Avenir Institute

https://www.stateofnoland.info

History is a cemetery filled with the unrealised futures’ graves. It has the centralised monumental pathway which conveniently makes sense while leading towards the socio-political currents, which is presented as the logical outcome of historical processes. Biographies of Churchill, Hitler, Napoleon, etc that are re-published anew every year, solidifying the ‘main pathway’ of that spectacular graveyard. The reaffirmed meta-message is: there could not have been any other outcome and our fate is sealed. We are in a sort of bunker of an everlasting present where the only possible future appears to be walking along this monumental alley of overly celebrated (mostly male and white) figureheads that cross-justify one another. We need to escape it.

The participants of this workshop are invited to revive the alternative futures in the past by collectively identifying, mapping and performing their “thingness” or potentiality: the reason of nostalgia and relevance, which often can’t be easily elaborated in wording. Each participant is asked to contribute an object that, according to them, contains “thingness” of the unrealised future that could have but yet didn’t happen. The choice of an unrealised future can be motivated by political, historical, personal, or any other subjective qualities. Turning these possible narratives into catalysers or ignition devices, we will be setting up a political theatre of alternatives as an escape from the bunker of the everlasting present. We will aim to create loopholes in the systems that constitute our given conditions and project ourselves onto that future(s) that were (and still are?) a possibility.

Can the “thingness” be extracted and weaponised as a tool of resistance? Can it be synergised? The workshop nests in the context of Avenir Institute’s research seminar F(r)ictions aimed at the deconstruction of the aesthetic and narrative fabric of history, revelation of the alternative possible futures and building up the speculation as if they had happened.

https://www.janvaneyck.nl/en/news/denis-maksimov/

A sculptural materialization of the game of power developed by Avenir Institute in St Petersburg:

“The project departs from the critical theory and the theory of futures, embedded in gamification mechanisms from popular board games, played by the people of all generations. The board game consist of a board in the shape of the map of Russia, the game pieces representing the various centres of possible futures (medicine, communication technology, energy, etc.), the score coins that are distributed by chance, and political leader figures, whose function in the game is to close the towers of possible futures into one fixed ‘the future’ - a gesture that allows to claim the scores for players. Each player places pieces on the map, which is carefully balanced on an elevated stand. The higher the tower and the further from the centre of the map it is built, the more points the player claims at the point of topping the tower with a political leader. The players can build on each other’s towers, but the one who started the tower and the one who closed it with the political leader gets the most points. The players cannot put coins on the map arbitrarily and move their tokens as in Draughts (or Checkers). The players, while building towers, have to mind the balance of the platform: in case towers are not built carefully, the platform can incline and collapse “the game of futures” for everyone. The winner of ‘The Game of Futures II’ defines the core of the desirable future scenario: based on the type of events (avenirs) their tokens represent.

None of the scenarios of futures is right or wrong: the competitive character and the critical nature of the game are reflected in the relativity of the gameplay and the role of luck along with strategic considerations - crucial for the resilience and balance of the platform.”

A collage of the profiles of Angela Merkel, Jair Bolsonaro, Jacinda Andern, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi — the faces of seemingly different power styles and geopolitically distant forces. This sculpture superpositions the profile of a leader with that of the king from the game of chess. Is there life after the king has lost?

Avenirologic Hymns (video - http://hdkepler.net/en/projects)

Text: Denis Maksimov

Interpretation: Macklin Kowal

Camera & Editing: Joshua Olsthoorn

In the frame of Dedication, an exhibition by Florent Frizet

Sub Rosa, Athens 2018

listen to the audio recording

exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (UK), in June 2018.

shown as exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum in June 2018, London (UK).

exhibited in CCI Fabrika in Moscow (RU), in May 2018; in Victoria & Albert Museum in London (UK), in June 2018.

unique; exhibited at Agency of Singular Investigations in CCI Fabrika, Moscow (RU), in May 2018.

