Kinetic installation:
two mice, water, mouse food, wood, plexiglass, resin, brass, various metals, aluminium, light, and electronic components; variable dimensions

Joule Thieves (2023) is an installation powered by a mouse running on a wheel, blending kinetic and electrical energy in a poetic, mechanical process. The title references "joule thief" circuits—voltage boosters—and plays on "jewel" and "thief," suggesting the act of extracting energy from the mouse's labour.

The work examines the production and symbolism of energy, a cornerstone of modern society. As the mouse runs approximately 20 kilometres nightly, its motion generates kinetic energy, stored as electrical energy in a battery. This energy, though modest, powers an analogue optical device, creating brief projections. The installation reveals energy creation's laborious and inefficient processes, critiquing sustainability notions and energy systems' assumed autonomy.

By linking natural forces, technology, and living beings, Joule Thieves speculates on alternative energy systems. It highlights the fragility of stored energy and underscores how the world’s literal and metaphorical "spinning" depends on collective effort and interconnection.

Credits:
Photo: Domen Pal
Engineer: France Petač
Electrical engineering: Gregor Krpič
Assistance in implementation: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Biomedicine
Animal behaviour consultant: Dr. Neža Grgurevič

Kinetic Installation with performers and sound.

The creative practice of Meta Grgurevič shows her desire to processually and performatively explore that which is hidden beneath the surface.

Meta Grgurevič is one of the driving forces behind attempts to bring knowledge from mechanics and electrical engineering to the field of contemporary art. She has long been interested in systems that move or use light effects to create the illusion of movement and has been incorporating these into her kinetic objects since 2013. Her work regularly challenges our perception of time and space, sometimes using mechanisms that operate on the basis of physical laws and, at first glance, look like reconstructions of machines from ancient times or mechanisms with rotating gears that refer to the industrial age, and sometimes using mechanisms whose movement has been conceived by the artist as a kind of temporal dimension, oscillating between the past and the future. She has occasionally even used objects incorporating curved mirrors in order to afford glimpses of entirely new spaces with items that are constantly changing within them, depending on the viewpoint of the observer.

Grgurevič made use of the latter technique for the display of a half-millimetre-sized grain of gold that opens her latest project, Scraping for Gold. The tiny piece of gold is the product of long and painstaking work by numerous agents and, as adventure books and Western films have taught us, it befits any good gold-digging story to have many dramatic twists and turns, ups and downs, gains and losses along the way. In this fashion, collecting, scraping, and extracting this small particle also comes with an adventure story about contemporary alchemy seen through objects and told by narrators. The installation consists of six objects, each representing one fragment of the artist’s experience and documenting her creative process in obtaining the gold. Hundreds of discarded mobile phones are revealed as modern-day gold deposits.

The central point of the installation is occupied by a wheel – like a hamster wheel, but of human dimensions – connected with chains and sprockets to yet another kinetic sculpture of a mechanical hand that spells out the word “work”. These not only allude to the temporary creation of a kind of manufactory in Cukrarna Gallery and the many hours of labour spent dismantling the mobile phones but also evoke the history of goldmining mechanisms and the harsh conditions in which the gold diggers worked. In contrast to the wheel and the hand that refer to the workers who are part of a process in which they must achieve set quotas and are therefore completely dehumanised, the typewriter generating numbers in descending order – starting with the million grams of ore that must be mined in order to extract six grams of gold – is humanised. It is programmed to allow mistakes when counting, which causes the machine to start again from the beginning.

The artist extracted the gold from mobile phones since each electronic circuit contains a few milligrams of the element. The gold then had to be chemically treated to remove impurities. The individual stages of this process are revealed separately in another object, while a narrator guides the visitor through them on the basis of the artist’s diary entries. Even though the narrative contains numerous facts and gives a detailed description of the process, the 35 milligrams of gold keep eluding our gaze due to convex mirrors.

