CURATOR Lara Mejač

︎︎︎STATEMENT

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         Visual artists Trin Alt and Zuza Golińska create site-specific environments which often refer to post-apocalyptic fantasies and aesthetics, while reflecting on the possible destinies of our planet in the light of accelerating capitalism, climate change, and its rapid consequences to our environment. In the exhibition Scorching they relate to different visions of the future, such as contaminated landscapes with totems sprouting from the toxic soil or the formation of a new outlaw motorcycle club, determined to create alternative identity.

         The title of Zuza Golińska's sculptural series Red Giants is connected to the term used to describe the expansion and lighting up of dying stars in the final stages of their stellar evolution. The totems created from waste, gathered by the artist in the Gdańsk Shipyard connect to the solarpunk movement in which people no longer produce, but recycle and reuse what is left after an apocalypse, caused by the Sun slowly dying. The raw forms of the sculptures bring to mind prehistoric totems representing solar deities and are reminiscent of times when nature and humans were more intertwined.

         Post-apocalyptic narratives often feature biker communities portrayed as groups of outcasts surviving and living dangerously on the edge of society. By combining charcoal drawings with a series of hand-painted pink helmets, Trin Alt's works create a representation of a new, less binary-oriented community, in which vulnerability replaces the stereotypical macho aesthetic and ideology of the motorcycle gangs. The adaptation to the new living conditions is symbolized by the reappearing motif of a spider, one of the most resilient animals to survive in harsh environments.

         In the exhibition, both artists connect different visions of the future reminiscent of scenes present in sci-fi and post-apocalyptic fiction, computer games, or movies which until recently seemed impossible, but have now become an inescapable part of our reality. By combining glimpses of possible outcomes for our planet both artists highlight unpredictability, the fear of the unknown, and the potential for a future where resources are scarce. The artists are not offering an answer to the question What will the future on our planet look like?, but leave the viewer with the possibility of different scenarios - an awakening of a new community living in an ecological utopia where nature and technology grow in harmony, a dystopian nightmare full of violent counterculture movements or the Earth transforming into an uninhabitable contaminated wasteland.


︎︎︎ABOUT THE ARTISTS

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            Trin Alt (2002) is an emerging artist mainly working with the medium of drawing in an expanded field – he is exploring the limits of drawing using various techniques usually associated with graphic design, such as stencil and airbrush in a deconstructive manner. His work derives themes from self-exploration, dramatic changes in today's societies and struggles of Gen Z. He is interested in often explicit, yet highly stylized erotic subjects as an analysis on the role of gender within the contemporary realm. He exhibited his work in Spaza Space and LUSTR 9 Festival in Prague, Garden Cult Triennale I in Sopot, and Garden Cult Triennale II in Baden-Baden, and participated in an online exhibition by Zacheta Gallery in Warsaw.  He is currently living and working in Vienna and Prague.

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         Zuza Golińska (1990) is a multidisciplinary artist who explores the impact of architecture and public space on the human individual. Her art reflects on how human physical and mental well-being is influenced by the psychology of space in the time of civilizational acceleration and late capitalism. In her work, Golińska frequently disrupts the clear-cut division between the functional and the aesthetic as she examines the influence of spatial forms on the emotions and decisions of users. She presented her works at the Museum of Modern Art and Zachęta – National Gallery in Warsaw, Delfina Foundation in London, National Gallery in Prague, Kunstmuseum in Bonn, and during Yokohama Triennale. She is currently living and working in Warsaw and Gdańsk.

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            Naslov kiparske serije Red Giants (Rdeče orjakinje) Zuze Golińske je povezan z izrazom, ki se uporablja za opis povečanja in izžarevanja umirajočih zvezd v zadnjih fazah njihovega zvezdnega razvoja. Totemi, ustvarjeni iz odpadkov, ki jih je umetnica zbirala v ladjedelnici v Gdansku, se povezujejo s solarpunk gibanjem, v katerem so ljudje v prihodnosti prenehali s proizvodnjo ter samo še reciklirajo in ponovno uporabijo tisto, kar je ostalo po apokalipsi, ki jo je povzročilo počasno umiranje Sonca. Surove oblike skulptur hkrati pred oči prikličejo podobe na prazgodovinske toteme sončnim božanstvom, in spominjajo na čase, ko sta bila narava in človek bolj povezana.

            V postapokaliptičnih narativah se pogosto pojavljajo tudi skupnosti motoristov, prikazane kot skupine izobčencev, ki preživijo in nevarno živijo na robu družbe. Dela Trina Alta z združevanjem risb z ogljem in serije ročno poslikanih rožnatih čelad predstavljajo nove, manj binarno usmerjene skupnosti, v kateri ranljivost nadomešča stereotipno mačistično estetiko in ideologijo motorističnih tolp. Prilagoditev novim življenjskim razmeram simbolizira tudi pogosto pojavljajoči se motiv pajka, ene najbolj odpornih živali, ki je zmožna preživeti v težkih okoljih.
Oba umetnika tako povezujeta različne vizije prihodnosti, ki spominjajo na prizore iz sci-fi in postapokaliptične fikcije, računalniških iger ali filmov, ki so se še nedavno zdeli nemogoči, zdaj pa so postali neizogiben del naše realnosti. Z združevanjem pogledov na možne razplete za naš planet umetnika poudarjata nepredvidljivost, strah pred neznanim in prihodnost, v kateri bodo viri omejeni. Umetnika ne ponujata odgovora na vprašanje, kakšna bo prihodnost našega planeta, temveč gledalcu prepuščata možnost različnih scenarijev - prebuditev nove skupnosti, ki živi v ekološki utopiji, kjer narava in tehnologija rasteta v harmoniji, distopično nočno moro, polno nasilnih gverilskih gibanj, ali Zemljo, ki se spreminja v nenaseljivo kontaminirano pustinjo.

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            Trin Alt (2002) je umetnik, ki na destruktiven način raziskuje meje risbe z uporabo različnih tehnik, ki jih običajno povezujemo z grafičnim oblikovanjem, kot sta šablonska risba in airbrush. Njegova dela izhajajo iz premislekov o samoraziskovanju, dramatičnih spremembah v današnji družbi in izzivih generacije Z. Zanimajo ga pogosto eksplicitne, a močno stilizirane erotične podobe ter razmislek o vlogi spola v sodobnem prostoru. Svoja dela je razstavljal v Spaza Space in na festivalu LUSTR 9 v Pragi, na Garden Cult Triennale I v Sopotu in Garden Cult Triennale II v Baden-Badnu ter sodeloval na spletni razstavi v Zachęti - Narodni galeriji v Varšavi. Trenutno živi in dela na Dunaju in v Pragi.

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            Zuza Golińska (1990) je multidisciplinarna umetnica, ki raziskuje vpliv arhitekture in javnega prostora na človeka. V svoji umetniški praksi razmišlja o tem, kako na človekovo telesno in duševno počutje vpliva psihologija prostora v času civilizacijskega pospeška in poznega kapitalizma. Golińska pri svojem delu pogosto ruši jasno ločnico med funkcionalnim in estetskim, pri čemer raziskuje vpliv prostorskih oblik na čustva in odločitve posameznika. Svoja dela je predstavila v Muzeju moderne umetnosti in Zachęti - Narodni galeriji v Varšavi, Fundaciji Delfina v Londonu, Narodni galeriji v Pragi, Kunstmuseumu v Bonnu in na trienalu v Jokohami. Trenutno živi in dela v Varšavi in Gdansku.

︎︎︎INSTALLATION VIEWS

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