The large rhizomatic map, consisting of 24 panels, is aesthetically resembling the illustration of Thomas More's Utopia. The largest panels (quadrat in shape) feature the eight fundamental elements of the nation state, named in Latin: "institutio" (institutionalised governance), "symbolum" (symbolic materialisation of the state, such as flag, anthem, coat of arms, etc), "cultura" (the designation of the national culture), "educatio" (national education system), "disciplina" (civil order), "tributa" (judicial system), "vis" (image of an external enemy, danger or evil), "hostis" (image of an internal enemy, danger or evil). All the panels feature imaginary lnadscapes, which are named in accordance with the leading thinkers, concepts, agents, events, etc that contributed to the naturalisation the imaginary of the nation state (for example, "Peak of Morgenthau", "Forest of Legitimacy", "River Westphalia", etc). All together, the conceptual map is a superposition of naturalised but imaginary elements that constitute materiality of the nation state. The map, which in itself acts as coat of arms (somewhat nullifying the imaginary of the nation state), is installed in between of the two hanging banners of State of Noland - which feature a joint representation of the superimposed symbols of the queer agents of power from Ancient Greek mythology, Athena and Dionysus (among them owl, panthers, pine cone).

unique; exhibited: “Queer Futures”, Mimosa House, London (March - May 2018).

unique; exhibited: “Queer Futures”, Mimosa House, London (March - May 2018).

"Less Than Three" is a 36-pages book, which defines the Ancient Greek terms for attraction before the introduction of the word "love" as a common denominator for all the possible diversity in the infinite range of possible feelings and relationships between people. Each type of affection (eros, agape, paignidi, philautia, philia, pragma) is defined in the encyclopaedic form and accompanied by a poem. The text is printed in a circular shape, allowing to create from each perfect-square page an origami of individual rose. The 6 roses will be presented alongside with the book.  

It was developed by Avenir Institute upon invitation by Brazilian artist Sandra Cinto and Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) and will be on the permanent display in CAC from October 2017. 

Nation state is a modern fiction. We don't need alternatives - we need an alternative thinking about the alternatives. In the lecture-performance, Avenir Institute presents a concept of "organs without the body" in relation to statehood, reversing the proposed notions of Deleuze & Guattari and theatre of cruelty of Artaud.

Audio: https://audioboom.com/posts/5898507-state-of-noland-towards-a-post-nationhood-world

The publication contains mind maps of futures thinking terminology and the selection of the texts, written by the Institute in 2015-2016 in different contexts, where the terms are directly or indirectly employed.

The aesthetic form of the book is a "working paper": the reader is invited to deconstruct the book physically, intervene with her comments, writings and doodles; share pages or parts of the book. 

download pdf

Institutional Twilight /ˌinstəˈt(y)o͞oSH(ə)n(ə)l ˈtwīˌlīt/

a state of ambiguity, or gradual decline of the strict forms of organization at the intersec- tions between the respective areas of authority of a multiplicity of complex, hierarchical social and political institutions.

Hemera /ˈhɛmərə/

the personification of day and one of the ancient Greek primordial deities. Her husband was her brother Aether (Light), with whom she gave birth to Thalassa (Sea), Uranus (Heavens) and Gaia (Earth). According to Hesiod's Theogony, Hemera left Tartarus just as Nyx entered it; when Hemera returned, Nyx left.

Nyx /ˈnɪks/

the personification of night and one of the ancient Greek goddesses. A shadowy figure, Nyx stood at or near the beginning of creation and mothered other personified deities such as Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death), with Erebus (Darkness). Her appearances are sparse in surviving mythology, but reveal her as a figure of such exceptional power and beauty that she is feared by Zeus himself.

As a summary of the think tank’s transdisciplinary researches between 2015 and 2016, Avenir Institute presents the total installation Temple of Futures Thinking. The political theologist Carl Schmitt argued about the nature of political as inherently religious. The belief in the sacred nature of the non-visualisable notions of ‘social contract’ or ‘democracy’ is quite proximate to the assurance in life after death, the existence of karma and so forth. Why then to settle for a limited one-dimensionality of monotheistic and autocratic teachings of the books?

The Temple of Futures Thinking is critical: it does not o er answers on the eternal questions, but it twists the processes of re ection about their roots. Knowledges are in nitely plural as are the possible interpretations of thinking patterns. Just like in Ancient Greek mythology, the literal is poetic and the poetic is literal. It is the superposition of human intellectual and emotional intelligence. The total installation consists of 7 brass mind maps with the core terms for contemporary futures thinking introduced by the Institute, the lecture- performance “The Epistemology of Border”, which digs critically in the nature of enclosed systemic thinking, and the publication “Against the Future or Building the Temple of Futures Thinking”.

In the midst of the socio-political search for a new modernity, triggered by the perceived collapse of the postmodern promise, and the settling for the convenient refuge in nostalgia, we o er a focus on futures thinking as the way to replace the blind simplicity with a beautiful and multidimensional complexity. If we are anthropologically inclined to believe in something, let it be the belief in the limitlessness of human potentiality.

