From "Neo2", March/April 2001

Death is in fashion

"Ljubljana 1990. Mankind died 2000 years ago. Survival is possible thank to the Extrabodies, i.e., inorganic elements torn, untangled and decrepit. The History of Flesh come from the Flesh sculpted by pain and injury. The photograph show the Sadistic Look of the Dead, whose eyes capture all that was alive and beating a few seconds ago".
Who is Darko Maver? The above writing seem to be the introduction by the mysterious artist to his own unfinished work 'Tanz der spinne', which finished off his life. But, did Darko Maver really exist or was it another spectacular setup by the underground artistic scene?
The more alternative art bulletins denounced the death of a Darko Maver in a prison in Podgorica (Yugoslavia) one the 15th of May 1999, under circumstances that aroused suspicions that he was murdered by the government. Maver had been arrested by the military on the outskirts of Kosovo, accused of incitement to murder, among other things. The official version said that Darko committed suicide in his own cell while waiting to be prosecuted.
Suicide didn't seem to be included in Maver's plan, given that he knew he was innocent of all the charges. The events started in 1990, when the artist began to make ridicule the press and the police by leaving a collection of false corpse all throughout Yugoslavia. This was all part of his work 'Tanz der spinne'. The wild performance started in 1990 and consisted on leaving false clues of appalling murders and atrocities, to afterwards collect the media's reaction to them. The artist placed brutally mutilated corpse (actually absolutely realistic latex dummies) in strategic places around the country. Then he took photographs of them and sat back to wait for them to be found. He traveled through dozens of towns leaving behind trails of a similar number of false crimes. In 1997 he was arrested by the police and subsequently released due to lack of evidence. He had a whole country in suspense for almost a decade. Invariably, the media and the police fell into his traps. Until he was tracked down in 1999 and jailed, never to leave again.
Up to this point, a fascinating story. We also have a website with photographs of the corpses and the press cuttings of his gruesome adventures. But, once into this underworld of art, the limits of the real become vague. Did Darko Maver actually exist or does he and his tragedy form a work of art? Some claim the falseness of the story, as the last joke of the so-called artist; Others publicly rebel against the unfairness of his death. Once again, it is up to you to decide what is real and what is not. After all, it only matters on what you believe.