The role of time and various aspects of temporality have occupied an important place in the work of Neli Ružić. In speaking to the relationships between history and memory, migrant displacement, gender identity, or architectural heritage, time in the sense of transformation, as well as simultaneity and discontinuity, are often used in the role of her specific aesthetic strategy.
In the new cycle of work of Timescape,[1]the artist decides to face the notion of time directly, and through a series of work in various media she explores the perception and experience of time, which, although it presupposes individuality, is always part of a wider temporal horizon because it is simultaneously shared with others, with the whole community, and beyond. The very title of the exhibition, referring to the notion of landscape, points to a perspective in which the position of the observer is equally emphasized, and it embodies a perspective that allows us to approach the invisible through temporal markings, to capture what is beyond our senses, acceptance, and understanding.
Modern societies nurture a special approach to time, and living in the unexpectedly long conditions of the pandemic and health crises has given us a new reality in which distortions to our “normal” rhythm have only made the experience of time more visible, and breathing, as a measure of our awareness of duration, has become dangerous. The work Breathing Together (Measuring the Cosmos) refer to a common experience of time. In addition to being a sign of life, the breath is also a fundamental human measure of time that is different for each of us, while the process of breathing connects us to others.
Jasna Gluić
[1]The idea of a time horizon/timescapewas defined by Barbara Adam as a conceptual approach and perspective that provides a deeper insight into socio-ecological phenomena, and it includes a cluster of the following temporal determinants: time frame, temporality, tempo, timing, duration and rhythm, as interrelated structural aspects of time, Timescapes of Modernity, Routledge, 1998, pp. 55; 202.
Photographer: Darko Škrobonja