Đeljoš Đokaj was a visionary creator, who brought innovative motifs with his visual art that would become a link between the previous poetics of modern and contemporary art. As a top artist, who left behind a creative opus of lasting value, he did not hide that his creativity was influenced by the way of life of his birthplace and Albanian tradition, but he was also open to other, worldly experiences and traditions, since he spent most of his creative life in European art centers.
This innovative interweaving of traditions is clearly demonstrated in an important phase of his creativity, when he lived in Italy and was preoccupied with the phenomenon of ROBOTICS. During a detailed research, prone to unconventional experimentation, in his works we encounter the motif of the robot which is an artificial invention of contemporary design, but which he presents in the most archaic and naive forms of modeling, as if they were children's toys. This, for most audiences, may at first glance give them both attractiveness and elusiveness, but it is still difficult to determine to which period these creations belong.
This presentation suggests that this head, as a “hegemon” who aspires to leadership over the technological world, is actually a loser. (The very name “hegemon” makes sense only with this interpretation!). In fact, the “Hegemon” resembles a pilot who, at any moment, can change his appearance due to an overly ambitious flight that leaves him with consequences. Isn’t this an exposure of the essence of the intentions of technical ideologies, which not only speaks of the state of humanity during the Cold War years, but also attacks the most advanced concepts of technological development, which today constitute artificial intelligence?
Advanced technology is, without a doubt, a power, but also a threat to the survival of humanity. Specifically, does Đeljoš, with this approach, criticize the technicalization that works in the service of militarization and world conquest? The author himself has often emphasized in various interviews that the images he created in his early works, as well as those from the Roman phase, were influenced by Đeljoš's childhood experiences during World War II. Therefore, these images have a somewhat naive and archaic modeling, with an upgrade, according to the technology that his imagination retained in his memory from adolescence.
So, for Đeljoš, “Hegemony” is not a random creation, but the finale of a well-thought-out cycle of works. His work is dedicated, concise and detailed to the last point. Based on this cycle, Đokaj applied a specific formula of artistic mathematics, both in concept and in technical application. The conceptual symbolism of the robot cycle is connected several times, but I see and attach greater importance to the approach to researching the metaphysics of technology of that time, because it is also connected with the dizzying technical development, but which was not accompanied by the ethical development of humanity. Because the entire cycle expresses a deep metaphysical concern about the reduction of man to a robot, as well as life to eight bloodied dolls.
Even in other works that follow in this cycle, such as Exodus (1975), Dead Soldiers (1974), Baby Stroller (1974/75), General's Bust (1975), Woman at the Window (1974), Bucket of Memories (1974), Bird's Nest (1975), etc., we encounter these characteristics of a robotized life that leads to wars and destroys the world. This cycle does not define time, it is fluid even though it was realized in the mid-70s, and it recalls this time that will lead us to another time, to include Đokaj's concept of science fiction as robotic machinery. Đeljoš's paintings in this cycle, in terms of the techniques applied, are rich and masterfully compressed with color, they have a static symbolism of machines that will be given three-dimensional life by dizzying technological development.
The longer we stand before these works, the more convinced we are that they are coherently solid, but if we focus deeper, they seem to want to show us a specific goal, the intention of the author who, from what can be assessed, foresaw a future that should not be like the past.
The analysis of these objects of this phase leads us to a dialogue with them, asking us to decipher them in a different way. Thus, with a realistic attitude and assessment, we see that a unique modern virtual drama is being created, where as actors (characters) these very attractive objects are created in rectangular (orthogonal) arched shapes, which create quite seductive images, together with the other components that these works contain.
Đokaj, in a way, searched for himself in different countries and states throughout his life. This allowed his work to be appreciated by many domestic and international critics, especially Italian ones, who singled him out in their assessments as an experimental artist, courageous, but also extraordinary, due to his conceptual approach, expression and creative talent. Historian and art critic Dario Mikaki in an article from 1977, he singles out Đokaj as a technological artist of his time, referring to this cycle of his. The work Sharpener, a painting created in 1975, measuring 180x200 cm, monumentalizes Đeljoš Đokaj's vision of intertwining the archaic with futuristic projections. As a composition, this painting rests on a central horizontal plane of section, dominated by a uniform patinated background without elements taken from nature, reminiscent of a wall with hundreds of shades merged into one concrete-brown color. While the lower part is dominated by gray with somewhat more detailed tones through contrast, which serves as a strong basis for the objects. The main axis, or point of balance in the painting, is the subject-object of the metalworker, shaped by geometric parameters, rather than anatomical structuring and systematization, but nevertheless painted with skill and dedication so that the carpenter appears robotic, together with his dog sitting next to him.
The painting also has other emblematic elements, such as a white collar or necklace, as a sign of modern citizenship or bureaucracy, which, together with other symbolism, creates an intense connection between the concept of the painting and the visual drama of modernity, in order to convey strong messages towards the future imagined by the author, which today allow us to single him out as an artist of warning visions.
Overall, these works, created according to the imagination of the unique artist Đokaj, are nevertheless connected to the social, economic and political life of that time, but also to modernity as such. Because the figurative combinations of the “robot cycle” speak more than about the time in which they were created. Their reading and decoding today should be deeper and more comprehensive. At the same time, I see Đeloš Đokaj’s robotics as a scene that dances to electronic music composed fluently and with a sense of the audience.
Bonus video:
