FAIR PLAY
Valentina Savić
Everyone knows it doesn't exist – yet the right to believe in it remains.
Every game has rules.
Rules exist to make the game fair.
The game is fair because it has rules.-
This perfect circle of logic is rarely questioned, and even more rarely do we ask: who drew the circle in the first place?
The exhibition FAIR PLAY places the viewer in the liminal space between the altar and the playground, between ritual sacrifice and mere recreation. Through a series of works in porcelain and ceramics, the artist explores the thesis that in contemporary society, no sanctuary is immune to the logic of play and consumption. Porcelain—a material whose whiteness and refinement traditionally mask harshness—serves here as a medium for dismantling social canons.
In this world, play is not a symbol of freedom, but a strictly controlled, closed system where participants are reduced to objects and victims to mere props. The author maps the “anatomy of the game” through several key points:
The Table of Silence: A central installation of lambs trapped within the rigid construction of a football table. The lamb, a universal symbol of innocence and sacrifice, becomes a mechanical element of entertainment. Its rotation on metal bars trivializes suffering, turning it into a repetitive, senseless recreation.
Executives: Six oversized porcelain bowling pins with black blindfolds. They represent alienated decision-makers who are simultaneously figures of power and passive targets. Here, blindness is either a choice or a prerequisite for survival within the hierarchy.
I=0: The digital colonization of consciousness depicted through a ceramic target. At its center is a porcelain brain, riddled with binary code. In the world of information, individuality (I) is negated and reduced to a statistical zero.
Pat : The moment where strategy ceases, leaving only the traces of control. A fingerprint on black porcelain serves as the sole evidence of human presence in a system that has brought itself to a standstill.
Not Responding: Three lamb heads marked with the commands *Ctrl, Shift, Esc*. This is the final plea within a "frozen" system. Here, the "Escape" key is not an act of liberation, but a mere systemic shortcut.
MVP: An ironic monument to the "most valuable player-product.
FAIR PLAY is a diagnosis of a social context that is not new, but has become more exposed than ever in the digital age. The artist confronts us with a question that game systems never ask themselves: who enters the game as a loser by default?
FAIR PLAY
Valentina Savić
Svi znaju da ne postoji – ali ipak ostaje pravo da se veruje u njega.
Svaka igra ima pravila.
Pravila postoje da bi igra bila fer.
Igra je fer jer ima pravila. -
Ovaj savršeni krug logike retko ko preispituje, a još ređe se postavlja pitanje:
Ko je taj krug nacrtao?
Izložba FAIR PLAY postavlja posmatrača u međuprostor između oltara i igrališta, između ritualnog žrtvovanja i puke razonode. Kroz seriju radova u porcelanu i keramici, umetnica istražuje tezu da u savremenom društvu nijedna svetinja nije imuna na logiku igre i potrošnje. Porcelan, kao materijal koji svojom belinom i prefinjenošću tradicionalno maskira surovost, ovde služi kao medij za demontažu društvenih kanona.
U ovom svetu, igra nije prostor slobode, već strogo kontrolisan, zatvoren sistem u kojem su učesnici svedeni na objekte, a žrtve na rekvizite. Autorka mapira „anatomiju igre“ kroz nekoliko ključnih punktova:
The Table of Silence (Sto tišine): Centralna instalacija jaganjaca postavljenih u rigidnu konstrukciju stonog fudbala. Jagnje, univerzalni simbol nevinosti i žrtve, ovde postaje mehanički element za zabavu. Njihova rotacija na metalnim šipkama banalizuje čin stradanja, preispitujući besmislenost razonode.
Executives (Izvršioci): Šest predimenzioniranih porcelanskih kegli sa crnim povezima preko očiju - otuđeni donosioci odluka istovremeno su i figure moći i pasivne mete. Slepilo je ovde ili izbor ili uslov za opstanak u hijerarhiji.
I=0 Digitalna kolonizacija svesti prikazana kroz keramičku metu. U centru je porcelanski mozak, izrešetan binarnim kodom. U svetu informacija, individualnost (I) se poništava i svodi na statističku nulu.
Pat: Trenutak u kojem strategija prestaje, a ostaju samo tragovi kontrole. Otisak prsta na crnom porcelanu svedoči o ljudskom prisustvu u sistemu koji je sam sebe doveo do zastoja.
Not Responding: Tri jagnjeće glave markirane komandama *Ctrl, Shift, Esc*. To je vapaj „zamrznutog“ sistema. Izlaz (Escape) ovde nije čin oslobođenja, već sistemska prečica.
MVP (Most Valuable Player- Product): Ironični spomenik „najkorisnijem“.
FAIR PLAY je dijagnoza društvenog konteksta koji nije nov, ali je u digitalnom dobu postao ogoljeniji nego ikada. Umetnica nas suočava sa pitanjem koje sistemi igre nikada ne postavljaju: ko u igru ulazi već kao gubitnik?