Associations

Stano Filko addressed the theme of the cosmos very early in his career, and between 1967 and 1970 he explored it in depth in his series Associations. In an early part of the series, he works on the theme in a way that resembles the activities of an archivist. Filko collected various diagrams, texts, and photographs, and then worked on them artistically, thereby appropriating them. Connecting elements are the color blue, which is the color of the cosmos in his system, and various cosmic motifs such as star signs, space expeditions, and the structure of the universe. He employed a graphic poster style, using silkscreen and offset printing, media that seem to suit the technical and thematic orientation on the idea of progress, and also the fact that the theme itself featured strongly in the press and media. Sometimes motifs and texts are crossed out or a signature is added, so that the structures of the cosmos are reworked and transferred into the artistic system.

In both material and spatial terms, Filko’s interest in the cosmos in the later works in the Associations series are quite different. He uses yellow Plexiglas and polished aluminum sheets into which he inserts circular holes, thus suggesting a machine-made aesthetics. Filko drew here on new spatial concepts in painting, incorporating the surrounding space into the work. By restricting gestural means and using industrial materials he also connected with the Western trends in minimal art that were current at the time.

Filko wished to avoid disturbing his presentation of the cosmos with any subjective expression. In some of these works the perforations represent connections between numbers that seem to recall encoded communication in space. In other places the perforations illustrate the structure of the galactic system. Two specific rows of numbers can be more precisely explained. One yellow Plexiglas sheet has two dates from the history of space exploration. On April 12, 1961, Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit our planet, while July 16, 1969, is the date of the take-off of the American Apollo 11 mission, which put the first men on the moon.

Associations / Asociácie, 1967 – 70
Album of graphic sheets with their original covers
Cardboard folder, serigraph, offset print, paper
Folder, 75 x 55 x 3 cm, 32 sheets, ca. 70 x 50 cm

From the series Associations XXXX. / Zo série Asociácie XXXX., 1970
Yellow Plexiglas, perforations
72 x 50,5 cm

Associations XXXX. (COS-MOS), Asociácie XXXX. (COS-MOS), 1969 – 70
Aluminum, perforations, polish
59,5 x 42,4 cm

Associations XXXX. / Asociácie XXXX., 1969 – 70
Aluminum, perforations, polish
59,5 x 42,4 cm
Courtesy The Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava

Associations XXXX. / Asociácie XXXX., 1969 – 70
Aluminum, perforations, polish
59,5 x 42,4 cm
Courtesy The Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava

Associations XXXX. / Asociácie XXXX., 1969 – 70
Aluminum, perforations, polish
59,5 x 42,4 cm
Courtesy The Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava

From the series Picture – Space I.-X. / Zo série Obraz – priestor I.-X., 1967
Blue Plexiglas, perforations
100 x 72 cm

All works if not otherwise stated Courtesy Linea Collection, Bratislava; Layr, Vienna