Bojan Šarčević

1954/C, 2004

Issues of the 100 year old architecture magazine ‘baumeister’ dating from 1954 provided the basis for Bojan Šarcevic’s black-and-white offset prints, to which he has added abstractly picturesque ornaments. The crystalline structures or meandering bands add an attractive, second visual layer to the austerity of various entrance halls, living rooms, staircases and classrooms, starting to break the images up into fractal details, like a jigsaw puzzle that has been put together wrongly. These living rooms and homes, furnished and decorated in what was then the advanced spirit of the day, must have been photographed in impeccable condition immediately after they were completed, and they appear in a state of artistic destruction in Šarcevic’s series of a total of 76 collages called 1954, 2004. This clear look at history gives way to the view through a kaleidoscope.Šarcevic’s ornamental insertions create historical empty spaces, the documentary significance of the photos is diminished.