Juraj Bartusz (*1933)
Marschieren Marsch!, 1993
installation, 4 katyushas, textile (clothing), 21 wooden ammunition boxes, wheat
320 x 300 x 60 cm
Acquired as a gift from the author in 1995
The broad spectrum of author’s work includes constructivist sculpture, action and conceptual art, site-specific art, as well as installation. In the eighties he started working with the time factor and began to create time-limited paintings and drawings, and model his works by forceful hits, e. g. throwing bricks to solidifying plaster or slamming the material with planks or rubber straps, referring to the energy of the author’s gesture.
In the nineties he focused on producing installations that critically commented on environmental, ethical and historical facts. The author composed them of found objects such as bags, clothing (ready-made principle) and materials typically including stone, tarry paper, rubber, clay. Juraj Bartusz introduced the installation Marschieren Marsch! during a solo exhibition at the Museum of Art Žilina in 1993. Its base uses ammunition crates he found in the attic of the museum. Forming a grid, the spaces between the crates are filled with old clothes. Through the material used in the installation (including exploded shots from katyusha), the author refers not only to personal experience from World War II, but also gives evidence of dealing with the trauma of the past. The work highlights the importance of the so-called collective memory, providing a warning not to ignore it and letting it fail, which is more and more common nowadays.
