7/8 DAYS – collective art work of Bojan Brecelj, in cooperation with the citizens and visitors of Split
2010 Selffish portrait live studio project of Bojan Brecelj, in Ljubljana, was the first project on the subject of the identity, created through selfportraits made by the visitors themselves thanks to the unique photo installation, developed by the artist himself. The concept of the exhibition has been developing throughout the process itself. What followed were projects / exhibitions in which the visitors expressed them with the selfportrait and, as well, with the statement on the specific subject, later printed on photoportraits as their integral part. One of such projects was the project / exhibition Brending Yourself. In 2011 more than 800 people participated in the project Who Are You, taking place in Ljubljana (City Museum of Ljubljana) in the period of two months, in which four exhibitions were presented. In the 2012 the book of this project was published. The collective projects that followed were focused on the subject of the identity of the location, through the presence, experience and awareness of the people, living in the referential region. The most important project of the series was a three-year long project The Synergy of Sarajevo – The Reflection of Europe's Identity Through the Eyes of the People of Sarajevo – (selfportraits and statements), in which more than 1000 people participated. The project was realized as part of the Sarajevo Winter Festival, and presented in many exhibitions in Sarajevo and Slovenia. After that, many small projects were created in the form of reportage, where the narrative was defined by the participants themselves, they themselves located their place, created selfportraits and talked among themselves on the individually chosen subject. The reportage from Moldavia Ermochlia the Place I want to be was published in the Slovenian weekly magazine Delo - Slo.
The concept of the project/exhibition 7/8DAYS is following previous projects. It is a collective artwork, focused on the identity of the City of Split, reflected by the people living and working there. The project is inviting «co-authors» to express themselves creatively and emotionally, by making their selfportrait (or the series of them), and after photo self-portraying to give their statement – thoughts, wishes, ideas... – regarding essential matters they wish to be changed, created, or happening in their lifetime..., or regarding their individual accomplishments and those of the society, the world as the whole.... The selfportrait and the statement are complementary, and will be printed together on the photo prints for the exhibition.
Selffish studio (i.e. fishing yourself studio) is installation developed for making self-portraits that enables participants to observe themselves in the mirror and activate the camera located behind the mirror, in the moment they chose themselves. The photo-conditions without the presence of the photographer allow more intimacy (it equals looking yourself in the bathroom mirror) and as such give unique results, grounded in the creativity and open-hearted being. Selffish studio in all its different forms is registrated as CC rights (Common rights). Everyone is allowed to copy and develop it further, but with the permission for free use of the innovations, and without registering any rights over it.
All participants of the project keep their copyrights and access to their photographs in the Selffish online gallery. Galerija umjetnina and BojanB/Selffishstudio have rights to use the material for presenting the project on exhibitions, in publications and on their web pages.CV
Bojan Brecelj's creative practice covers many fields of visual communications, above all documentary and experimental photography. In the field of documentary photography his focus are themes of natural environment, self-sufficiency, and changes of the perspective and views, turning to the possible solutions and positive approach toward challenges on the global level. In the field of art-exploration and experimental photography, he is focused on the subject of space & place awareness.
Bojan Brecelj is born in 1953 in Ljubljana, Slovenia
