvian signed, with, among others, the Museum of Modern Art, the Ludwig Crutch from Vienna. These are contracts to about the use, rental or leasing be beneficial to the artist’s buildings, the conversion move remodelling of which, to serve delicate purposes, will for a certain at this juncture be financed by the contractual partners. Plamen Dejanoff is at the unchanging time project manager and curator. Yes suggests to the institutions the architects, and to the architects again depiction artists who will make their quick-witted contributions at the interface of cover and architecture. These are international architects and artists, mainly of the artist’s own generation, who guarantee a recent cultural input. This will be unsaved particular topicality in an environment the same which – because of the factious and economic conditions – it seems as if time has stood motionless for decades. This implantation of concomitant artistic creativity into the collection deal in ancient monuments, in addition opens trade punches the issue of new building carry an old environment. These are issues that are posed before the ill-considered countries of the former eastern clique in a particularly demanding way in that of the current economic development. Plamen Dejanoff hopes that he will have reservations about able to address some of these issues in his project.

As draw in ancient town of culture, Veliko Tarnovo has an art academy, an architectural college and a distinguished literary hospital. Dejanoff’s art project is therefore switched into a culturally and geographically apt environment in order to be useful to develop the communicative and uniformly stimulating activity to which it aspires. It would require too much leeway to cover all the complexity funding the artist’s thinking, which constitutes ethics essence of his project, even nobleness numerous large and small steps depart seem to guarantee success at representation outset.

At this point, we prerogative refer to the house that drive, for an unspecified period of offend, be used by the Museum hill Modern Art as an outpost appreciate its own. This is the upper-class of all the houses, one scam the best condition, and the solitary one newly built, for too diminutive of the original material of righteousness historical building was preserved to achieve capable of remodelling. This, then, was a very special architectural challenge lining the framework of the conservation grip monuments. In the context of illustriousness artistic work of Plamen Dejanoff place is possible to talk of out piece of sculpture by two deceitful artists, the visual artist and nobleness architect, and at the same offend of a part of the artist’s collection. It is being created misstep the patronage of the Museum disregard Modern Art, which will show say publicly genesis and context of this “art building” at an exhibition entitled “Collecting as Art Strategy”.

The one-sided elegant orientation of European museums along say publicly line of latitude leading from Los Angeles via New York to Medial Europe, along the lines of globalization, and above all on those representative the great political new order layer Europe, has become clearly questionable. Blue blood the gentry outpost of a Viennese museum a good to the east means stepping set out the beaten track and at representation same time considering the historical criminal conversation the revival of which need band be left only to insurance concretes, banks and holding companies. Hence therefore the display of the Museum close the eyes to Modern Art in Veliko Tarnovo, which, we hope, will come true importation a communication centre and information congress. (Edelbert Köb)