Presented in Projeto Fidalga in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

download catalogue of the exhibition

"It may be that the growth of science and engineering inevitably outstrips the development of political expertise, leading to disaster" - recently noted by Brian Cox, an Advanced Fellow of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester.

One of the paramount issues about futures of the humanity is its possible resilience to the socio-political paradoxes of behavioural (ir)rationality. While technological progress constantly multiplies the speed of changes and expands the vision of the 'possible', political staleness is resulting in an illusion of an everlasting present of anthropological time. The staleness and the illustion together keep the common conciousness (even if it exists) in a flat state. What are the perks of the expanding distance between technology and politics? Can epistemology and hermeneutics become pro-active agents? What role does art play in the constant misbalance? 

Lecture-performance was organised as a result of the research residency of Avenir Institute in January in Brussels, Belgium. 

"The think tank Avenir Institute has collaborated with Filthy French on a mood board / slow dance mix, which premiered at the opening of the installation “Moirai Realität” on December 1st 2016.

The mix features voices of the Institute co-founders, a curator and critic Denis Maksimov (RU/BE) & artist and designer Timo Tuominen (FI). Critical texts 'Avenir Manifesto' and ‘We have hardly yet begun’ are intertwined with energetic and uplifting beats."

Listen to it here.

Moirai Realität is a mixed media performance and installation, developed upon invitation from Platform-Berlin. It is a critical reflection on the process of narrating, legitimising and consuming the subjective "real" in the age of media. As Nietzsche murdered the divinity and post-modernism granted access to ultimate freedom in designing one's values and perceptions, the new normal shifted towards somewhat confusing personalised pick-and-choose 'curation' out of the randomness of ever-increasing information flow. 

Moirai are the goddesses-witches in the Greek Mythology that stitch the carpet of fate for both wo(man) and Gods. They were among few characters feared even by the Olympians. 

The installation consists of the set of printed statements on the walls of the Platform and the numbered balls, which are drawn from the bowl to be turned into a fresh narration of a constructed reality. The order of drawing the balls by the performers sums up in a reason-consequence sequence, which is in fact randomly composed by impartial "moirai": beyond morals, strategies and schemes. 

The public installation is on display 24/7 from December 1 till 31 at U-Bhf Kleistpark upper level in Berlin Schoneberg. 

"...The single ’real’ is overpopulated. It is competitive, as of entering in conflict ethical and value systems, and polluted with ever-increasing amount of information about the world’s complexities from an infinite number of perspectives. The pressure of coexistence between the alternative visions of moral, ethical and political is becoming more unbearable both within and beyond the different political entities. For a example a cleavage of American and British electorate between pro-nationalist, pro-liberal and those who choose to abstain paint a picture of the fundamentally fractured visions of futures co-existing in the same time-space. What if the possibility to generate alternative realities will be offered for the situations where compromise is not obtainable? The VR fused with augmented reality set can provide to both Israeli and Palestinian opportunity to see Jerusalem as their sole capital..." (exerpt) 

Avenir Institute developed 'The Game of Futures #2' together with the members of the youth club 'Sreda’ during the month of the residency in St Petersburg, invited by TOK Curators. 

The project departs from the critical theory and the theory of futures,  embedded in gamification mechanisms from popular board games, played by the people of all generations, the young people in particular, in St Petersburg and beyond.  ‘The Game of Futures #2’ is an installation, a sculpture and a board game that consists of a game board the shape of the map of the modern Russia, game pieces of several types, representing the various centres of possible futures (medicine, communication technology, energy, etc.). It also includes score coins that are distributed by chance, and political leader figures, whose function in the game is to close the towers of futures into ‘the future’ and claim the scores for players. The players have to mind the balance of the platform: in case towers are not evenly built, the platform can incline and collapse the game of futures for everyone. The winner in ‘The Game of Futures #2’ defines the core of the desirable future scenario: based on the type of events (avenirs) his/her coins represent. 

None of the scenarios of futures is right or wrong: the competitive character and the critical nature of the game are reflected in the relativity of the gameplay and the role of luck along with strategic considerations - crucial for the resilience and balance of the platform. 

The installation/game is produced at the Fab Lab in the St Petersburg State Polytechnic University. 

The fourth season of 'Critical Mass' is supported by:

Sector for uth licy and llaboration with blic ganizations of the Administration of the Petrogradskiy strict
Nordic Culture Fund
FRAME Finnish Visual Art Foundation
Taiga Space

The installation/sculpture was presented in the group exhibition "Be a Guest in My Possible Future" (part of the Bonus Block of the 1st Worldwide Studio and Apartment Biennale) in Kotelnicheckaya Embankment Building in Moscow, Russia, in October 13-17, 2016. 

