Metempsychosis: The Passion of Pneumatics by Ivana Bašić

Ivana Bašić's "Metempsychosis: The Passion of Pneumatics" at Schinkel Pavillon immerses viewers in a visceral journey through trauma and transformation, blending human fragility with ethereal metamorphosis.

The first institutional solo exhibition for the New York-based artist, who was born in Belgrade in 1986, is a potent exploration of the interplay between human fragility and resilience, drawing deeply from her own harrowing childhood experiences during the Yugoslav Wars.

Bašić's work is a transformative journey, laid out through the iconic octagonal spaces of the Schinkel Pavillon. The exhibition is both a rite of passage and an immersive experience, where sculptures, videos, and drawings coalesce around a central, monumental pneumatic installation. This seven-meter-wide site-specific piece commands the first floor, dominating the space with an intense physical presence. At its heart, small pneumatic metal hammers rhythmically pound an alabaster stone into dust, their movements synchronized with the artist’s own breath. This relentless, yet meditative action evokes the Gnostic concept of the Pneuma — the breath and spirit — suggesting a higher, transformative order of being.

Bašić's sculptures, approximating human scale, are intricate assemblages of wax, glass, bronze, stainless steel, and alabaster. They present an arresting dichotomy: tender, almost vulnerable forms clinging to support structures or encased in protective bronze armor. These figures, fixed to ceilings, floors, or walls, seem to be in a state of perpetual transformation, embodying themes of intergenerational trauma and post-humanist feminism. The sculptures evoke a sense of bodies caught in the midst of dissolution or rebirth, their flesh-like folds and insectoid qualities highlighting a constant state of metamorphosis.

The ground floor expands on these themes with additional figures and evocative drawings. Here, Bašić’s exploration of form and material continues, with sketches that suggest womb-like forms, nebulae, and cellular life, offering a genesis for the sculptures that inhabit the space. These drawings further intensify the sense of life emerging and transforming, reinforcing the exhibition’s overarching narrative of metamorphosis and transcendence.

"Metempsychosis: The Passion of Pneumatics" is a profound meditation on the human condition, viewed through the lens of Bašić’s personal and historical experiences. It’s an exploration of the cyclical nature of life and death, the physical and the ethereal, inviting viewers to contemplate the delicate balance between vulnerability and strength. Through her nuanced material language and the evocative power of her installations, Bašić transcends the confines of the physical realm, offering a glimpse into the spiritual and the eternal.

Photography: Stefan Korte
Text: @zaxarov

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