This Comic book is dedicated to Mr. Dragna Ilic dear friend, visual artist and owner of ITS-Z1 art space/laboratory
Editor: Ivanka Apostolova, R. of Macedonia
Comic Artists / Visual Artists: Zograf (Serbia), Vladimir Palibrk (Serbia), So Soniaqq (Italy), Neza Zinajic (Slovenia), Martina Lajtner (Slovenia), Ivana Armanini (Croatia), Filip Andronik (Bosnia), Damir Steinfl (Croatia), Franco Saccheti (Italy), Gorand (Macedonia), Atanas Botev (Macedonia), Dunja Jankovic (Croatia/USA), Kaja Avbersek (Slovenia), Gianluca Constantini (Italy), Matei Branea (Romania), Maja Veselinovic (Serbia), Mile Nicevski (Macedonia), Toni Dimitrov (Macedonia), Ivanka Apostolova (Editor, Macedonia).
Url. https://www.facebook.com/PersonalFuturismPublicPolitics
The initiative and idea for the project emerged in October 2010 at the SEAFair–Skopje Electronic Art Fair (The Apparatus of Life and Death), a project by Melentie Pandilovski. There we met Dragan Ilik– a visual artist born in Serbia, who moved to Australia, and today lives and works in New York. Together we participated in the workshop on Biotech Art. We learned how to extract DNA, we talked about our artistic and research work, and spent a spiritual and pleasant time together. So Dragan proposed collaboration on comics and technology in line with the programming nature of ITS-Z1 (Ritopek, Serbia), an independent arts and science laboratory, owned by him.
Once I enthusiastically came up with the concept of the project (an exhibition, comic book/album and presentation of all artists in ITS-Z1), Dragan and I agreed on the approximate timing of the exhibition, and I created and sent out the Invitation for collaboration to which 18 authors expressed interest and applied. Comic and visual artists sent their interpretations (comics, drawings and illustrations) and thus began the up-hill struggle for fundraising.
Finally, following almost three years of initiatives and applications, the City of Skopje approved their support for the comic book. And here it is; we have completed the first part of the project we envisaged so long ago.
These were the initial references for further inspiration and reaction by the artists:
Visions of future; Present futurism; Futurism of everyday life; Biotechnology (Hybridization, Tissue culture, Artificial selection, Life sciences, Genetics, Embryology, Bio robotics, Bio economy, Pharmacogenomics …); Fiber Optics and Photonics; Experiment for experimentation; Robotics; Solar energy; Scientist and science; Impossible machines; Astronomy (Celestial objects, Cosmology, Amateur astronomy, Solar astronomy, Stellar astronomy, Galactic astronomy, Extragalactic astronomy, Planetary science … Astrometry and celestial mechanics; Radio, infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-ray, gamma-ray astronomy …); Synthetic globalism; Personal and public laboratories; Experimental scientific tests; Interaction of humans, animals and plants in the future; Scientist and artist in the future; Social life, love life, finances in the future; Health issues and pharmacology; Future/Futuristic subversiveness; Future architecture; Human anatomy; Plastic bodies; Technology; Computer technology; Techno ecology; Cyber comics; Bio molecular issues; Science and technology; Art autonomy; Future toilets; Hilarious inventions; Futuristic comics; Homage to Pencils on the Body, Running through the Chicago`s Forest – 1978 project (http://www.draganilic.org/projects/1978/1978.html); Futuristic architecture of Antonia Sant’Elia – forever inspiration (http://www.essential-architecture.com/STYLE/STY-
M08.htm); Futuristic perspectives; New industries/industrial cities; Electronic comics/Electronic drawings/Electronic illustrations; Crazy engineering, etc.
The artists’ reactions and artistic and narrative solutions form the content of this comic book. Each comic, drawing and illustration represents a certain different intellectually – emotional commentary to personal futurism (visions of oneself in time and space, situations throughout time and space and space in and around people) and public politics that determine the destiny of the masses in systems of existential (non)coordination and control.
Dear readers – look, read and experience!
Ivanka Apostolova (Artist and anthropologist), 2013
