With its technical immediacy, freehand drawing has acquired a fixed place within the framework of art history as a particularly spontaneous medium. As a fleeting sketch, it is traditionally understood as a preparatory drawing for other works of art or, when completed, as an autonomous work. In “Operantium” Kamen Stoyanov deals with drawing as a conceptual idea, embedding it in a performance. In 2016 in Zurich, the artist posed questions to his audience. The answers were drawn within one minute, one drawing per question. The perceived commitment of the spoken word is juxtaposed with the creativity of artistic drawing. The questions about communication between sender and receiver are joined here by questions relating to production or the position of artists in society. In a 24-hour performance compressed into a video lasting just under an hour, the artist is seen working every second. Like a worker at a task, an image is conveyed that links the process of artistic activity with the traditional concept of gainful employment. Speed as a premise of economy or a future-driven society seems clichédly at odds with artistic activity. “Operantium I,” a bound book with 1100 original drawings and the time-lapsed film of their creation, function as an indication of a work full of originality, chance, communication, and conceptual artistic production.

Heike Maier-Rieper, 2021 (translation: Virginia Dellenbaugh)