Sea drops, sky drops

Autori: Marcela Correa, Smiljan Radić

 

A journey will undoubtedly arise, encouraging people to take off. (Apollonius of Rhodes: Argonautica)

 

The ancient myth of a sea voyage during which all that comprises a human life occurs, from antiquity to this day, can be interpreted in many ways. One could be the metaphor of the artistic act – a journey towards an uncertain destination full of discoveries, challenges and perils. Such a journey requires audacity and willingness to take risks – the qualities Smiljan Radić has exhibited both in his concrete, built work and his fragile installations. What stimulates his imagination in such situations are often abandoned, anonymous, ephemeral objects or structures. For his most recent art project, he drew inspiration from the dry-stone walls located in the harsh landscape of the Island of Krk, which were quite a revelation to Smiljan Radić and his life and art partner Marcela Correa: … the reality of the object is as important as discovering it by surprise, as if we were the first explorers to come across it. (Smiljan Radić)

On a plateau above Baška lies a very special place called Ljubimer. A mrgar is placed there, i.e. a system of flower-shaped sheepfolds, surrounded by dry-stone walls, which are used for sheep sorting. This magical place overlooking the bare slopes of the Island of Prvić and the distant Velebit mountain is described by Radić: Sometimes we find anonymous pieces in the most unexpected places. Those pieces appear naturally primitive, the remnants of neglected memory. Just like the long dry stone walls in the Baška slopes. In the harsh and austere landscape formed by the winds, often the wild bora wind, where the ancient dry-stone walls protect the oases of aromatic plants, the artists decided to place: but two anonymous fragile pieces beside the eyelet of water in the Baška hills… (S.R.) These fragile pieces of drops are oval shapes made of moulded glass, produced in the Czech Republic using complex technology. Their shape was defined by the sculptress Marcela, and Smiljan spatially positioned them. This project, named Baška Drops, is part of the Lungomare project within the Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture manifestation.