During Frieze Week, on 12 and 13 October, three artists from Split staged guerrilla performances at various locations across London, transforming public space into their own exhibition venue. The artists are Dina Grčić, Petar Grmanić and Sunčica Perišin Tomljanović, united under the collective name FUCK IT!.
Grčić’s ARRIVAL and Sunčica Perišin Tomljanović’s performance I REFUSE TO BE BURIED ALIVE were carried out on 12 October, while Grmanić presented his work LOOKING FOR ULURU the following day, 13 October. In ARRIVAL, Grčić turned his movement through central London into a performance about identity, belonging and cultural satire. A man draped in the British flag, wearing a punk T-shirt with the inscription THANK YOU FOR WAITING, walked from the bridge opposite the British Parliament towards Buckingham Palace.
In Greenwich, near the Prime Meridian, Grmanić performed the installation LOOKING FOR ULURU using human figures wrapped in gold survival foil, occupying the space between geography and symbolism. Sunčica Perišin Tomljanović emerged from a freshly dug grave in the English Garden of Regent’s Park, not far from the Frieze Sculpture exhibition, in her work I REFUSE TO BE BURIED ALIVE. After the performance, freshly turned earth and an open, empty grave remained at the site.
The intervention is the first project of the #LivingCroatianArtists initiative, or #TheLCAs, an artistic platform launched by the artists themselves. The initiative aims to create opportunities for Croatian artists through mutual support, joint production, collective promotion and international networking.
The three artists belong to different generations and work through different artistic practices, hailing from Split, a city with a long-standing artistic community and a history of significant cultural production. According to the artists, the contemporary art scene lacks the infrastructure needed to enable lasting artistic autonomy and visibility at both local and international levels. They believe that artistic value is too often measured by market appeal.
