Alejandro Paz, The Garden of Epicurus, 33rd Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, 2019, opening of the exhibition of the Grand Prize Winner at Plečnik House.
Photo: Urška Boljkovac. MGLC Archive.
The 2019 prize recipient exhibition presented Alejandro Paz, the recipient of the Grand Prize of the 32nd Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts. On this occasion, the Guatemalan artist and architect entered into a dialogue with the philosophy of Epicurus and the private garden of Plečnik, where his performative intervention entitled The Garden of Epicurus came alive. In 306 BC, Epicurus founded a school in Athens, called The Garden, because it was located in one of the city’s gardens. According to testimony, an inscription above the front door read, among other things, that pleasure was the greatest good therein. Epicurus taught that a happy life must be based on the achievement of pleasure, both sensual and intellectual, which can be achieved with balance and moderation. He believed that spiritual pleasures were more important than physical ones, even though he did not accept duality as the opposite of both dynamics, but evaluated them through an interplay of balance in which they complement each other. The Epicurean garden of learning was, contrary to traditional Greek morality, open to everyone (including women and slaves), and reflected the importance of community and friendship. Plečnik’s garden was also a space of coexistence and the search for pleasure of various people, who believed that the garden is a venue where nature creates a spontaneous balance between the physical and ethical.
Alejandro Paz chose Jože Plečnik’s house and garden for the realization of the project in order to express his admiration for his architectural heritage and accentuate the importance that he attributes to nature in his own work. According to the artist, Plečnik became a silent protagonist in this project, creating an ideal venue of temporary coexistence with the help of his house, studio and garden. In the process of thinking about his engagement with Plečnik’s home, Paz let go of the idea of an architectural intervention and decided to go for a performative one, in which an orchestra played without a conductor, while the musicians were scattered throughout the garden and house.
Visitors could acquaint themselves with Paz’s art through a selection of his earlier video works, in which the artist becomes a resigned commentator on the fate of certain individuals from Guatemala in the grip of corruption, crime, exhaustion and hopelessness.
The following musicians performed at the opening of the exhibition
The Garden of Epicurus: Maruša Alegro, Annemarie Glavič, Tobija Hrastnik, Aljaž Jazbinšek, Peter Kaizer, Žan Kopše, Kim Kozlevčar, Katarina Kralj, Gašper Livk, Ana Mezgec, Lucija Mikuž, Ana Mir, Martin Pinter, Anuša Plesničar, Ana Sešek, Kaja Sešek, Mirjam Šolar, Stefanija Udicui, Jerneja Vidmar, Kristjan Zupan, Neža Zupanc.
Curator: Nevenka Šivavec.