It scrutinises memory and the relationship between natural and constructed space. Studies of Space #2 is the second part of the research project, which will be finalised in the form of an experimental film. It provides a scene for reflecting on the materials collected, experimenting with their presentation as well as verifying relationships and interactions between individual elements.

The multisensory installation comprises a variety of media including an analogue 16mm film, slideshows, an overhead projector, a kinetic object, site-specific objects, digital animations, light objects, sound, and text. The artist configures the installation like a film by editing and reflecting space and time inside and outside the shot. Each element is at once a story in its own right and a tiny fragment of the exhibition – of the film in the making – and, above all, of the narrative permeating the project. The narrative, however, is never read in linear fashion. Rather than a story, Knez aims to pass on the experience of space and of continuous duration, movement, and relations that we, too, engage in. She explores the possibility of moving beyond the established understanding of the environment and immerses the viewer in a host of visual impressions by creating a specific atmosphere with light that blurs the physical boundaries of what we visually perceive. By presenting the same elements in different ways (the appearance of water, the sound of an electromagnetic field moving through water inside a tree, a water-filled vessel resonating with different sounds, etc.), Knez undermines the certainty of perception and encourages us to engage with the environment through a more complex sensory experience overall.

The project is based on a personal story and a place close to the artist’s heart, with the intuitive acquisition of the materials displayed serving as a reflection on her response to a concrete space. This space forms an important part of her personal history and although its context has changed over time, its essence, its spirit, remains the same. And this is precisely where the crux of the matter lies – in tracking interruptions, repetitions, and the continuous flow and circulation. Can the media, variously represented and used as tools with their own laws and capacities, enable us to perceive the intangible that goes beyond the captured visual image, sound, and scenery? Or does every attempt at doing so merely take us further away from it?

Neža Knez (1990) obtained her bachelor's and master’s degrees in sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Ljubljana. By intervening in the functions and identities of different spaces, the artist reveals their characteristics and probes their contents beyond our self-evident conceptions, shedding light on people’s attitudes towards their living environments. She is interested in the materiality of light, pixels, sound, volume, skin, and bodies, which she also studies in cohabitating with her longstanding (canine) teacher Niki. Since 2020, Knez has resided and worked between Ljubljana and Zagreb, where she partially moved as an attendee of the WHW Academy. Presently, she is pursuing further education in experimental film at RESTART (Zagreb).