noisygenes -- Invocation, spring 2014

It is not unusual in the art world for two or group of artists to do collaborative piece together. Collaborative artwork of two artists different/same sexes who were in a relationship (boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife, gay couple) were mostly done in a performance art, like Marina Abramović and Ulay, John Cage and Merce Cunningham, or Gilbert and George, etc. Performance art is a medium that is suitable for collaboration, cause each has a separate role that contributes to the entirety of artistic expression. It is a different story with a painting done in a tandem. One of the most famous examples are Basquiat and Warhol who did paintings together between 1983 and 1985. Their artworks are still subject of analysis and many critics disapprove success of these kind of paintings. One commentator said ''Everything... is infused with banality. Who is using whom here?'' 

noisygenes -- Two lunatics on the loose, spring 2014

Painting requires totally consecration of an artist where is very difficult to leave space to another and let someone to interfere in the process of making it. Consequently, there is a small number of two artists doing paintings together, especially collaborative work of two artists in a relationship.

Name ’noisygenes’ for the artistic duo was taken after the homonymous project which was done in a collaboration of avant-garde composer and polymedia artist Alen Ilijić and curator-art historian Milica Ilijić (husband and wife). When we where thinking about naming our project for the paintings, we came to conclusion that the name ’noisygenes’ is the best solution that describes a connection of two similar personalities, very radical, uncompromising, and not under the influence of academic art and it’s techniques. The main idea was to unleash the subconscious and intuition, but consciously go to decomposition of the image. The concept for the process was that Alen starts his own piece with an idea and drawing on the canvas, and when he is finished, handing them off to me to work with the color.

noisygenes -- (Non)Sense, summer 2014

After my intervention, we would observe the painting and make decisions together what could be added and whether the artwork is finished. The basic themes for the paintings were not predetermined, but were spontaneous Alen’s choices of powerful events that occurred and affected our relationship.

Great role in our creation had Alen’s unpublished music, mainly ’noisy’ projects, we listened during the process. Musical parameters were used intuitively by making hand gestures in the same rhythm and so visually describing timbre and  structure of the music. It had a big impact on getting different style approaches, which lead us forward to the final result. We painted by using a various techniques (oil, acrylic, ball pen, felt pen...); bringing the paint directly from the tube onto the canvas and using fingers and hands instead of brushes. We also gave to unpainted surface of the canvas an equal role in the construction as color or drawing have. As a result of nine-month collaboration, noisygenes paintings are unique and unrepeatable, describing and catching psychological and emotional moment of two individuals. Freeing our creativity and letting intuition to lead, noisygenes paintings are not clean and precise, rather sloppy and messy. 

noisygenes -- God's choir, spring 2014

Nevertheless, they have formed style and reflect unity in a term of painting. As a experiment, these paintings show that the idea of self-ownership of a painting can be overcome. Also, they confirm our convictions that people with similar sensibility can work together and so thrive, both individually and in a team.

Knowing how difficult is to do such paintings in a tandem, we were very surprise by our achievement. As Brian Sherwin said: ’Point blank -- creating collaboration art is not for everyone. For those who can work jointly -- creating collaborative art can be a powerful experience.’

Milica Ilijić, curator-art historian, 2015

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