Liquid Gold Video Series by Andrea Knezovic

Liquid Gold – Andrea Knezovic from Andrea Knezovic – Artist on Vimeo.

Liquid Gold II – Andrea Knezovic from Andrea Knezovic – Artist on Vimeo.

Liquid Gold III – Andrea Knezovic from Andrea Knezovic – Artist on Vimeo.

Liquid Gold IV – Andrea Knezovic from Andrea Knezovic – Artist on Vimeo.

 

Liquid Gold (English)

Video series Liquid Gold is conceptually connected to the photography series Liquid Transcendence. It consists of video artworks in which I’m urinating in nature and public places standing up, which is a traditionally male pose for urination. Apart from reversing gener roles, in this artwork I also questions the boundaries of socially accepted behavior while using the act of urnation as a symbol of fighting against different socially conditioned forms of behavior and opression that is forced on us.

Urination in Art History

It is also important to mention that the act of urination in society and art went through interesting changes throughout history. In a 16th century painting by Lorenzo Lotto, Venus and Cupid, we can see Venus lying down while Cupid is standing next to her and urinating on her genitals. In this case, urine is a replacement for semen and symbolizes fertility.

During that time, urination was a symbol of transformation, fertility, even something holy and magical. In the 19th century, after public toilets came about, urination becomes a private act and as the result of that, artist use the act of urination in a more aggressive way because now urination has the power to shock and disrupt. For example, James Esnor, a 19th-century painter sends a message to his critics with the painting The Pisser, where he depicts a man who urinates on the wall that has “Ensor est un fou” (en. Ensor is a madman) written on it.

Vienna Actionists

During the 1960’s, Vienna actionists go a step further and use urination in different performances that have the purpose of attacking current culture and society, especially conformism and materialism. Otto Muehl does his work Piss Action where he urinates in front of the audience, and later gets banished from Germany. Günter Brus and other Vienna actionists also include urination in their performances.

During the 70s, depictions of urinating, like in the Robert Mapplethorpe photographs, speak about sexual freedom and fight against the injustice as a part of the LGBTQ movement at the time. Mapplethorpe’s depictions of urination, like Jim and Tom, Sausalito are particularly interesting because they present BDSM culture where urination is one of the fetishes and is often used in power games between a dominant and submissive partner.

We can see something similar with Andres Serrano work Leo’s Fantasy (part of the History of Sex series), where an anonymous woman urinates in the mouth of a man. It is also important to mention Piss Christ, which was considered to be very controversial by some.

Liquid Gold (Croatian)

Serija video radova Liquid Gold se tematski i konceptualno nadovezuje na seriju fotografija Liquid Transcendence. Sastoji se od video radova u kojim uriniram u prirodi i u javnosti u pozi koja je tradicionalno muška.

Osim obrtanja rodnih uloga, u ovom radu ispitujem granice društveno prihvatljivog ponašanja, te koristim uriniranje kao simbol borbe protiv različitih društveno uvjetovanih obrazaca ponašanja i opresije koja nam je nametnuta.

Uriniranje u Povijesti Umjetnosti

Također je bitno spomenuti kako je čin uriniranja u društvu i umjetnosti doživio zanimljive promjene kroz povijest. U slici iz 16. stoljeća, Venera i Kupid, Lorenzo Lotto, možemo vidjeti Veneru kako leži dok Kupid stoji kraj nje i urinira po njenim genitalijama. U ovom slučaju je urin zamjena za muško sjeme i simbolizira plodnost. U to vrijeme, uriniranje je bilo simbol transformacije, plodnosti, čak i nečega što je sveto i magično.

U 19. stoljeću, nakon što su se počeli pojavljivati javni wc-i, uriniranje postaje privatni čin i kao rezultat toga, umjetnici čin uriniranja počinju koristiti na jedan agresivniji način zato što sada uriniranje ima moć da šokira i remeti. Tako James Esnor, slikar iz 19. stoljeća odgovara svojim kritičarima s djelom The Pisser, gdje prikazuje čovjeka koji urinira po zidu na kojem piše „Ensor est un fou“ (hrv. Ensor je luđak).

Bečki Akcionisti

1960-ih, bečki akcionisti odlaze korak dalje i koriste uriniranje kao dio različitih performansa kojima napadaju kulturu i društvo, ponajviše konformizam i materijalizam. Otto Muehl izvodi Piss Action gdje urinira pred publikom, a kasnije biva protjeran iz Njemačke. Günter Brus i drugi bečki akcionisti također inkorporiraju uriniranje u svoje performanse. Sedamdesetih, prikazi uriniranja u umjetnosti, kao u fotografijama Roberta Mapplethorpa govore o seksualnoj slobodi i bore se protiv nepravde kao dio LGBTQ pokreta koji je u to vrijeme uzeo maha.

Mapplethorpovi prikazi uriniranja, kao što je Jim and Tom, Sausalito su posebno zanimljivi zato što prikazuju BDSM kulturu gdje je uriniranje jedan od fetiša te često se koristi u igrama moći između dominantnog i submisivnog partnera. Nešto slično možemo vidjeti i kod Andres Serrana, u Leova Fantazija (dio njegove serije Povijest Seksa) gdje anonimna žena urinira u usta muškarca. A bitno je spomenuti i Popišanog Krista od Serrana kojeg su mnogi smatrali iznimno kontroverznim.