Pop Object 

Editor: Here we have Marko Pogacnik’s “Pop Object,” which is a ceramic sculpture – seemingly an assemblage. It really looks like a bag of something, perhaps flour or cement. I'm drawn to how utilitarian yet artistic it is. What catches your eye about it? Art Historian: For me, it's the transformation of a mundane, potentially mass-produced object – a filled bag – into something crafted. What kind of labour goes into creating this simulation of an ordinary container out of such materials like ceramic or stoneware? Think about the process of production - from raw material to finished form, firing, glazing – it involves skilled labour that is entirely removed from what the image evokes, namely mass consumerism, pop art and ultimately social statements, right? Editor: That's fascinating! I hadn’t considered the contrast between the artistic labor and the suggestion of a manufactured item. Is it questioning the value we place on objects depending on how they’re made? Art Historian: Exactly! It raises questions about what we consider ‘art’ versus ‘craft,’ and who gets to decide. A bag filled with an indeterminate something has no innate artistic value, but by replicating its form out of precious materials, and the associated labour, that adds social weight. Editor: So, the material and the process almost *become* the message? It definitely flips my understanding of traditional sculpture. Art Historian: Precisely! The art lies in understanding the transformation and asking: how do the choices made by the artist change the object and its inherent relationship with a world obsessed with the industrial process? Thanks for noticing the sculpture, it seems we’re both drawn to the interplay between concept and physicality.