The creative practice of Meta Grgurevič shows her desire to processually and performatively explore that which is hidden beneath the surface. This can be seen in her close examination of the features of individual components, their materials, forms, and functions. Simultaneously, her mechanisms usually contain a human factor, whether it is required for their start-up or operation or present only as a hint at the various ways in which humans are part of the production process. By combining the exploration of the interdependence of elements and their assembly into a functional whole – with an emphasis on dialogic relationships – Scraping for Gold reveals the artist’s interest in human responsibility for the social and natural environment, not least by choosing gold, an indestructible element, no matter the difficulties of getting it into its elementary state.

Curated by Alenka Trebušak

Credits:
Photo: Blaž Gutman; Video: y0yproduction; Institut Jožef Stefan; Construction of mechanisms: France Petač; Artistic check-up: Jaša; Narrator: Barbara Kukovec; Sound design: Bowrain; Chemical process: Institut Jožef Stefan/Dr Gašper Tavčar & Peter Frkal; Technical support: Blaž Janko; Carpentry works: Janez Košir; Electrotechnical works: Davor Glavič; Acknowledgements: Petra Šutar, Snaga d .o. o., ZEOS d. o. o., and all who donated their mobile phones

Kinetic sculpture:
typewriter, custom-made pneumatic, cylinders, metal, construction, electromagnetic, valves, plastic tube, electronics, software, wooden, box, paper, air, compressor; variable dimensions

Statement A (2018–2022) is a typewriter powered by custom-made pneumatic cylinders created in collaboration with engineers. The mechanics are complex, with 48 cylinders connected to valves, relays, and an air compressor that powers the sculpture. In Scraping for Gold, the typewriter counts down from one ton (one million grams of ore) to a single gram of gold, typing out the numbers in words.

The process needs to be revised. The machine malfunctions—sticking, running out of ink or paper—and resets, starting again with the words, “From a ton to a gram, I was wrong again.” This repetitive cycle reflects the frustration and waste inherent in the creative process. No matter how much I plan, the journey never unfolds as expected.

The immense task of counting down from one million grams to one gram seems impossible. To complete it would require 4,000 meters of paper. Yet, the struggle to overcome obstacles and return to the starting point drives discovery. Despite setbacks, repetition and exploration are essential to finding meaning and ultimately achieving success.

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc, Blaž Gutman
Construction of mechanisms: France Petač
Electrotechnical works: Davor Glavič, Martin Podlogar

Video performans (10′ in a loop)

In 2021, eight (women) artists blew up a replica of the Aljaž Tower in the Gabrovec quarry in collaboration with a certified blasting contractor. The explosion was a response to the increasingly nationalistic and conservative social climate in Slovenia. In a subversive move, the artists staged a fake terrorist action to question the current social situation.

Climax is a video performance on the meaning of a cultural heritage monument at a moment when it is being violently erased. It is an iconoclastic gesture, which is, by definition, the result of a revolt – most often against religious, political, or racial injustices. This gesture is multifaceted: on the one hand, it breaks with canonical thinking, on the other, the destruction of a symbol can re-establish that very symbol in a new, wider historical context.

At a time when society is becoming increasingly patriarchal and closed off, a strong artistic gesture is a necessity. – Eight artists 

Credits:
Boštjan Kačičnik, Igor Remeta, Teo Rižnar, Miloš Srdić, Jure Vlahovič; special thanks: Hannes (ex-Peng), Kristina Aleksova, Primož Bezjak, Stanko Bohnec, Žiga Brdnik, Vuk Ćosić, Jernej Čampelj, Petja Grafenauer, Sven Horvat, Slavica Janošević, Miha Knific, Gorazd Lemajič, Andrej Mahne, Tine Mazalović, Tibor Mihelič Syed, Domagoj Pajtak, Arjan Pregl, Gašper Tesner, Žiga Vrtačič, Hannah Wiemer, Irena Woelle, Grega Zemljič; production: New Post Office (Maska Institute and Mladinsko Theatre); co-production: City of Women; organisation: City of Women in co-operation with Old Power Station; support: Ministry of Culture, Municipality of Ljubljana, JSKD.

