The sweat of haunted objects
made in collaboration with my partner Jure Sulič as part of the group exhibition Kres 2.0
Exhibited in osmo/za, Ljubljana
Exhibited in MFRU International Festival of Computer Arts, Maribor
Curated by: Sara Bezovšek, Dorian Šiško, Lara Mejak
Production: Projekt Atol
May 2025
Link to the project: https://you-re.github.io/kres-o-vision/
Photos from the exhibiton in Maribor and Ljubljana
In The Sweat of Haunted Objects, Celeste Sanja and Jure Sulič present a collection of obsolete agricultural tools that have lost their original function and value with the development of technology. In doing so, they question the past and present use of certain objects and the often misconceived correlation between function and value.
They arrange objects such as the sickle, the flail, the harrow, the winnowing basket and the yoke as a kind of altars floating in a timeless infinite space, transforming them into ritual occult instruments. When they cease to be used for production, technical objects take on the role of reconstructions of collective memory and past values, and begin to exist within a symbolic and imaginary framework. Their transformation from technical to ritual objects is based on the theory of Gilbert Simondon, who saw such ritual objects as hybrid entities that in the past served as important building blocks of society, but later became carriers of symbolic collective meaning.
The virtual environment of floating agricultural artefacts creates an ominous atmosphere full of hauntings from the past, which point to the possibility of disrupting existing social constructs and highlight community bonding, participation in rituals and the use of fiction as (new) tools for dealing with critical concerns and burning questions of our time.