UGLY SCENES. NUANCES _____ 21.11.24 - 25.01.2025

Super Bien, Berlin, DE

In this series of works, I turn to Deleuze's philosophy of layering, distinction and repetition, vibration and oscillation. Contrasts are an integral part of our history. I adhere to the concept of ‘punitive restraint’ (Foucault) in an attempt to hide the emotional component, as if cut by anxiety. Awareness of unrealised utopias, thinking in categories of totality - all of this is hidden in the details carved into the wooden surface and hidden in black pigment.

I continue to reflect on the repetition of violence in history and the system of formalisation, classification and ordering of events that create distance between us and the emotional perception of the tragic episodes of our time. For the visual narrative I turn to religious symbolism, techniques often used in sacred art, as well as the cold conventionality of minimalism. The vertical, fragile lines of the monument-like sculptures contrast with the contextualised element. The horizontal, repetitive lines of the drawing on the ‘monuments’ are remotely reminiscent of a bureaucratic form or a formal list stretching into infinity. An endless repetition of history's mistakes that cannot be fixed. Modernity is immersed in anxiety and catastrophising. From this comes the desire to systematise everything.

The aesthetic visualisation of violent scenes in different epochs had a cathartic function, as well as being conditioned by eschatological consciousness and collective fears. When confronted with images of visualised violence, we experience a range of emotions that have a ‘purifying’ effect. Clear examples can be seen in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Through the tragedy of the individual, the tragedy of the world is manifested. And vice versa. An interest in the interaction of the object with the space can also be seen in the works, and the contrasting elements of the installation are placed in dialogue.