Key image

mirko nikolić + Aleksandra Mitovski, Duško Jelen, Marika Troili, Tuomas A. Laitinen, 2016–2020-, << remineralizacija >> 

<< remineralizacija >> is a collaborative performance that took place among various sites of metal mining in East Serbia. We deconstruct extractivism by reversing its logistics: instead of digging, we return copper back to the earth in an act of peace-making and regeneration. Through the interaction with scientists, technicians and workers, metal is recycled, recrystallised, smelted, and laid back into the Old Pit in Bor, where copper is intensively mined for more than 100 years now. As the film rolls slowly, it is a stark reminder of the violence of high technology, and a summoning of counter-extractive alternatives.

remineralizacija #3: odrudarenje (remineralisation #3:unmining) (74 min, RS)

In his video performance remineralizacija #3: odrudarenje, mirko nikolić follows the reverse path of copper mining. This is part of a larger collective video work dealing with long-term alternatives to the current situation of the metal mining industry in different locations in Serbia.

In this segment, the camera accompanies differently performing bodies (mirko, rocks, air, steam, water) and the recycled copper from the processing site back to the deep underground. The migration of the copper is a reverse process of movement proposed by the artist back to its origin. There, mirko undertakes the performative attempt to harmonize the centuries-old quarry site and gives back what is possible to give back.

While the film unfolds, mirko gives insights into the history of mining in a voiceover (English subtitles), which is only a small aspect in the history, the present and the im/possible future of the eco-social system in which it takes place. The size, extent and duration of the necessary work for bringing together the increasingly divergent eco-social relationships can only be grasped momentarily for us viewers in the future.

Depot - Kunst und Diskussion is hosting a screening of the video performance #3 remineralizacija: odrudarenje during WIENWOCHE 2023 from September 15th to 24th. This can be accessed and visited free of charge during the opening hours of the Depot - Art and Discussion. Together we bring the imagery of "It's Getting Cold in Here" to life and provide a broader context for the festival theme.

mirko nikolić is an artist, researcher, and organizer, often working in groups and collaborations, currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Culture and Society, Linköping University, Sweden.