The Gold Series: Burrinja Chapter, was a durational performance in which, in collaboration with Indigenous Australian performer Ian Michael, the artist walked for 4 hours while covering his collaborator in gold leaf.
For the duration of the piece, the artist that was being covered in gold leaf, walked entirely backwards while his body was slowly covered up in gold.
At the end of the work, both artists arrived at a train station in the Victorian Dandenong Ranges, where the artist covered in gold boarded a train and left, leaving the other artist by himslef at the train platform.
The gold foil takes its inspiration from Kintsugi, an ancient Japanese practice and philosophy where broken ceramic vessels were pieced back together using lacquer and gold. Once mended, these vessels show their golden cracks without any shame, as a silent homage to their troubled history and the inexorable passing of time. In the same way, through The Gold Series, Sikic aims to highlight the beauty that exists within cultural, social and political conflicts and taboos present in different contexts around the world.
Like ceramic vessels, each human life is an aggregation of knocks and frustrations, joys, fear and impotence in the face of the transitionary nature of life itself. In relation to Kintsugi, the Japanese concept of mono no aware also touches on this sentiment. It comments on the gentle sadness at the passing of transient things, an awe that turns into compassion and empathy towards everyone and everything that surrounds us. The Gold Series: Burrinja Chapter invites us to share this way of looking at life and the issues that surround it, especially during the historical moment that we are now witnessing.
• Developed under the mentorship of Predrag Pajdic, with support from the Australia Council for the Arts through its JUMP Mentorship Program.
The Gold Series: Burrinja Chapter fue un performance de 4 horas de duración en la cual el artista recorrió las calles de Dandenong (en las afueras de Melbourne, Australia) mientras le cubría la piel con láminas doradas a su colaborador, el artista Aborigen Australiano Ian Michael.
Durante la totalidad del recorrido, Michael caminó hacia atrás, mientras que Sikic lo acompañaba, ambos en completo silencio.
Al finalizar su recorrido en la estación de tren de Dandenong, Michael abordó el tren en dirección a Melbourne, mientras que Sikic se quedó solo en el andén.
Las láminas doradas toman como punto de inspiración la práctica y filosofía Japonesa del Kintsugi, consistente en reparar vasijas rotas de cerámica usando una mezcla de lacre y oro. Una vez reparadas, estas vasijas muestran sus grietas doradas con la frente en alto, como un homenaje silencioso a su dura historia y al paso inexorable del tiempo. Del mismo modo, a través de The Gold Series, Sikic busca resaltar la belleza que existe en los tabúes, fracturas y tensiones sociales y culturales que afligen nuestras sociedades.
Cual piezas de cerámica, cada vida humana es un cúmulo de golpes y frustraciones, de alegrías, miedo e impotencia ante la transitoriedad de las cosas y de la vida misma. Relacionado al Kintsugi, el concepto japonés de mono no aware recoge este sentir. Se trata de un triste y solemne asombro ante la fragilidad de las cosas, un asombro que se transforma en compasión e identificación con todos y todo lo que nos rodea. The Gold Series: Madrid Chapter nos invita a ser partícipes de este sentir, sobre todo ante el momento histórico que hoy nos toca presenciar.