Engaging in struggle for control, seeking sustenance for survival, asserting dominance over territory, and engaging in reproductive activities are encapsulated in the 4F model—fundamental aspects associated with the reptilian brain, commonly referred to as the basal ganglia. This controversial concept is elucidated by neuroscientist Paul MacLean in his publication "The Triune Brain in Evolution: Role in Paleocerebral Functions" (1990). MacLean integrates the idea of reptilian complex within the framework of the 'Triune Brain,' constituting one of the three primary structures in the human brain.
We can further speculate that the reptilian brain transcends individual characteristics, extending its influence to both smaller and larger social structures. Its inherent reflex to contend for living space, food, and resources has historically culminated in some of the most catastrophic events in human history. Preceding these catastrophic events lies a complex tapestry of "soft" social basal ganglia, encompassing ideologies, political parties, social rituals, national symbols, private and national property, ethno-genesis, religions, and creation myths.
These elements collectively serve as the fertile ground from which arise the most irrational and destructive collective behaviors. The idea behind the undertaken works is to shed light on the obscurity and potential peril associated with these reflexes and ideas. Through the implementation of reparatory writings, tangible objects, transformative performances, and workshops, the intention is to address and mitigate the inherent dangers within these societal constructs.
Mladen Bundalo
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[Curatorial text on the exhibition "Between natio-globalism and shamanism" at SKC in Belgrade (Serbia) in 2009]
The discourse of ideas of a young artist from Prijedor, Mladen Bundalo, outspreads between the borders of the dualisms such are nationalism and globalism. By paraphrasing the traditional, daily and historical moments, and using them as metaphors, the author approaches to many current paradoxes of demands and values of the dominant cultural and political attitudes. Using video art, installations and performance, Bundalo antagonizes the mechanisms of the functioning of the societies, on the one hand the Western culture that is usually assigned as the civilized one, and, on the other hand, the Balkans society, which is the most frequently seen through a prism of something magical. There, it is about some kind of a chronotope, out of which a specific artistic performance (behavior) is born.
In his creativity, the author starts from questioning the efficiency of the folk rituals, which still do evolve and exist (the cyber project Fear smelting), and the manipulative powers of a contemporary spectacle (Colour TV), ceremonial (The Anti-ceremonial proclaim planet Earth), and he reviews the extent of the adoption and the necessity to perform through a specific system of traces and meanings. Bundalo believes that all of the discourses, starting from the political ones to the artistic ones, have been compelled by some kind of a fear which is used as a manipulation of each and every social class, as the matter a fact, all of these discourses can be transferred to the contemporary society in general.
In his work “Ben Ferato”, the author questions his own position, ironically pointing out the general aptitude to enter the system of art market, in which the gallerists, critics and curators operate with big “package of young and old East-European art.”
Jelena Veljković