"In the Meantime" by Matija Čop at the Mestrovic Pavilion explores the ephemeral nature of intimacy through a striking interplay of soft forms and rigid steel, challenging perceptions of materiality and space.
This site-specific installation operates within the dialectic of soft sculpture and rigid armature, a tension that defines both the physical and conceptual space it occupies. Čop's exploration is deeply personal, yet the work transcends the individual, engaging with universal themes of connection, transformation, and the inescapable passage of time.
At the heart of the installation are sound fragments—intimate exchanges between the artist and his partner, captured in their most ephemeral state. These sonic elements, translated into visual waveforms, become the compositional backbone of each piece. The waveforms, rendered in supple, membrane-like materials, are at once flexible and vulnerable, embodying the fluidity of human interaction. Yet, these forms are disrupted by the intrusion of steel armatures, suggesting a collision between the organic and the industrial, the controlled and the unpredictable.
Čop's manipulation of space within the Mestrovic Pavilion is both radical and reverential. The central element, a suspended blue vertical, seems to defy gravity, creating a dialogue with the surrounding semicircular structure that is at once harmonious and dissonant. The installation’s interplay of light and shadow, reflection and opacity, transforms the viewer's perception of the space, inviting multiple interpretations and perspectives. The smooth, metallic surfaces of the steel structures add an additional layer of complexity, reflecting and distorting the surrounding environment, much like the fragile, hollow forms they support.
"In the Meantime" stands as a totemic exploration of memory and transformation, a meditation on the impermanence of connection. Through the juxtaposition of softness and rigidity, Čop encapsulates the struggle to materialize the ephemeral, crafting a work that is as monumental in its ambition as it is fragile in its execution.
