Author Archives: lediakostandini

Recent scent

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This is a temporary intervention inside a former restaurant called “Oktapodi”. 30 years ago, this building was a state property. It has been the favorite dinning place in town during the 80’es. Now, completely amortized, the building changed its purpose 100%. Returning to childhood memories, the artist uses special dough to cook and bake 100 shit-looking pieces. After carrying them to the place, the artist spreads them on pavement among real stinky shit pieces.

 

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Cartoon Movies

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This work is inspired from the old Albanian movies, which may be considered as the only uncontested echo of communism into our daily life. Today, they lost their ideological incantation, turning to be a source of nostalgia, or some kind of reference to reconsider our current system.  Being an amateur of the vast collection of old Albanian movies, I began to photograph my TV screen, so I could take out and collect different characters, objects and scenes. Then I started to create another “scenarios” by engaging old cinematography to current media affairs. This juxtaposition is somehow similar to the way we daily receive all sorts of  information when using a remote control.

Building our nation

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Building our nation,exhibition view

In “Building our nation”, Kostandini’s subject is the moving image as
carrier and diffuser of ideologies and propaganda. In a playful way she juxtaposes black and white images of characters from the propaganda films during communist period
in Albania with colorful backgrounds of Hollywood films or images borrowed from the incessant flow of local media. Each painting contains also a soundtrack, consisting of bits
of audio pertaining to the films or the news chronicles from which the images have been borrowed. By installing all the audio players in the same place the viewer is challenged
to identify the image/audio combination as well as conceive of his/her own reading of the works. The installation problematises the role of images in a media dominated
society, hinting on the similarities of their use for propagandistic or ideological ends, either from the former communist nomenclature, or from today’s neoliberal free market,
and profit driven corrupted governments.

text by Edi Muka

Towards Europe

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Images of leaders and heroes, worshiped myths, which have always been the means for communicating power and idealism, deeply inspiring for many people. I’m interested on the communicative power of these images that use to persecute our history. I try to continue this communication by reintroducing to the young generation our past, which apparently seems forgotten or wiped away. The result is a visual approach that provokes analogy.

“Towards Europe” – the locomotiveTowards Europe

“New Victories” #1New victories #1

“New victories” #2New victories # 2

“Freedom 2010”freedom 2010

“Joyful, joyful! We adore thee!”Joyful, joyful, we adore thee!2