by Holger Birkholz

In his video installation „steve mcqueen“ Vladimir Mitrev segments the action onto two screens. According to the principle of cause and effect we see the image of a pair of hands stretching and shooting rubber bands on the one screen. On the other one we see a board of nails on which the rubber bands land. In both images the camera directly focuses on the action. Nothing unnecessary is to be seen. The hands appear in close-up against a dark background. The board of nails is white so that the nails and the red rubber bands visually stand out. The nails are all lined up in an orderly fashion, constituting a basic grid. The brad, even though the other nails are irregularly driven into the board, aligns and gives a minimal spatial extension to the image. As the nails are driven into the board more or less irregularly they transmit a certain casualness, which contrasts the artificial uniformity of the grid. The rubber bands are the other opposite pole of the grid, countering its organic form and hanging down from it. This rather mathematical matrix is filled with elements whose position has been chosen at random. Even though there is a certain opportunity to target particular areas of the nail board when shooting the rubber bands, the apparatus literally lacks aiming accuracy.

Such forms of randomly creating images have a long tradition in art history. Leonardo started this when he suggested to throw an ink-soaked sponge at a wall to be inspired by the (emerging) images. (Trattato della Pittura, Parte Seconda, 57). Also Surrealism, with its “Ecriture automatique”, needs to be mentioned here. Jackson Pollock, for example, tried to direct the paint but was unable to completely control it. Mitrev’s rubber bands form a painting, which, in its basic structure, refers to minimalism and celebrates fortune in the layer of paint on top of it as well as the performance in its media-artistic reflection. Due to its manifold art historical reminiscences the work might be likely to implode if it did not have a humorous aspect, as well. Shooting rubber bands remains a children’s game which is perfectly suitable for annoying parents and teachers. Apart from that, rubber bands are one of the simplest things we use in our every day life. Painting with them enhances its status in a way or, vice versa, the artistic process is put into perspective – comparable to Leonardo’s simple usage of the sponge.

Finally, I would like to point out that the video artist Steve Mcqueen exhibited his work “Catch” at documenta 10 in Kassel KulturBahnhof, in which a switched on camera was thrown back and forth between two persons.

From: 25. Kasseler Dokumentarfilm- und Videofest, 2008, pp. 129.