Installation with 104 drawings: graphite, paper;
460 x 357 cm, each drawing 29.7 x 42 cm (when not installed)

The idiom “the elephant in the room” describes an obvious, undesirable, or difficult topic everyone is aware of but chooses to ignore. The phrase suggests that something as noticeable as an elephant can be intentionally overlooked in social interactions. Instead of addressing these issues to relieve our burden, society’s tendency for repression magnifies them. But is an elephant truly scared of a mouse?

The artist embarked on a monumental task: drawing an elephant at its actual size. Over eighteen months, she constructed this large-scale piece of 104 individual drawings, focusing on the challenge of fitting a life-size elephant into a gallery space. This ambitious project metaphorically explores the tension between visibility and repression.

As Rye Holmboe writes in A World in Miniature for the Scraping for Gold exhibition, “The works are humorous comments on the reification of nature and the creative process, highlighting the price we pay for the lives we lead. In Human Hamster Wheel and Work, the mouse is replaced by a human, symbolizing the exploitation of labour and non-productive expenditures that sustain capitalism. The art world parodies these conditions but risks blurring the line between critique and complicity. The "elephant in the room" represents the repressed issues in society, like labour exploitation, which are noticeable yet intentionally overlooked.”

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc

Kinetic installation:
wood, monster plant, threads, brass, battery, mirror, hammer, copper wire, plastic; variable dimension

The Escapement Experiment (2019) involved attaching fine black threads to a monstera plant, creating a setup that required patience, embraced unpredictability, and carried a sense of danger. These threads were connected, via a pulley system, to various instruments associated with art and construction, including a set square, a colour wheel, and hammers suspended above mirrors. During the exhibition, the hammers fell, shattering the mirrors in a dramatic moment. However, it remains uncertain whether the plant's slow and deliberate movements caused the hammers to drop or if another factor was responsible, leaving the incident in mystery. The almost imperceptible movements of the monstera, which occurred over prolonged periods, created a form of automatic drawing that blended fragility with uncertainty. In Escapement Experiment No. 3, lines are drawn from nature’s unpredictable rhythms, evoking patience, danger, and enigma as central themes in the creative process. This could be understood as nature’s drawing or what the project calls a “plant drive.”

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Arborist and Certified European Tree Worker: Erik Vidmar
Engineer: France Petač

Kinetic installation with dance and music performance

Galanterie Mécanique (2013) is a symphony of kinetic objects, video, performance, and music that explores the relationship between humans, machines, and progress. The installation highlights the harmony between essential and seemingly unnecessary elements, functioning together as an interconnected system. These smaller parts engage with the mechanical aspects to add lyricism while absorbing their essence, creating a dynamic system reliant on both organic and mechanical components.

Inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times, the work reflects on labour mechanization and the capitalist drive for efficiency, where humans become mere extensions of machines. This idea parallels the Russian avant-garde theatre of Vsevolod Meyerhold, whose approach to synchronized movement embodied the fusion of human precision with industrial progress. Galanterie Mécanique transforms the gallery into an immersive space, where mechanisms, light, shadow, dancers, and music unite to reflect a harmonious vision of cooperation and progress, where every component plays a crucial role in sustaining the shared system.

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Co-author of the concept: Urša Vidic
Construction of individual elements: France Petač
Design of individual mechanical elements: Jonathan Podborsek
Electrical engineering: Martin Podlogar, Tomo Markočič
Music (My Silver Line of Thinking): Bowrain, KALU, JAŠA

Kinetic sculpture: brass, garment, metal, aluminium, electric motor, electronic devices, sound;
variable dimensions

The movement of the mechanical dress represents the conflicting desires of a person, torn between the inner urge to become an artist and the need for happiness through a liberated creative process. It refers to Lily Briscoe, a painter character from the novel "To the Lighthouse," who experiences immense satisfaction after completing her painting after several years. The mechanical dress's motion symbolizes the pursuit of creative freedom and innermost desires. Similarly, with its repetitive circular motion, the dervishes' dance represents their quest for spiritual enlightenment and detachment from materialistic desires. The dance's origin can be traced back to a common pursuit of self-actualization and independence to attain inner harmony and completeness, highlighting the human inclination towards self-discovery and transcendence.

