Miks Mitrēvics. Collection of Persons
Alise Tīfentāle, Art Critic
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| | | Everything is as if carelessly propped up, unformed and unfinished - the first impression of looking into the little building "Collection of Persons" could be that the installation is not yet finished. The viewer could easily imagine that the artist or his team of assistants wearing white gloves are about to come in and put everything where it should be, to tidy it up and arrange the scattered parts before opening the object for viewing. But no, that's not the case - and, possibly, this apparent disorganization and in-com-pleteness is exactly wherein lies the universal charm of Miks Mitrēvics' art. Because this incompleteness has been conscien-tiously planned and staged, it has been deliberately and meticulously arranged. Every found object and every object created by the artist, as well as each "temporary" fastening and each panel - which as if "just for a minute" has been propped up against the wall - has been carefully thought out, worked out and set in its proper place.Improvement, development, arrangement and adjustment of the existing world to the needs of the human being has always been one of the "great narratives" (starting with Thomas Aquinas' concept of God as the Grand Architect of the Universe and other metaphysical concepts, which from Christian theology and iconography were later developed into the symbols of 18th century Freemasonry, surrounded by romantic legend). These notions in the interpretation of a 21st century artist acquire a human and altogether intimate association: carefully elaborated miniature mise-en-scenes that leave an impression of personally significant episodes (or persons included in the collection), and a just as carefully created universe, holding together in an extremely fragile manner. |
| |  Miks Mitrēvics. Collection of Persons. Intallation. 2007 |
| | It is a sort of existence in "temporary" mode, which is hinted at by the presence of small moveable carts - providing a metaphorical association with new construction, the building of a new world; with the temporary phase between, for example, the architect's design and a new building. When the work is completed, the carts will disappear, just like the work tools, the leftover materials, etc. (some of these items can also be found among the articles used in "Collection of People"). Existence is shown to be a process of evolution, not as a static, polished, smooth and ready-made result. At the same time each moment of evolution is in its own way "ready-made" - so meaningful (though unfathomable), so fragile and easily destructible (but existing in reality), so unstable and transient (propped-up, tied, glued, etc.), just as in the "Collection of People".
/Translator into English: Anita Načisčione/ |
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