Skopje, 12 December 2021 (MIA) – The Ars Acta Institute for Arts and Culture announced on Sunday its latest project ‘Artecology’. ‘Artecology’ is an online project on the availability of mass media and ecology. Nine artists are taking part in the project with short videos: Robert Jankulovski, Monika Moteska, Goce Nanevski, Slavica Janeshlieva, Kristina Pulejkova, Denis Jagdzi, Marija Sotirovska, Boris Shemov and Igor Sekovski. Ana Frangovska is the project curator. “Art accessible to everyone or art displayed in a public space is a particularly fascinating event, one that has had its own history even in modernism, and in recent times, we have been frequently revisiting this phenomenon, an approach to art promotion with which it is de-institutionalised, leaves its comfort zone and the elitist panopticon to which it is mostly associated and publicised i.e. becomes available for wider audiences, part of the social iconosphere,” Ars Acta said in a press release. The Arts and Culture Institute Ars Acta, read the release, has successfully organized events and projects in the past and displayed art in public spaces, particularly two successful editions of ‘Art on a Billboard 1 and 2’ and the latest exhibition ‘Traumakultura’ that was exhibited on the grounds of ‘Ariljemetal’ factory “But our interests in documenting the possibilities of time, technology and the public’s interest have intensified, and thus we’ve made the decision to try and ‘attack’ the virtual space, using the internet, web platforms, social media and news outlets. In this Rashomon effect like everyday social existence, it somehow becomes natural to think that precisely that space will be a perfect fit for a new artistic project and artistically ‘contaminate’ the minds of the public, that will unwittingly be ‘seduced’ and ‘consume’ art works, open a link to an artist and perhaps then the public can be “entice” to read a few lines about the author or perhaps the idea behind the project and quite possibly look at another piece,” the press release read. The project, is added, is conceptualised to provide and offer art on different levels, but the moment of seduction or the bait occurs when art appears as a “commercial”, spread on glossy pages, platforms, social media, and YouTube channels. The objective here, the release stressed, is to “attack” the casual observer with art as opposed to the usual commercial videos and political promises, to impose upon him to see something new, something that will move him from the mundane zone and taste, and take him to a different, elevated and more sophisticated aesthetic. We need to give the casual observer, it noted, a gentle nudge to wonder what is it that he is looking at, what is being “advertised” and to gradually understand that he is looking at something that doesn’t have any commercial background nor does it promote a brand. This way, art will be a part of every home. “Art in ecology or ‘Artecology’ is the title of the project and it follows the ecological and political issues that are of great concern for international politics and of course to artists who now more than ever feel the need and responsibility to join the fight to save our planet Earth. This need has been emphasised by the Covid-19 pandemic, a time in which we have all asked ourselves questions about our nature, planet, universe and how by not caring, gradually but unambiguously we are destroying our environment,” read the release. Artists, it underlined, are talking about nature, ecology, destruction, viruses, disorientation, ecology/or erosion of spirit and all other side-effects “demons” of everyday life that have led to the change in the normalcy of our lives. The project is available for viewing at artecology.mk.