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Music: Bowrain
Construction of mechanism: France Petač
Electrical engineering: Otto Urpelainen
Costume design: Jelka Lehrman

Kinetic sculpture: brass, plastic, electric motor, closed-loop rope;
variable dimensions, approx 8 × 18 × 30 cm (when not installed)

One; the Levitating Thread is driven by two wheels powered by a highspeed motor, propelling a leather strap in an unbroken loop. As it moves, the strap transforms from a soft and flexible to a rigid object, demonstrating how the forces of speed can alter the behaviour of matter. This transformation underscores how time, through motion, reshapes an object’s form and function. In its endless, almost magical cycle, the effect mirrors how the reality of the matter under different circumstances can undergo transformations that drastically alter its behaviour, form, or properties, making it appear entirely different.

Credits:
Photo: Tjaša Gnezda, Damjan Švarc
Engineer: France Petač
Electrical engineering: Davor Glavič and Martin Podlogar
Special thanks: Martin Kellner (Faulhaber Company)

Site-specific installation: knitted garment, wool, aluminium, metal, brass, wood, electrical parts, software, plastic, electromotors; variable dimensions

“Knitting is an image that has stayed with me from my childhood, watching my grandmother on the sofa, gently and softly working on something for someone she cared about. The clock ticking and needles clinking together evoked a sense of patience and warmth, an image of care.” (Meta Grgurevič)

As in other works by Grgurevič, the mechanism of State Of Return_Situation 3 functions as a moving sculpture. It is not merely a structural, mechanical element within the constructed situation but becomes its protagonist. An almost imperceptible action places the viewer as an involuntary bystander. The motion is so slow that its effect is initially barely noticeable.

The work demands careful observation and patience from the viewer. A gentle process that once created a homogeneous and connected structure is now reversed, leading to an easily degradable state. The patient interlacing of threads, the repetitive manual movements, and the warmth and care they convey will ultimately fade away.

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Construction of mechanical elements: France Petač
Electrical engineering: Otto Urpelainen

Site-specific installation, sound and performance:
modular grid structure, elements of nature, sound, light; variable dimensions

It Seems We Did Manage To Get a Grip Around Some Kind of Meaning Lately is a monumental site-specific installation that integrates seamlessly with its surrounding space. Combining a modular grid structure with elements of nature, sound, and dynamic light, it invites spectators into an immersive environment where the ephemeral becomes tangible. Shifting lights create moving shadows, imbuing the structure with a sense of fluctuation and impermanence, as if it is alive and evolving. Natural elements appear elusive, detached from the cold, rigid framework, highlighting the fragile tension between the organic and the constructed. The work evokes beauty and grandeur, reflecting humanity’s capacity to grow, protect, and nurture even within impermanence. Using entirely reusable materials embodies sustainability, leaving no trace while creating a fleeting, memorable experience. This temporal installation reminds us of the fragile yet profound connections between nature, humanity, and our shared spaces. It ensures that its fleeting presence leaves no lasting trace returning all components to their original states and generating zero waste.

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Co-author: JAŠA Mrevlje Pollak

Kinetic installation with sound

The title refers to the practice in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, where guards in elegant attire repeatedly call out “Silenzio!” (Latin: silèntium, from the verb silère meaning "to remain silent") to remind visitors that Michelangelo’s masterpiece should be observed in silence, as it is the art that speaks while the visitors remain silent.

The work is designed to continuously follow activity, suggesting that complete silence does not truly exist. The essence of Silenzio lies in active suspension, manifested as a kinetic sculpture that intertwines with other elements in the space; a human skull, an old sewing table, bones, the cast of a hand from which a blooming branch grows, and sound—culminating in a monumental site-specific installation.

This installation was developed for the 32nd Biennial of Graphic Art opening event at the Švicarija Creative Centre in 2017. The Big Bowed sculpture and its movement were further expanded with choreographed dance, music, and spoken word. The current installation incorporates original elements and fragments from past performances, reimagined in a new relationship with the given space.

