Audemars Piguet Contemporary presents Becoming Another – a new commission by Aleksandra Domanović

How would you describe your latest exhibition?

Becoming Another is a large-scale installation that at its core is about things becoming something else. It is a continuation of my interest over the past couple of years into seeing and perceiving. The whole project is about things becoming something else and things interacting or being inseparable; [how] looking at something changes it.

[In my work] I’m interested in raising questions for the viewer to consider. I am not really ever trying to teach something or convey a particular message through my work.

Becoming Another looks at medical imaging, and in particular the ultrasound. What is their significance to you?

My mom was a radiologist who specialised exclusively in ultrasound. When her practice shifted from hospital to private practice, we literally had ultrasound machines at our house, so I grew up with these images and devices around me every day. It wasn’t until years later when I encountered a book by [feminist quantum physicist] Karen Barad [called ‘Meeting the Universe Halfway’] that I was given a completely new view on ultrasound.  

Although I have worked with ultrasounds before, in this project I am trying to get to the essence of ultrasound technology through not only a scientific viewpoint but also contextualizing the social, economic and historical relevance of it.

Your body of work often explores female representation in popular culture, art and science. Is the theme of particular importance to you?

Working around the question of female representation stemmed from my early interest in the online world. Through the years, I have of course seen changes but ultimately, I believe that any artwork that seeks to contribute to larger discussions should naturally see the need to take feminism seriously.

The work is site-specific. How did you find working in such an imposing space?

The space itself inspires me. Site-specificity is almost unavoidable in this case as we are working with a huge space—it’s gigantic. There is a bridge connecting the space, which was used for printing technicians to supervise the machines, but it also turned out to be a very convenient vehicle for me to integrate into my sculptures—literally. The Worldometers I am making are wrapping themselves around this bridge and hanging from it.

How was it to work with Audemars Piguet Contemporary? How important are brand initiatives of this kind for contemporary art at all?

Working with the Audemars Piguet Contemporary team has been an amazing experience. The team have such an understanding of contemporary art, which is rare, it is almost like working with a museum in that sense. The commission has allowed me to work on a scale that I previously wasn’t able to and broaden my perspective on the forms and themes that I was interested in developing since the start of the pandemic and it really allowed me to merge them all together.

You explored the theme of the pandemic in your previous gallery show. How has the pandemic influenced you? Do you think it has had an impact on Becoming Another?

The Worldometers show (at Tanya Leighton Gallery) was a direct reflection of the pandemic, in all its aspects and the lockdown that came with it. For me this was a time to pause and feel. Usually I get inspiration from the outside world, I travel, I meet people etc. but this past year and a half I have been turning inward with my thoughts and emotions. But in the case of Becoming Another I am turning, via ultrasound, quite literally, to the inside.

Are you working on any other projects at the moment?

At the moment, I am mainly focused on Becoming Another. My other upcoming projects include a solo exhibition at Kunsthalle Osnabrück (2022) and “Future Bodies from a Recent Past” at Museum Brandhorst (2022).

Aleksandra Domanović (born in Novi Sad, 1981) lives and works in Berlin, where her research-based practice integrates the history of and latest developments in technology into multi-layered artworks. An artist working with sculpture and computer-based media, Domanović’s practice often calls into focus identity disparities. Her projects are underpinned by the social and political histories of her birthplace in former Yugoslavia and re-evaluate the role of women in the history of technology and science. By linking personal history and the past to our increasingly technologically reliant present, Domanović raises questions of society while offering a unique take on the intricate digitally-driven world we inhabit.

She has had major solo exhibitions at Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan (2019); MoCA Cleveland (2018); Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn (2017); Henry Moore Institute, Leeds (2017); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2016); Oakville Galleries, Canada (2016); the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow (2014); and Kunsthalle Basel (2012). Her work has been included in numerous international biennials including the VAC Foundation exhibition at the 58th Venice Biennial (2019); Belgrade Biennial (2018); Manifesta 11, Zurich (2016); the New Museum Triennial (2015); and Shanghai Biennale (2014). In 2018, she was awarded the 5th Arnaldo Pomodoro Sculpture Prize, Milan. Upcoming projects include the 58th Belgrade Biennial, 14th Baltic Triennial, and 34th Biennale of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana. She is represented by Tanya Leighton Gallery.