What Dreams May Come: Art Synthesis in Vladan Radovanović’s Radiophonic Work Small Eternal Lake (1984)

Abstract

Vladan Radovanović (b. 1932) is the most prominent Serbian avant-garde composer and a pioneer of electronic music in Yugoslavia. Coining the term ‘Art Synthesis’ to describe his polymedia works––a type of polymedia art in which relations between the individual media components occupy various degrees of interdependence and determinacy––Radovanović aims to explore the outermost limits of every art. In 1984, Radovanović synthesized the textual descriptions of his dreams, his drawings of selected dreams, and electro-acoustic music to create a radiophonic work, Small Eternal Lake [Malo večno jezero]. Thus, Radovanović synthesizes the verbal, visual, and musical elements into a polymedia art project, allowing for an interpretation of the transformation from the Dreamer’s subconsciousness into the composer’s consciousness. This article examines Radovanović’s innovations in the domain of art synthesis through an analysis of his pivotal work, Small Eternal Lake (1984), created at the Electronic Studio Radio Belgrade.