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Artistic overview and text: JAŠA
Construction of the kinetic system (The Big Bowed): France Petač
Music: Bowrain

Kinetic sculpture: metals, aluminium, electronic
components, electric motors, wood, water; variable dimensions approx 400 × 110 × 110 cm.

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc

Kinetic sculpture: brass, plastic, electric motor,
pencils, electronic components; variable dimensions approx 150 × 150 × 18 cm

Bowed is a work about maintenance and collaboration. Once triggered, the mechanism draws a line, a complete circle, on the set spot of the graphite. A manual intervention is needed to put a different distance of the graphite about the centre for each consequent new drawing – a new circle. The work was created for the project UTTER in the Pavilion of Slovenia at the 56th Venice Biennial in 2015. Throughout the biennial, JAŠA and his team enacted a daily performance – 6 days a week, 29 weeks in a row. The beginning of each day was marked by the gesture of manually turning the hand of Bowed, one circle for each of the 180 days, thus tracking the continued presence through maintenance work and poetic endurance.

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Construction of mechanical elements: France Petač
Electrical engineering: Otto Urpelainen

Kinetic installation with music and dance perforamnce

SILENZIO_eternal loopholes and braided lines has been conceived around the perception of “silence” and developed around a new kinetic sculpture. The sculpture and its movement are extended through performance: gesture, sound, and spoken word. These elements coexist and form a state of perception; through a growing patteren and process of attempts and errors, the loops cooperate to build up fleeting moments of oneness.
The result is a choreography: the single parts come together in the “culmen” of the development, a condition of accord where the structured assemblage of the parts assumes its own consistency. In Meta Grgurevič's work there’s always a state of being active, since “absolute silence” doesn’t exist in nature (in Latin silèntium, from silère “to be quiet,” an activity). The essence of Silenzio is this active suspension.
(Michele Drascek)

Credits:
Curator by Michele Drascek / Artistic overview and text by JAŠA / Construction of kinetic system in collaboration with France Petač / Choreography by Sanja Nesković Peršin / Performers: Marin Ino, Mateja Železnik, Tjaša Kmetec, Petar Đorčevski, Lukas Zuschlag, Richel Wieles / Music by BOWRAIN / Musicians: Ema Kobal, Tomaž Grom, Matevž Bajde / Photography by Jaka Babnik, Urška Boljkovac, Rosa Lux / Video by Tjaša Gnezda Special thanks to DK, Rok Bogataj

Kinetic installation: brass, glass, concave mirror, electric motor, metal, aluminium, sound; variable dimensions approx 100 × 70 × 70 cm

Timekeepers (2015) is a kinetic installation featuring an hourglass made of brass, glass, a concave mirror, and metal. While the hourglass appears to measure time through the flow of sand, it has an intriguing twist: the sand seems to move upward, defying gravity. This illusion is created by a convex mirror that flips the image of the hourglass, making it appear as though the sand is rising. In this way, the sculpture challenges the laws of physics and invites viewers to reconsider the nature of gravity and time. The grains of sand seem to hover, altering our perception of time. An electric motor continuously rotates the hourglass, giving the piece a sense of eternity. At its core, Timekeepers serves as a meditation on time, suggesting that it can flow in unexpected directions. The sand trickles through the glass, creating a space where time feels fluid and elusive. This work captures the paradox of time's certainty and its illusory nature, prompting reflections on how time is experienced in a world where even the most established laws can be questioned.

Credits:
Photo: Jaka Babnik
Construction of mechanical elements: France Petač
Glassblowing: Zvone Drobnič
Electrical engineering: Otto Urpelainen

Two kinetic sculptures: reconstructed clock mechanism, brass, wood; each 140 × 80 × 50 cm

The dismantled clock mechanisms, devoid of time indicators, follow their inner rhythms. Though identical and operating simultaneously, they remain physically separate, with no reason to synchronize in movement or sound. For a brief moment, they may align, only to drift apart once more, a poignant metaphor for the ebb and flow of human connection within the dimensions of time and space, where moments of harmony are fleeting and dissonance, perhaps, inevitable.

