Marija Mojca Pungerčar


'SOCIALDRESS DEZEN 01 GRAZ & LJUBLJANA', 2007, installation
(fashion cloth, width: 1.52 m, lenght: 80 m, 100% cotton, suitable for sewing (shirts, blouses, upper clothing), price: 8.99 EUR per running metre)
info: www.3via.org/socialdress

In the project entitled Socialdress per Running Metre, thread in its materiality is present only implicitly, i.e. in the fashion cloth Socialdress Dezen 01 Graz & Ljubljana, which was manufactured in a quantity of 80 metres. The fabric at the heart of this project has a historical value, for it features a pattern of photographs and statements by participants at one of the artist's previous actions (Socialdress, 2006) printed in the technique of industrial print on cotton cloth. The artist sees her projects as a crossroads of art, handiwork and fashion. This time, however, the fabric may be cheaply bought for EUR 8.99. The artist thus inventively touches upon a chapter in the history of art, which speaks about art that is serially produced and offered at an attainable price, a sort of multiple product. Furthermore, the ultimate "controller" of the product is the buyer him-/herself (taking the decision about the amount of the fabric to be purchased). The artistic value of the fabric is further accentuated in a series of wall paintings, humorously available in three different sizes: L (large), M (medium) and S (small). Besides
other differences, these paintings also diverge from ready-made clothing items by the fact that only two pieces of each size are available. As the Socialdress per Running Metre project is devised as a complete work of art, it contains still other elements besides the wall paintings. In the duration of the Thread exhibition at which the project is shown, the artist is organising workshops and inviting people to make and sew whatever piece of garment or trimming they wish from the fashion cloth Socialdress Dezen 01 Graz & Ljubljana. This segment of the Socialdress per Running Metre project inventively accomplishes an important feature, or endeavour, of the manifold contemporary art production, i.e. the applied value of an artwork, which draws it nearer to the wider public.

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Born in 1964 in Novo mesto (Slovenia). She started as fashion designer for the Slovene textile industry and a member of the Linije sile/Lines of Force fashion group. She graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana in 1989 and completed her postgraduate studies in new genres at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2001. She won an Austrian Academic Exchange Scholarship, an ArtsLink Grant and a Fulbright Scholarship. She works as a freelance visual artist in installation, video and performance, and designs theatre costumes. She lives and works in Ljubljana.

Solo exhibitions (selection):

2006 Bratstvo in enotnost, galerija Simulaker, Novo mesto
2004 Pred domačim pragom, Center in galerija P74, Ljubljana
2003 Singer, Slovenski etnografski muzej, Ljubljana
9. Mednarodni festival sodobne umetnosti Mesto žensk, Ljubljana
1998 Career Club, Art Resources Transfer Inc., New York
1994 Cherchez la femme, Francoski kulturni center, Ljubljana

Group exhibitions (selection):

2006 Prekinjene zgodovine, Moderna galerija, Ljubljana
2005 Teritoriji, identitete, mreže (Slovenska umetnost 1995 - 2005), Moderna galerija, Ljubljana
2004 Razširjeni prostori umetnosti (Slovenska umetnost 1985 - 1995), Moderna galerija, Ljubljana
1998 Public Appearances - Offentliche Erscheinungen, Steirische Herbst, Raum für Kunst, Graz
1997 Drugi trienale sodobne slovenske umetnosti U3, Moderna galerija, Ljubljana

www.mojca.info
www.3via.org/socialdress