Mistaken Histories

Large-scale Installation from "Tracticus Post Historicus" series, Ca' Pesaro, Venice, 2009
by Braco Dimitrijevic

I was always one of those strange children in school who adored history lessons. Whilst my peers tried to stay awake, passing around pop cassettes and competing with shorter mini-skirts (out of school only as we had strict school uniforms), I fantasised about wearing crinolines, corsets and writing by courier pigeon. Ok, so I was rather geeky, of which I am most proud. It is a commonly accepted fable that pretty people are not geeky, I could use myself or any of my friends as an example, but alas this will not mean much to you dear reader as you have not seen us. Instead, one example, Natalie Portman. Beautiful geek, so there. 

Back to history. History is someone's interpretation of something that may or may not have happened, often re-counted from memory, sometimes by someone who wasn't even there and then censored or flourished by governing authorities. That is why we have to compare infinite historical sources to try and assemble a more balanced fragment of a picture. Rather like trying to understand children arguing. Even then, we will almost never know how reliable these fragments are. 

The bible is perhaps the most classic example. Essentially a compilation of stories, passed down a chain of chinese-whispers and recorded by an assorted cluster of men fitting the demanding job-description: literate and sandal-wearing. There are allegedly many versions of each gospel, and even many more gospels than those included in the final-cut. Obviously excluding the ones that didn't fit the publishers' concept, like the infamous gospel of Judas. That's not to say the bible is not a compelling read. It would just be more interesting, not to mention insightful, to read the uncut version. It's a bit like getting a DVD without the extras. Where would the world be without knowing how many push-ups Angelina had to do for Tomb Raider? In essence there has always been someone or something editing the story along the way, essentially it has always been 'His Story'. So it seems everyone has a bone, or twenty, to pick with 'him', including yours truly, much to the despair of a few of my history teachers who were just trying to stick to the curriculum.

No-one has described it quite as succinctly as conceptual artist Braco Dimitrijevic when stating:

"There are no mistakes in history, the whole of history is a mistake".

His intriguing installations for "Tracticus Post Historicus" address history's many omissions of the great minds that have contributed to mankind's development. Notables include Tesla, Kafka and Marinetti. At his exhibition at Ca' Pesaro representing Bosnia for the first time at the 2009 Venice Biennale, his installation of three of history's great thinkers carried upon three little beaten-up, wooden fishing boats, is beautifully metaphoric. To think that the legacy of these geniuses, has been able to quietly navigate history's turbulent and biased seas unaided in such humble vessels is nothing short of inspiring. It speaks volumes of the magnitude of their work, to have only needed the most basic means of transport to communicate their message over centuries, despite opposition, jealousy and intrigue. Nothing gilded, they have no plaques, statues or monuments. Another of Dimitrijevic's points, that none of those we owe so much to, have ever been commemorated in a proper or even standard way, like many of their peers, who were ironically often less talented.

Who is laughing all the way into the futurenow? Those that have pompous statues and paintings that are vulnerable to the decay of history and physical time, or those whose concepts and breakthroughs have illuminated never-ending paths capable of sailing through time.

"Jetset Violet"