Garaža Kamba

A human is a human, a majestic being of stone pyramids, with scorching smog billowing from his nostrils. His eyes are glass, reflecting the sky that arches above, and the forests beyond those entanglements of grey warmth and coldness, his body illuminated by the periodic flashes of streetlight filaments, halogen lights, and the shimmering rectangles peeking out of the back pockets of passersby. He is a creature of nature, with a soft, bare body that has crafted from it a chaotic world—one that is now his everyday reality. Through the ambient installation and artist book Human | Animal, Anja Leko dissects everyday situations and intertwines them with the idea of returning to nature—specifically, to that primal, animalistic force that drives daily life. She explores humanity and its role in the universe, reflecting on the fact that even in millennia when humans were often equated with animals, through their migrations, they changed the face of the world.

In the ambient installation The End of the Sloths, Leko creates a forest aperture—a patch of greenery nestled within the void between urban particles—presented as a counterpoint to the rhythmic alternation of glass storefronts and concrete blocks. It serves as a cube of the unconscious and the archetypal. By placing luminous hybrid figures in everyday situations, Leko banalizes human routine itself, opening space for new interpretations of what is usual and normal. She positions the animal as an archetypal totem, a contemplative observer, and a sage, embodying the deep layers of the unconscious and instinctual. By connecting this with human forms, she highlights animals as partial identifications of the human, aspects of their nature, reflections of their complex character, mirrors of their deep drives, and representations of their tamed or wild instincts. The dog, deer, and cow—animals that hold luminous and fruitful significance in numerous cultures while also symbolizing mortality and transience—are depicted in mutual communication. Each speaks its own language, each is an individual with its material and spiritual nature. Yet, despite these differences, they live and function together, in unison.

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