Andrej Josifovski Pianist

Andrej Josifovski Pianist

Installation; a mosaic of 4000 recycled plastic bottles

150 x 84.3 cm

On Request

SAVE OUR HOME THE FIRST FLOATING PORTRAIT, THAT OF JOVAN MEMEDOVIC1, BUILT FROM PLASTIC BOTTLES DISPOSED OF IN RIVERS WAS CREATED ON WORLD RIVERS DAY This piece called “SAVE OUR HOME” and the whole “Cleaning” project aroused from the wish to raise awareness about the importance of saving the environment as well as recycling waste as the way to achieve the objective. The idea to take concrete steps came as a result of this COVID summer, most of our people spent in Serbia, and of what, as a result of their negligence, they left behind in nature when they returned to their homes after vacation. I spent a lot of time on the Sava, my favourite river, this summer and watched in disbelief all the waste it carried. I started collecting it to create a piece that would show, at least for a second, that the beauty of a river is something worth cherishing. Just like human soul reflects in people’s eyes, nature reflects in rivers. The whole creation was symbolically made on World Rivers Day, an official UN holiday, when various activities such as riverbeds cleaning, habitats restoration, educational programmes and ecology promotions take place. The project being finished, the bottles were taken out of the river and prepared for recycling. “I found inspiration in one of Jovan’s “Just Natural” shows where he canoed down the Drina river full of all sorts of waste and whose banks have rapidly been turning into a dump. He called it ‘a real ecological disaster’. A few months later, in the film “The Weight Of Chains 3” by Boris Malagurski, Jovan explains how he converted local people there, how they were embarrassed of what they had been doing and started cleaning the river. One thing is certain, you can raise awareness, but in order to do that, you need to let the culture and education in big time. I spent a lot of time on the Sava, my favourite river, this summer and watched in disbelief all the waste it carried. I started collecting it to create a piece that would show, at least for a second, that the beauty of a river is something worth cherishing. Just like human soul reflects in people’s eyes, nature reflects in rivers. We must be responsible because we are not alone in this world, but a part of a universal ecosystem. Although we are just passers-by on this planet, let’s not be selfish since there is always someone we love that we leave behind. Let’s leave the planet, if not more beautiful, then at least the same as we found it. On this occasion I wanted to point the finger at very serious problems that we, as a civilised society, should not have. It’s outrageous to promote recycling while at the same time all the garbage is dumped on the same pile. At the moment, people’s environmental awareness is at a very low level, and this work was ment to show that recycled waste has its useful purpose. It’s similar with wastewaters which are discharged into rivers directly instead of being previously decontaminated. Finally, this work was there to send a message, because… what is beauty for if not to spread wings?” O3one Gallery Contact: info@o3one.rs