Three Artists Legally Change Names to Janez Janša in Decade-Long Project

In 2007, three artists—Italian Davide Grassi, Croatian Emil Hrvatin, and Slovenian Žiga Kariž—legally changed their names to Janez Janša, the name of the controversial Slovenian prime minister. The act, inspired by the Democratic Party's slogan 'the more we are, the sooner we will reach the goal,' has generated a decade of performances, videos, sculptures, and ready-mades exploring identity, bureaucracy, and the blurring of art and life. The project, termed 'Collateral Art,' is now the subject of a retrospective at +MSUM – Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova in Ljubljana, curated by Domenico Quaranta, running until February 18, 2018. The exhibition includes works such as Golden Triglav (2008), a golden sculpture commemorating a performance on Mount Triglav, and a series of gravestones for the artists' former names. A symposium, 'Proper and Improper Names: Identity in the Information Society,' organized by Aksioma at Kino Šiška, featured artists Kristin Lucas and Natalie Bookchin. The project has evolved into a registered trademark, Janez Janša®.