Extracted and abstracted, these elements form a sign which at a symbolic level incorporates an inherent narrative, directing us towards the story of an object while introducing dynamics and humour which camouflage criticism under a tarp of advertising approaches, entertainment or play. 

In this project, the artist presents a series of objects titled Lina’s Leisure Center (Shorts), the sculpture "Extra Extra Elle" (Hungerburgbahn), and collages. The first is based on elements used by the architect Lina Bo Bardi on the façade of SESC Pompéia in Sao Pãulo (who incorporated irrational, almost postmodern moments into the modernist architecture of the aforementioned sport and cultural centre, conceived in socialist spirit “for the people”). These are window openings that look very much like holes made by punching fists, but are in the artist’s sculptures manifested as legs of objects. Above them span six almost identical rectangular forms. The boundary between the base, which turns into an object in itself, and the life-size sculpture, is obscured, and their roles are equalised in Duchamp’s style. The surfaces of geometric shapes are gloss-polished and almost painterly. Their colour palette spans allusions to the Washington Color School, Austrian Lilien porcelain, “political” colours, and pop culture. The selection of materials such as concrete, putty and plywood found in construction material stores shows that the artist takes interest in what appears deceptive and strange. 

By twisting the norms, Maruša Sagadin strips the objects from some aspects of their service ability and imbues them with the possibility to change the pattern of perception. A pair of wooden shoes is thus transformed into a sculpture, a potential instrument of torture, a funny fashionable accessory, a theatre requisite, and not least, a model of two buildings connected by a bridge. The sculptures that apparently represent a group of people may stand as a unique metaphor of placing an individual or a marginalised group in the social skeleton of a city and its infrastructure, where the primary focus is on stimulating fun, consumerism, business and the cult of the body. Alenka Trebušak EVENTS IN CC TOBAČNA 001: Wednesday, 6 May 2015 at 5 pm Guided tour Alenka Trebušak