Residency Period:
1 October 2013 - 30 September 2014
Bio
Milena Kosec was born in January 1947 in Ljubljana (Slovenia, EU), where she has lived and worked her entire life. In 1974 she graduated in technical mathematics at Ljubljana University. In 1971 she started her first job at the Jožef Stefan Institute. She planned and led the elaboration of new applications for different fields in different companies, usually by means of the most current computer technology. By the end of year 2002 she was retired. In the years between1975 to 1983 she primarily devoted herself to her family.
Her artistic work began spontaneously with her first work “Državica Ptičjestrašilna” (The Pocket-size State of Scarecrows) in 1992. After that, she performed several public actions which commented on events in Slovenia intertwined with her own intimate stories. In 2007 she decided that she would no longer produce anything material-based nor document her work. In 2008 she was invited to the European Contemporary Art Biennial MANIFESTA7, with one of her immaterial projects Random Private Conversations.
After her last art action in 2012, Milena read a lot about the situation in her country and the world in general. Bewildered by the vast and contradictory information available and the number of the contemporary artists with similar practice, she became unsure if her critical approach to art was still relevant. This has made her stop her art practice and return to the question: "what are the basic needs for life?" Having "water and food" as her answer to this question, she decided to improve her knowledge on them through manual work and organic gardening. Her first attempt at gardening this past year made her realize that she needed more education about various aspects of organic gardening.
During her residency, she will continue to educate herself on this front and provide a monthly report on her experiences in gardening for a year, from one autumn to the next autumn. She feels that this on-hiatus activity may be helpful for her art practice in the future.
Final Report
At the beginning I would like to express my thanks to Matt and Shinobu, co-directors of RFAOH, for the unusual experience of being in residence for a full year.
First of all, as a RFAOH resident, I feel it is the greatest luxury and privilege, in light of today's normal western life style, that I have had the opportunity to grow my own organic vegetables, prepare, cook and eat them fresh every day. I had this rare opportunity to spend my time mainly for nourishing myself in the best possible way. It seems that this is possible only in very primitive societies or in art. Thinking that we could go back and produce healthy organic food for everybody is a big romantic utopia. Only very rich people can afford to buy strictly organic food and only healthy owners of good land with a lot of time can, in favorable climate conditions and clean air, produce enough for himself and his family.
Another benefit of RFAOH is to be in contact, with other unknown residents from afar, on the internet. Suddenly I feel a personal contact with so many different residents from all over the world. I recognize that the web offers an additional dimension to our normal life.
If I look back at the beginning of my residency, I see that I quickly stopped thinking about art and art systems. All my thoughts have been focused on organic gardening, world problems about healthy food, physical work in the garden and in the kitchen. Thanks to the residency, I take gardening very seriously. I improve in my organic gardening practice which changes my outlook on life and western art.
Last month I couldn't work in the garden, so I had more time to think about my future in art. I decided to postpone my artistic activities for one more year. Meanwhile I will continue with my organic gardening. For me, personally, art is finding out about the unknown discoveries in life. I think my work is art when I feel I achieved more than I had ever expected (something bigger than I am).
I think that for an artist, it is important to do, with an open heart, that which feels good and right. That is all. One can use, or not, art system for the realization of ones work. For art per se, this is not important. Art systems are always only at the service of ideology. Better not waste words about it. In general art reflects a specific epoch. Only time will tell us what is good, bad or not art at all.
Thanks again to all who have followed me on the internet.
Again it is unusually warm this month, similar to December. Finally on January the 24th we got first snow and temperatures below zero. But from the end of last year each day is longer than the day before. In the beginning of the month sunrise is probably at 7.44 am and sundown at 16.27 pm. At the end of the month a day is more than 9 hours long. So we are not any more afraid of winter any more..
In my garden I still have radicchio and thanks to warm weather also parsley, chervil and very small flowers of broccoli.
Anyway I am not satisfied with my gardening too much because I have to buy among other food also most of vegetables. I am thinking about past times when my grandmother produced enough food (meat, milk products, vegetables, fruits and drinks) for her family and also for selling. She bought only flour, salt, sugar, lemon and oriental spices, coffee and tea. In the time of my mother it had become cheaper to buy food than to produce our own. So we began to eat food from all over the world in bigger and bigger amount. Now we are here where we are.
In the beginning of the month sunrise is at 7.42 am and sundown at 16.18 pm. At the end of the month a day is about 8.40 hours long. December was cold in first half with temperature about zero or less. In the second half it was warmer. In the last part of December we used to have some snow in the past years but this time we had similar weather as in November with temperatures from 4C to 10C. Too warm.
In the garden I didn’t do anything. I just gathered radicchio from the bed for every day salad. Instead of practical gardening I worked hard on theoretical field. The most interesting book I red was Holzer Permaculture by Sepp Holzer. Author is Austrian mountainous farmer on farm KRAMETERHOF (1100m – 1500m high) with forty years of praxis. In the book I really find a lot of important practical advices for better and easier gardening, for healthier food.Two other books which I read: Misa Pusenjak: Moj ekovrt (My Ecogarden) and Kornelija Benyovsky Sostaric: Zeleni kvadrat –zdravje iz organskega vrta (Green square – health from organic garden) are very good manuals for everyday use. But Holzer is more radical. He would never buy something which he can produce by himself.
