Smoke? 1972

This piece, "Smoke?" is by Mladen Stilinovic, and it looks like it was made with collage and ink on paper. What grabs me is the directness of the question, "dim?" Scrawled in purple ink above a pipe, it could be a commentary on clarity, or maybe the lack thereof. The pipe itself, a black and silver photo cutout, feels solid, in contrast to the tenuous, looping question mark floating above it. The textured surface of the pipe bowl is so different from the flat paper, and that handwritten phrase – it's like two different worlds colliding. Look at how the artist has left the background almost untouched, allowing the paper’s imperfections to show through. It feels honest, raw. Stilinovic's work often plays with language and symbols, questioning their meaning. This piece reminds me a bit of René Magritte, but with a more punk, DIY aesthetic. It's not about answers, but about poking at the edges of perception, asking us to consider what we think we know.