Tomaž Furlan is an established visual artist who uses humour and (self-)irony to explore the position of the individual/worker within social and economic relations, emphasising the repetition, monotony and meaninglessness of everyday (work) processes. In creating his works, he consistently uses a wide range of waste materials, remnants and discarded objects, which in recent years he has combined with more homogeneous sculptural techniques such as concrete casting and stone carving. Although his practice is conceptually driven, his working method is engineer-minded, as his creative process involves constructing various mechanisms, using digital technologies and applying a broad spectrum of craftsmanship knowledge and handicraft skills. The works produced through this process are multifunctional and invite the viewer to active participation, testing and use, thereby transforming them from a passive observer of the artwork into an integral part of it.

In this exhibition, the artist is showing selected works from his oeuvre, all linked by their presence in the living space of the ordinary working person. At first glance, the viewer sees a chair, a sofa, a toilet bowl, a set of work clothes and tools, and a donkey as a traditional transport animal. The common thread linking all of this is – loosely following Marx – the (re)production of the working person, as it takes us through their everyday life, which includes both work and so-called free time, since the latter, devoted to rest and eating, merely enables continued work. However, a closer look reveals that each exhibited piece is not only what it appears to be, but also possesses an additional, inversely proportional function. The chair, for example, allows the person sitting on it to kick the person standing in front of them and hence move forward. By turning the handles in a rowing-like motion, the user of the sofa sets in motion the circulation of the money hidden in the mechanism behind it. The toilet bowl, equipped with a power socket within arm's reach, ensures that even during elimination – one of the few, if not the only, acts excluded from the production process (a notion indirectly confirmed by the saying that even the emperor goes there on foot) – the user remains present via a chosen electronic device. The worker's outfit features screens embedded in the sleeves of the overalls with work instructions. Similarly, the donkey, this proverbially resilient working animal, proves useless, as the spots on its completely white body make it appear sick or, at best, merely decorative.

All the exhibited works share a functional twist that can potentially alter the user's position, allowing the worker to step into the role of driver, supervisor, speculator, profiteer or even owner of the means of production. In each role, the central question is that posed by the exhibition: Does it (or does anyone) work? This question constantly haunts the owner of the means of production. Does it work? is on the lips of workers and consumers, who anxiously query the purchase of increasingly poor-quality products. Does it work? is what we ask one another as users of state bureaucratic systems, health services, communication technologies and public transport. Does it work? – in a contemporary labour society, where individuals are entangled in numerous systems and work processes, and dependent on a range of devices, machines and support equipment – becomes a fundamental existential question.

---

Tomaž Furlan (1978) graduated in Sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. He has shown his work in many solo exhibitions, including at the Božidar Jakac Gallery in Kostanjevica na Krki (2021), the City Art Gallery Ljubljana (2024–2025) and the Loft Gallery at the Škofja Loka Museum (2025–2026), as well as in numerous group presentations, most notably in recent years the 10th Triennial of Contemporary Slovenian Art – U3: Against the Stream of Time, Moderna galerija, Ljubljana (2024). He is the recipient of the OHO Award (2012) and the Rihard Jakopič Recognition Award (2017). He lives and works in Ljubljana and Škofja Loka.
tomazfurlan.art