Canadian_Art_2016_S_

136 CANADIAN A RT • SPRING 2016

WINNIPEG

PLUG IN INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART

ALEKSANDRA

DOMANOVIC ́

by Courtney R. Thompson

The Belgrade Hand figured prominently in

Aleksandra Domanovic ́’s recent exhibition

“Mother of This Domain.” This robotic

armature developed by Serbian scientist

Rajko Tomovic ́ in the early 1960 s was a

breakthrough in prehension mechanics. It

can be seen grasping everyday objects in

black-and-white documentary footage inter-

spersed throughout Domanovic ́’s single-

channel video From Yu to Me (2013–14). It

facilitates light carpentry, lights a cigarette

and cuts bread for its wearer: essential tasks

and basic pleasures. The hand’s connection

to the subject of the video—the origins of

the Internet in Yugoslavia and the women

who navigated both political and academic

channels to secure the network—suggests

a country that was grasping at connectivity.

From Yu to Me anchors the exhibition

with its Internet origin story. Featuring a compelling narrative from pioneering

computer-network scientists Borka Jerman-Blažicˇ and Mirjana Tasic, the video

visually echoes the emerging technology through archival images of computer

hardware and its users, and with animations illuminating the developing

connections across Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Jerman-Blažicˇ’s role in

registering the domain .yu for the country brought the promise of a new

universal virtual platform reaching out beyond borders. The irony in this new

freedom was that simultaneously the physical domain of Yugoslavia was

breaking apart amid ethnic and partisan lines. Recognizing the significance

of a global network for communication, Tasic passionately relays her advocacy

to keep her country engaged with the future. From Yu to Me’s annotated

history reflects on this chaotic moment, with women decidedly at the forefront

of development in positive ways.

This theme shifts to far more complex outcomes in Things to Come (2 014):

a seven-panel installation of large-format UV flatbed prints that allude to

women’s roles and characterizations in popular science fiction. Despite a

challenging installation at Plug In—there was not enough physical distance

to step back and take in the full effect of Domanovic ́’s images—Things to Come

communicates a tenuous relationship between women and technology.

Implements include a wheelchair with a broken Belgrade Hand—a significant

instrument of terror at the hands of a mainframe computer with a god com-

plex in the 1977 film Demon Seed. Another panel shows the image of the

power loader used by Officer Ripley to battle the alien queen in Aliens ( 1986 ).

Things to Come refers both to aspects of women being empowered by machines

while also being vulnerable to them. Apples are a conspicuous motif repeated

throughout the series, conjuring associations with the fruit of knowledge and

its consequences and more explicitly the poisoned apple from Snow White.

This is signalled through the reproduction of a 1938 Disney rejection letter

addressed to a Miss Ford in one of the panels. Miss Ford is encouraged to

pursue a career path in tracing as men dominate the positions of inker and

painter. In choosing to display the work at a large scale and on transparent

grounds—a process enabled by printers and 3-D rendering software—Domanovic ́

makes her images bear a striking resemblance to animation cells, suggesting

a sly undermining of this advice. For Domanovic ́, technology is a tool and

“Mother of This Domain” reflects on inclusive narratives for women within

rather than outside technology, celebrating their possibilities as agents.

REVIEWS

ABOVE: Aleksandra Domanovic ́

Substance of Human Origins

(detail) 2 015 Laser sintered

PA plastic, Soft-Touch Copper

finish Dimensions variable

Aleksandra Domanovic ́ Things

To Come (detail) 2 014 UV

flatbed print on polyester foil;

7 panels; 350 x 92 cm each

IMAGES COURTESY TANYA LEIGHTON

GALLERY, BERLIN PHOTOS BILL EAKIN

Reviews_Sp16_15TS_LR.indd 136 02/02/16 6:16 PM