The Culture of Smoking by Brigada, Glypthoteque Hazu Zagreb, Croatian Architecture

The Culture of Smoking by Brigada, Croatia

Glypthoteque Hazu art institution in Zagreb, Croatia

24 July 2019

A new wave of Inspiration – The Culture of Smoking by Brigada

It’s no secret that vaping and smoking are two aspects of the modern culture that can’t be ignored.

Many people start smoking or vaping during their teen years due to peer pressure. Others start consuming tobacco due to exposure to secondhand smoke from friends that smoke. For some people, smoking or vaping is simply cool.

But, some people have argued that there is a link between smoking, taboo concept, and art. This argument captured the attention of Glypthoteque Hazu. The basic aim of this art institution located in Zagreb, Croatia was simply to explore this link.

Smoking, tobacco concept, and art have a hazy relationship that is made more complex by the strict laws of this country as far as tobacco promotion is concerned. It’s not surprising to find people using the best e-cigarette UK (Vapingdaily suggests additional hints) products in this country as they try to avoid smoking.

This smoke phenomenon influenced a Zagreb-based, Brigada agency to recreate a gallery space essence by altering a renowned venue completely. The resulting exhibition is known as The Culture of Smoking: From Taboo to Taboo, aims at exploring the role of smoking in the popular and artistic culture. It brings together posters, paintings, films, ephemera, and photographs made over the past 150 years.

Basically, the agency played with the taboo idea with the intention of designing an anti-exhibition. The display hides artifacts from even the museum itself by creating an entirely new space.

The Idea

The goal of the exhibition designers was to explore the tobacco idea. They decided to hide photographs, paintings, posters, ephemera, and films. As such, they came up with a series of fabric cylinders that keep glowing. They described these cylinders as oversized cigarettes or reminiscent of the smoke circles. They painted the exhibition wall in black. This created a contrast between the bright white fabrics and the walls.

Without walls where they could mount artifacts, they came up with modern easels. They also used scaffoldings to display artifacts. To keep the exhibition spaces lightened up, they used ceiling lights to avoid shadows. Essentially, the aim of the exhibition designers was to hide artifacts in order to create a sense of interest and mystery in public. People are curious to know what is inside the cylinders.

By hiding the appearance of the gallery’s ceilings, floors, and walls, the exhibition leads viewers to the cylindrical, smoke-like rooms for display. Here, they might discover the smoking role in the art scene of this country over the last 150 years. This installation explores different attitudes towards smoking or the use of the best e-cig UK products. It also considered the culture that tobacco smoking has created in Croatia and the possible feelings that people will have towards tobacco smoking in the future.

The Execution

The designers focused on creating a non-space by playing with different perception levels. It transformed and concealed the existing gallery elements and painted the area in black. That means the conventional exhibition area disappeared. Inside, a new space was built. This space has no ceilings or walls. It only has cylindrical display spaces that reminiscent oversized cigarettes or smoke circles. The rooms are softly illuminated with an enticing glow that invites visitors to have a closer look. Tobacco objects are only revealed when the visitors step inside the space.

The modern easels in the exhibition hint at the artistic creation moment in the smoke-filled studio. Smaller objects are exhibited by freestanding cases and cylindrical rods that create a special system.

The exhibits are illuminated by ceiling lights without creating shadows to bring in the contrast between the inner space, that is painted white, and the outer space, that is painted black. These elements do this without disrupting the great ephemeral feelings of the entire exhibition.

The atmosphere of the display rooms is charged with sustained interest, mystery, and discovery. Visitors are excitedly moved back and forth within the display spaces. They revisit the rooms and end up creating their path via the exhibition.

The designers enlarged the key paintings’ reproduction on the way out. These reproductions remind visitors about the Croatian’s restrictions on the image of smokers. Instead of traditional cigarettes or the best e-cigs UK, the designers displayed historical figures of the country. They also display balloons, flourishing garden veggies, and candy canes.

The finale is definitely humorous. But, it makes visitors wonder about the look that the culture of this country would have if people didn’t smoke.

The Achievement

Clearly, the Brigada is a unique, full-service art studio. From this artistic work, it’s apparent that this Zagreb based agency deals with more than just architecture. It focuses on all aspects that lead to the creation of a successful space. The agency created a space that passes a unique message. It created a link between people and space.

This particular exhibition is not just about paintings of humans with cigarettes. It reveals the smoking taboo in the history of Croatia and the evolution of smoking. Basically, the agency aimed at creating a space that is more than a mere space for artistic objects and painting. It accomplished this by creating a space that communicates a special message.

The Bottom Line

Smoking or even using the best e-cigs uk could be difficult in the future as the European Union threatens to crack down on Croatian smoking law stating that it ought to be aligned with EU directives. Currently, people are not allowed to smoke in food serving establishments except in areas designated for smoking. And to designate an area for smoking, a restaurant owner has to get the Ministry of Health’s permission. In fact, several restaurants have been closed in Zagreb for failing to follow this law. The laws of this country lifted a ban on smoking in public places that are enclosed in 2009.

But, Croatia still has strict laws on how smoking is promoted. Nevertheless, smoking remains part of the history of Croatia. Therefore, Brigada’s designers did a great job when they documented this aspect of the Croatian history while communicating a message. They succeeded in hiding the artifacts, photographs, and paints on show while capturing the interest and curiosity of visitors with glowing cylinders.