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Engineer: France Petač
Construction of clock mechanism: Jure Hübscher

Kinetic installation with music

The artist delves into a specific emotional state that the Portuguese, a nation of seafarers and musicians, call “Saudade.” It describes a profound longing for something other than the present, looking back at the past and turning towards the future simultaneously. An emphasized temporal component, by which the artist probes the phenomena that affect the human perception of time - such as resonant instruments, mother and daughter struggling with infinite incertitude, by which the artist sublimates the desire to unite, and the need to find synchronous gestures pervades the entire installation. Saudade was conceived as a site-specific installation composed of kinetic sculptures, video and sound.

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Construction of individual elements: France Petač
Music: Bowrain
Vocals and lyrics: JAŠA

Kinetic installation with dance and music performance

Galanterie Mécanique (2013) is a symphony of kinetic objects, video, performance, and music that explores the relationship between humans, machines, and progress. The installation highlights the harmony between essential and seemingly unnecessary elements, all functioning together as an interconnected system. These smaller parts engage with the mechanical elements to add lyricism while absorbing their essence, creating a dynamic system reliant on both organic and mechanical components.

Inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times, the work reflects on labour mechanization and the capitalist drive for efficiency, where humans become mere extensions of machines. This idea parallels the Russian avant-garde theatre of Vsevolod Meyerhold, whose approach to synchronized movement embodied the fusion of human precision with industrial progress. Galanterie Mécanique transforms the gallery into an immersive space, where mechanisms, light, shadow, dancers, and music unite to reflect a harmonious vision of cooperation and progress, where every component plays a crucial role in sustaining the shared system.

Credits:
Photo: DK
Co-author of the concept: Urša Vidic
Construction of individual elements: France Petač
Design of individual mechanical elements: Jonathan Podborsek
Electrical engineering: Martin Podlogar, Tomo Markočič
Music (My Silver Line of Thinking): Bowrain, KALU, JAŠA

Kinetic installation with video

Lucid Dream is inspired by key figures from the field of science and art: Nikola Tesla (1856−1943), Charlie Chaplin (1899–1976) and Vladimir Tatlin (1885−1953). The scientist, artist, silent film director, and star were bound to utopian poetic ideas. In contrast, as we will see below, their seemingly incredible ideas went down in the history of the unfeasible. Lucid Dream, a synonym for the state between the conscious and the unconscious, between dreams and reality, discusses the tension between a brilliant idea and truth, which often opposes the former. The artist opens a space for re-evaluating such visionary ideas in the field of art; a field that is aware of reality but not entirely subordinated to it.

Dream to Recall Forgotten Thoughts, video; 4 min 53 sec
The artist includes images of a very intimate mother-daughter relationship (played by the artist and her daughter), who experiment with magic tricks of appearing and disappearing, alongside the character of Chaplin’s charismatic role and emotional speech from the movie The Great Dictator (1940). In the video, the words “soldiers” were omitted from the speech of the Great Dictator, which transformed the original address to soldiers into an address to all of us about shared social responsibility to future generations.

Letatlin is a small kinetic model which flies with the help of threads attached to an old gramophone. The inspiration came from the Soviet machine for the flying proletariat created and produced by painter and architect Vladimir Tatlin in 1932, which would enable people to gain absolute freedom. The work symbolises the endless flight between brilliant ideas and harsh reality.

Levitation Machine: An electromagnetic field is created with electricity passing through the coil. A Hall effect sensor and electronic devices precisely control this field, allowing the cube to float in the air, defying gravity. This defiance of gravity becomes a metaphor for a liberated state of mind, enabling lucid dreaming and reshaping our perceptions of reality.

Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švar
Construction of individual elements (Letatlin): France Petač
Development and electrical engineering (Levitation Machine): Otto Urpelainen
Performance (Dream to Recall Forgotten Thoughts): Bela Mrevlje, Meta Grgurevič
Photography (Dream to Recall Forgotten Thoughts): JAŠA
Special thanks to: Kokeellisen Elektroniikan Seura