Dragan Ilic "Two actions and videotape Electronic Pencils XII"

‘Dragan Ilic experimented with drawing for ten years. He believes in obsessions that are the result of a perceptual alertness that is always open to change. What is of essential importance, however, is how this obsession is used and what it is used for. Through his obsession with 'the line' Ilic ended up on a new track; the single line was no longer sufficient, and between 1973 and 1974 he intuitively took a handful of pencils and began making sign language drawings. During the same period he also devised the '0.1' system: drawing with a number of pencils placed in parallel arrangement and bound together; with this method he discovered the importance of 'multiplicity'. His artistic activity changed: through the act of drawing he arrived at sculpture, painting, video, film and sound. Pencils remained his basic material, however; their function expanded from tool to material, and vice versa. In some works they have a symbolic meaning (political, erotic). ‘In his Electronic Pencils performances Ilic tries to integrate elements from several different art disciplines, and in this way to create the 'total experience'. His emotions gravitate between frank curiosity and fierce impulse, which are intent on toppling the obstacles that keep us from achieving our full potential. According to Ilic, these obstacles lie within the political context. Breaking down the barriers within a performance goes further than mere 'prophecy'; the 'evolution' is thereby inescapably 'led' to the attainment of a more joyous future. Ilic’s role is that of a shaman in an event that leaves no room for 'future shock'. ‘The structure of Ilic’s performances grows out of his 'discoveries' made in previous actions. A 'discovery' arises by means of intuitive reaction so that 'meaning' is thereby exposed. The performance is a framework in which 'revelation' can take place. According to Ilic, humanity will reach its full development by applying intuition; he calls this 'disarming consciousness', and believes that his personal development is inextricably bound with socio-political implications that must be interpreted within the moral behaviour of society. His most recent performances have a strong anti-political bias. This development was influenced by his having witnessed the fall of the democratically elected Whitlam government in Australia on 11 November 1975. Through this event, Ilic discovered that politicians gather information and take decisions in a way that makes them superfluous. Their tasks can be carried out by artificial intelligence systems.’ (Invitation De Appel, April 1980, partly taken from Terry Reid’s article of 29 January 1979.)