"Ruins of Future Utopia" is an instrumental music peace that came along as a result of cooperation between VVhile and Belgrade based artist Saša Tkačenko, as part of his latest solo exhibition of the same title. Saša asked the band to take a political song from 1940s called "Bilećanka" as the starting point for the interpretation. Originally, "Bilećanka" came up in political camp in Bileća where Yugoslavian leftists were imprisoned on the verge of the WWII. In a short period of time, the song spontaneously became a symbol of the resistance and the battle for freedom. Taking "Bilećanka" as conceptual core, VVhile constructed their vision on ideals, utopias, and constant destructions related to the historical turbulences in ex-Yugoslavia territories.

Using the elements of the given song, VVhile created 30 minute-long piece that was performed and recorded in one take. For this occasion, they’ve left the boundaries of their standard guitar/drums/vocals setup and employed more experimental approach, using electronic instruments to create droning soundscapes. On the other hand, with their basic instruments they formed rhythmical patterns, approaching them as if they were drum machines and sequencers.
The composition was performed in Eugster Gallery in Belgrade, in the actual place of the exhibition that came after. Video was filmed with two cameras and together with the audio recording represents one of the exhibited works at the show.

As stated by the artist himself "Ruins of Future Utopia" are, simply said, about nostalgia - but not about this feeling of sadness that we all know. It's this hidden level of nostalgia that we are silent about, that always invites us to get back to it in a seductive way. Through collection of images, words and symbols, Tkačenko creates the platform for memories and feelings, communal and universal on one side and deeply personal on the other. Melancholy is a grief for an abstract subject, and in the case of such exhibition in Belgrade, it is Yugoslavia. At the same time, Yugoslavia can be a synonym for any other utopia.

Digital album "Ruins of Future Utopia" is available through our Bandcamp page. Pre-order of the limited vinyl release is available now and will be shipped in July 2018. Every purchase of digital or vinyl version of the album comes with code for the streaming of an earlier mentioned audio-video artwork from the exhibition.

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"Ruins of Future Utopia" je instrumentalna kompozicija nastala u saradnji sa beogradskim umetnikom Sašom Tkačenkom, kao deo njegove nove samostalne multimedijalne izložbe istog naziva. Za osnovu rada uzeta je pesma Bilećanka, nastala 40-ih godina prošlog veka u logoru u Bileći, u kome su pred početak Drugog svetskog rata zatvarani jugoslovenski intelektualci levičarskih uverenja. Skovana od strane zatočenih disidenata, pesma se spontano širila i vrlo brzo postala simbol otpora i istrajnosti u borbi za njihove ideale. Odabrana od strane Saše Tkačenka, pesma Bilećanka postavljena je pred VVhile kao idejno jezgro na kome su gradili svoju viziju o idealima, utopijama i neprekidnim urušavanjima u istorijskim turbulencijama na prostorima bivše Jugoslavije.

Koristeći elemente pomenute pesme, VVhile su stvorili polučasovni komad snimljen uživo u jednom take-u. Ovoga puta izašli su iz svoje standardne forme bubanj-gitara-vokali i okrenuli se eksperimentalnijem pristupu. U stvaranju zvučnih pejzaža ulogu su preuzeli elektronski instrumenti, dok su nasuprot tome njihovi osnovni instrumenti stavljeni u funkciju ritam mašina i sintisajzera. Kompozicija je zvučno i vizuelno snimljena u prostoru galerije Eugster, gde je izložba postavljena ubrzo nakon toga. Video snimak urađen sa dve kamere prikazuje proces nastajanja i izvođenja kompozicije. Zajedno sa audio zapisom čini jedan od radova na izložbi Saše Tkačenka.

Prema Tkačenku, Ruine budućih utopija su najkraće rečeno o nostalgiji – ali ne o onom osećaju sete za koji svi znamo, već o nivou nostalgije o kom se ćuti, o njenoj zavodljivoj strani koja nas poziva da joj se stalno vraćamo. Kroz kolekciju reči, slika i simbola, Tkačenko stvara platformu za sećanja i osećanja, naizgled kolektivna i univerzalna, a na kraju sasvim lična. Melanholija je tuga za apstraktnim subjektom, u slučaju jedne beogradske izložbe to je Jugoslavija, ali u širem smislu Jugoslavija postaje sinonim za bilo koju drugu utopiju.

Album "Ruins of Future Utopia" dostupan je u digitalnom formatu preko Bandcamp stranice, po principu "plati koliko želiš". Od 25. februara započinje pre-order limitiranog vinilnog izdanja, koje će biti dostupno od jula 2018. Uz svaki kupljeni primerak albuma, bilo digitalni ili vinilni, dobija se kod za gledanje pomenutog video rada sa izložbe.