Date of Award

12-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Art History and Visual Culture

Department

Art

First Advisor

Trenton Olsen

Second Advisor

Brandelyn Andres

Third Advisor

Sara Berkowitz

Abstract

This project is a public sculpture prototype focused on the need for post-war art restitution in the Republic of Croatia: it will have an impact by enhancing public knowledge of the KOMZA list, which offers legal proof for families to retrieve heirlooms taken during WWII and the wars of secession from Yugoslavia.

The sculpture design includes three pillars, two etched with the 1529 names from the KOMZA list and a third that will be progressively built, brick-by-brick, as artworks are restituted. The nature of viewers’ interaction includes access to QR codes that offer links to the KOMZA list, information about restitution efforts in Croatia, or even a mood survey that collects anonymous voluntary data from participants and translates the collective mood into colors projected onto the two limestone pillars of the sculpture/fountain. The sculpture can be viewed from all angles, and the pillars are shaped to represent printed pages of the KOMZA list with 383 etched names on all four sides. Those observing the sculpture can conceive of the many people who have suffered loss. No sculpture, gallery, or public space exists to inform the public about art restitution in Croatia or the KOMZA list.

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