the summary book of the exhibition ‘Stand-off’
Stand-off — the exhibition ends on Sunday The history of brutality had an innocuous beginning. To gain the physical upper hand, people had to come up with ingenious ways to tune their bodies to...
The history of brutality had an innocuous beginning. To gain the physical upper hand, people had to come up with ingenious ways to tune their bodies to perfection. After one invention had followed another, there was no longer any use for good night vision, a sharp sense of smell, blade-like teeth and pointy nails. Human groups were increasingly better organized, while the rule of the strongest became intertwined with the categories of speed and distance.
Time passed and one day these strong pioneers found themselves stuck in a cul-de-sac. Shielded with various utilities that served as excellent prostheses for their senses, people's bodies became faster than their shadows — after being regularly fed on images, people turned to lightweights. Predetermined perception has revealed its dark underside.
Now, artists have taken up deconstruction, playing the roles of archetypal tricksters — characters appearing in myths and fairy tales, the ones who cross borders of different worlds, rendering themselves as messengers or rebels. They are ready to explode the system and question the established order. The portrayed bodies seem to be disciplined, fit, yet as stiff as a rock. Their choreography of brutality has developed in many areas and layers. Artists, like the prophets of change, have embarked upon a difficult mission. On the one hand, they have to foresee the dangers, misrepresentations and risks; on the other hand, they need to promise transgressions, keep a distant perspective, provide the alert strategy and protection against the normalization of what is experienced.
In this context, Stand-off has become a testing ground, a place where alertness can be trained. This rough-and-ready collection includes works made using various media: signal jamming devices, sonic weapons, wrestling classes, tips on how to boost aggression, sophisticated tortures inspired by video cartoons, nauseating smells and unpleasant sounds. The aim of this session is to prepare people for the world in its new shape — so that a human body can become even more acrobatic, fit and unmatchable — self-sufficient and omnipotent.
Curator: Marta Lisok
