A conversation by Ilija Prokopiev with Ledia Kostandini a result of an e-mail correspondence in the period of July, 2019, right after the opening of her exhibition I look at them, they look back at me at PrivatePrint studio. Link
Solo show – Private Print Studio – Skopje – North Macedonia / 22.06-19.07.2019
http://privateprint.mk/en/events/20-i-look-at-them-they-look-back-at-me
The exhibition titled “I look at them, they look back at me” by the Albanian artist Ledia Kostandini at PrivatePrint Studio, brings together a series of mixed media works which unfold impressions, mind images and metaphors of the balcony and the life therein. The concept builds from there to examine the relation between private and public through the works themselves and through their positioning in both the indoor and outdoor spaces of the Studio. This way, the exhibition inherently connects with the practice of PrivatePrint Studio itself, where the borders between the private and public intertwine and are always redefined.
Photos by Zoran Shekerov
“Private View”
site specific intervention, part of the solo exhibition “I look at them They look back at me” – Skopje, 2019
“The exhibition extends outside, to the Studio’s terrace, with a site-specific intervention – a writing that becomes a traffic sign that draws the visitors’ attention on the landscape as an infinite borderline of the exhibition. It recalls the temporary exclusivity of the view when visiting the exhibition. Instantly, the writing speculates on spatial belongings. And with this, the audience is guided, through their interaction with the works, to re-think the wider concept of private vs. public. Where is the limit to our possession? Whose private view are we part of?”
This Zine is part of a project called PAPERWORKS, initiated by Private Print which is an art book publisher from Skopje.
The book project “Zing City” was launched on 31st of May in Tirana at DestilHostel.
A presentation of the book “Zing City” seen on two perspectives, by its author Ledia Kostandini and the publisher Rita Petro. In this context it will be discussed about the city as a generator of different impressions in terms of aesthetics and feelings. Ledia Kostandini will develop an artist talk about several previous projects which stand on the same conceptual line.
This presentation will be in albanian.
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Një prezantim i librit “Zing City” përmes dy këndvështrimeve; nga autorja e tij Ledia Kostandini dhe botuesja Rita Petro. Në këtë kontekst do të flitet për qytetin si gjenerator i përshtypjeve të ndryshme në aspektin estetik dhe emocional. Ledia Kostandini do të zhvillojë një ‘artist talk’ rreth disa projekteve paraprirëse mbi të njëjtën linjë konceptuale.
Prezantimi do të jetë në shqip.
Great News coming from Centre Pompidou Metz :
#ZINGCITY travels to Briey, France.
It will be part of the Documentary and Interactive space of the (off-wall) exhibition “Le Corbusier et Léger. #Visionspolychromes“, curated by Elia Biezunski & Anne Horvath, in dialogue with the retrospective “Fernand Léger. Le Beau est partout” in #CentrePompidouMetz.
For those who happen to be in Briey-la-fôret from May 20th to September 24th >>>
Take the chance to color the book at the Interactive space of the exhibition and visit this impressive place.
fig 1 – Façade Polychrome de “La Cité Radieuse” Le Corbusier de Briey en Forêt © Photo Pascal Volpez © F.L.C. / ADAGP, Paris, 2017
fig.2 “Overland flight” Illustration, part of the book “Zing City” 2017
Half of the project is completed in “Vaso Pasha” street, Tirana. Ready to take another step by extending the project further on, to the next facade of this building. Location
I am very happy to see my book finalized and ready to make its life into bookstores, homes, offices, bars and wherever it might be given love and attention. I wish it might be a nice experience to each one that will color it and get to know an enthusiastic city, the Zing City. This is a book for grown ups because I believe that coloring is an ageless form of expression and entertainment.
It started out of some outdated wallpaper catalogs. The work consists in several individual pieces that fit to one another without any particular order and can be extended infinitely.Window prints, wallpaper textures, paint, cardboard, etc, are used to create some sort of “leaflets”.
Interior walls reveal their accurate patterned coziness, while the facade competes using windows as its decorative pattern. It’s a moment of confrontation between two different sides of a single structure. There is a spatial cohabitation with shifting spaces, folded walls and superposed windows.
“Paperwalls” at Kalo Gallery untill March 19, 2017. Part of the group expo “Power of grace”.
Soon my independent book project “ZING CITY” will be ready to get launched. I am really exited to be able to see this book taking shape after months of work. It is basically a coloring book addressed to grown ups. About 20 illustrations will guide to a crazy city that you will be able to embrace through coloring.
These concrete blocks, looking so much alike the Berlin wall parts were used in Albania to build silage storage during agriculture collectivism. Nowadays, they belong to no one.
They seem monuments dedicated to “public property”.
The intervention is like a signature, transforming a futile thing into a provocative object.
Below, you may watch a you-tube video, extracted from Vizion+ Channel news. This video speaks about this urban art-piece and about people’s feedback latter on.
The work got exhibited in Berlin, on November 2015 at Neurotitan Gallery. Click here to get more info about the exhibition.
“Falling Blocks” is a site specific intervention installed near Laç. It was presented as a part of Tirana Art Lab’s project “100 km Art”. The artist is symbolically reconstructing an existing never-ending building. She adapts her colourful sketchy-style pieces (columns, stairs, rods) to the bare surface of concrete columns.
Click here for more information about “100 KM ART” project.
