The works from the cycle H&H – Hajduk Veljko vs. Hamlet are a result of his reaction to Brand-ization, trademarking and standardize strongly and obsessively penetrating all aspects of our everyday existence and often having an aggressive impact on intellect. Stojanovic, as a representative member of the generation growing up in the times of a global domination of the brand ideology and manipulation on the widest level (born in 1982), recognizes codes and their traps without succumbing to them. Such an attitude enables him to stay focused on his education and relaxed about the famous. Searching for the essence, the author primarily turns towards exploring the bases of brand communication – typology and standardization. The research into the range of meanings and effects of already established archetypal models – Hajduk Veljko as a canon figure of the Macho principle, active battle and heroism on one side, and Hamlet as a symbol of unrecognized intellectual honesty and a search for an ethical codex on the other, Stojanovic carries out by comparing them to the newly established symbols of the current civilization effects. Crude and often cruelly sarcastic combination resulting from it reveals the non-sense created by overusing an archetype which after the stadium of being a prototype becomes a stereotype. In the history and theory of art it has already been established that humor and irony are the starting points of realism, and that caricature is one of the strongest instruments of the criticism and expressions of the essence. The combination of the archaic and primitively shaped relief of Hajduk Veljko made from a beaten copper plate and a sophisticated, and (not irrelevant) waxed model shaped by body building taken from the covers of Playgirl or gay web sites (completely all the same and yet again very important) clearly shows the mechanism of ideological distortion. A widely spread use (abuse) of a myth deprives the content of the archetype of any sense whatsoever. An irresponsible utilization destroys the sense in most cases. The kitschy décor used by Stojanovic is not an act of ridicule, but an act of reminding us of the responsibility in creating brands and an act of provoking the audience into considering this topic..

Dejan Radovanovic