Očko’s performance, conceptually curated by French critic and curator Marc Bembekoff, will be hosted at Palazzo Pisani S. Marina (Cannaregio, 6103/A), with experimental films TK, which premiered in Graz, and The Third Degree, which is a sequel to the former film and was made specially for the Croatian pavilion in Venice.

TK is a short experimental 19-minute film, produced by Kreativni sindikat, focusing on the artist’s interest in body language and his relation to the socio-political context of physical presence. The name TK is an onomatopoeic description of the sound of stone hitting the ground or teeth bite.

The Third Degree is a project in making, granted support at the second decision-making deadline in 2014.

‘Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) has backed the making of both films shown in Venice. TK and The Third Degree are part of the Studies on Shivering, on which I have been focusing for several years now. I would say it is quite crucial to have systematic support. Both works are complex and demanding in terms of production; HAVC’s support has greatly helped in their realisation,’ said multimedia artist Damir Očko in an interview.

The project he chose to introduce himself in Venice focuses on the space between the two films. ‘I would say that the exhibition is designed so that these two films open up a space for a third expanded film. The exhibition includes a broad range of my works, related not only to films but also to poetry’.

Marc Bembekoff, the curator of Očko’s presentation has been collaborating with this artist for a while now. ‘Sometime last autumn we were sitting at a dinner in Paris and jokingly discussed how we could adapt the project we were working on for the Venice biennale – and this was the point of no return. We analysed our idea thoroughly and in great detail, entered it, and the jury accepted it as the best solution,’ he says.

‘Currently the most important thing for me is to do the job thoroughly and make this new film a step further in my art practice. I look forward to seeing both films within the same space, in the expanded exhibition context, and I am thrilled that this is happening at such an important platform as the Venice Biennale,’ said Očko in conclusion.

Damir Očko (1977) has made a name for himself in the past 10 years on the local and international scene. His videos, films, poetry and works on paper were recently exhibited in Dublin, Paris, Salerno, Dusseldorf. He has participated at many group exhibitions with institutions and his works are part of many public and private collections.

Photographs from TK are available on this link.

Title photo: a scene from TK, Damir Očko