I also look on internet about some actual health problems with GMOs food. So I find out my residency work as very important and good decision. Follow SCIENCE.naturalnews.com and you will agree with me.
I cook as simple as it is possible. Any green salad I eat with olive oil (sometimes with pumpkin oil), citron juice or apple vinegar, small amount of yogurt, a clove of garlic and salt. Sometimes I add cooked eggs or potatoes or beans and green spices. In spring and summer time I usually add eating flowers: violet, primrose...
Maciej wrote on Jan 5:
I am sucker for good food and I cook a lot. How do you like to prepare your radicchio salad?
Ready For Winter
November Garden Report: In the beginning of the month sunrise is at 6.42 am and sundown at 16.48 pm. At the end of the month a day is about 9.30 hours long. Also this month was warmer than usually. Weather was good with little rain and fog in the mornings with temperature about 5C. The first temperature under zero was not until November, 26th – on colourful sunny day.
I have had enough time to prepare soil for spring. First I have cut down shrubs to get more space (heavy work). As my soil is not very rich I have bought well-rotted farmyard manure. I have dug soil and spread manure over 1/3 of soil for which I suppose to be for vegetable garden next year. The final border and shape of the beds will be defined in early spring time. Two parts of three I have left without manure. After that I have covered soil with foliages and branches as protection from frost. In next spring I will use compost on the second part of soil and the third part will stay without any manure. Vegetable which is still in the garden I have covered with winter veil and old curtain and partly also with foliages. In a small cold bed I have parsley.
In next months the decorative part of the garden is waiting for me: protection against snow, winter cutting and trimming.
In the last years I try more and more to follow a natural approach, also to have less work and expenses. I try to follow these principles:
– not to buy chemical and plastic products for a garden, to use only that which is already at home,
– to do all work by myself,
– to collect my own seeds and to exchange them as much as possible,
– vegetable from my garden has to be cheaper than from the market.
For pure ON HIATUS position I need to distance myself from the art scene (openings, lectures, presentations and other art events, reading professional books, and so on – in Ljubljana we have a lot of such events). I make exemption only for very close art friends. I would like to liberate my mind from the surrounding art clime which is too much under Anglo-American influence and dependent of EU politics for my taste.
October Garden Report
This month a day is about 10.30 hours long. In the beginning of the month sunrise is at 7am and sundown at 18.42 pm. At the end of the month a day is 10.12 hours long. Usually in October we have the first under zero temperature. But this year we didn’t have. At the beginning of month it was rainy and colder (4C) than it is usual – but in the second half of month it was sunny and warmer (17C) than usual and all the time without hoarfrost. At the end of month earth is dry on the surface.
I have time all month for slow picking up of autumnal harvest: eggplant, kohlrabi (turnip cabbage), pole bean, carrot, parsley and celery.
During winter time the spinach, mangel-wurzel (mangold), leek (no more because leek’s fly), winter salad and different kind of chicory – will stay on garden bed. For video about one of the chicory: castelfranco see:
In the next year I hope to have more types of vegetables which will stay out through winter time.
It is unusually warm – so the flowers (Japanese anemone, aster, “flame” flower, and “capuchin” flower) still blossom very well.
For years I didn’t need any poison (herbicide, insecticide and pesticide) against vegetable diseases and insects. Unfortunately a lot of different kind of mould and insects also enjoy in gardening. Every one wants to live, every one wanrs to eat. So I don’t need a storehouse for winter because harvest is very small.
Is this your garden Milena, or it's Rene Rusjan's own garden, or maybe someone else's that she designed for?
Introduction in the monthly reports
Last year I decided to expand my very small vegetable garden in WN part of home in Ljubljana. For next season I would like to improve harvest in strictly ecological way.
For gardening is in the first place important location, weather conditions and quality of earth. Ljubljana is in the middle of Slovenia which is in the south Europe between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. We have four seasons: nice sunny spring with some rain, summer with storms and drought, pleasant autumn with rain and cold winter with snow. Vegetable grow from spring till autumn. For the beginning my earth need additional cultivation.
The first report will be about this season harvest.As I am against documentation (as artist I do not documented my work any more) the reports will not be long. I am sorry because my weak English.
Residency ON HIATUS opportunity to work something usual (in our country a lot of people have home with small vegetable garden) with additional dimension is for me good stimulation. I will be also very happy if other artists on hiatus will tell something about gardening in their countries.
considering the sudden decline in bee population your efforts in hiatus are particularly important as a scientist recently reported "The solution, Spivak says, is to plant bee-friendly flowers in our gardens and window boxes without pesticides.
"We need to behave more like a bee society, where each of our small actions can contribute to a grand solution," says Spivak. "Let planting flowers be the driver of large-scale change," she says.
milena wrote on Jan 12:
I cook as simple as it is possible. Any green salad I eat with olive oil (sometimes with pumpkin oil), citron juice or apple vinegar, small amount of yogurt, a clove of garlic and salt. Sometimes I add cooked eggs or potatoes or beans and green spices. In spring and summer time I usually add eating flowers: violet, primrose...
Maciej wrote on Jan 5:
I am sucker for good food and I cook a lot. How do you like to prepare your radicchio salad?