The installation was designed in Belgium and the United Kingdom and produced in London in 2016. 

Avenir Institute presented the concepts of ‘avenirology’ and ‘everlasting present’, that it has been working on since it’s initiation, as well as some of the projects it has been working on. The Institute Subjective Future Scenarios department’s methodology is the basis for developing the collaboration with one of the St Petersburg youth clubs as a part of the fourth season of The Critical Mass.

Avenir Institute was invited by TOK curatorial collective to lead the art & theory laboratory as collaborative working process with local St. Petersburg youth club. The process will result in presentation of subjective future scenario(s), developed from the application of avenirology as methodological approach, in a form of performance, lecture or exhibition. The process will be based on critical reflection within the socio-political and cultural context.

The work was produced in Sao Paulo (BR) for the exhibition "Bureau for Public Insecurities" (September 4-17, 2016) at SAO Art Space. The exhibition was organised in the context of 32nd Bienal de Sao Paulo. 

The work was produced in Sao Paulo (BR) for the exhibition "Bureau for Public Insecurities" (September 4-17, 2016) at SAO Art Space. The exhibition was organised in the context of 32nd Bienal de Sao Paulo. 

The border is an invisible, imaginary, fictional line which essential to the process of self-identification, the basis of socio-political hierarchy. What does 'border' mean in complex societal context now and how it can diverge in possible futures? 

The lecture-performance was a part of the programme of The Nationless Pavilion in the programme of Biennale Urbana. It was staged in Teatro Marinoni on Lido in Venice during the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale 'Reporting from the Front'. 

More information

The book is the result of spontaneous photo project that was produced on the morning of November 14, 2015, following the night of so-called 'Paris attacks' that claimed lives of 137 people. It documents the life in the city several hours after the attacks. Traces of the media hype and official emergency safety measures (including closure of all public institutions) enter in dialogue with "business as usual" scenes of Parisian morning.

Exhibited as a part of the project 'A New Social Contract', curated by Elena Giulia Abbiatici in the programme of the Something Else / Cairo Off Biennale, that took place in November 28th, 2015 –December 30th, 2015 in Cairo. Something Else / Cairo Off Biennale was organised by Darb 1718 and curated by Simon Njami. 

The group work during 3 days mediated by Denis Maksimov led to conceptual and artistic outcomes in the form of texts and installations, that formed exhibition of the Nationless Pavilion in the context of the 56th Biennale Arte 'All the World's Futures'. 

More information

Presentation of Avenir Institute Manifesto during The Creative Time Summit at the 56th Venice Biennale played the role of official launch of institution. 

Text of Avenir Manifesto

This publication is a blueprint - figuratively, literally, aesthetically, conceptually. It is a preliminary speculations in investigation of notions of ‘risks’, ‘avenirs’ and ‘futures’, that I have been working on in the framework of the doctoral research in Political Science in Moscow and artistic research in Antwerp. This blueprint is a roadmap (what ‘blueprint’ literally means in the world of political expertise) - to futures in the alternative context of approaching them. It is ever-developing ‘draft’, an immanent ‘blueprint’.

The tension between futures as composition of ‘risks’ and ‘avenirs’ is the centerpiece of this publication. Derrida’s definition of ‘the Future’ as a set of planned events is a contemporary narrative of approaching the analysis of events to come. The aim of this publication is to refocus the conversation towards ‘futures’ as something more than terrifying, dystopian picture of horrific risks which eventual realization will be the reason of every-
one’s doom. It is about rediscovery of futures as the matter of potentialities beyond space and time.

This analysis doesn’t include only theoretical and philosophical investigation. The dichotomy between ‘risk’ and ‘avenir’ is explored via blend of the strategies of transdisciplinary background - the book features artistic writings by invited contributors. The scope of it is quite larger than the offered theoretical frame. The blueprint is meant to act as rough introduction into more comprehensive and focused investigation of ‘avenirology’ as methodology of deconstruction of futures.

Chapters ‘Focus’ and ‘Untitled’, as well are introductions to other Chapters, are written by me. Chapter ‘Context’ consists of the curated by the editor texts on the topic of ‘futures’ as it is approached by the opinion leaders of the contemporary cultural discourse. Chapter ‘Avenirs’ consists of original contributions. There are contributions by the contemporary art curator and critic Caroline Carrion, polymathic engineer and co-founder of Av-
enir Institute Timo Tuominen and conceptual artist Bruno Moreschi. Their speculations about ‘futures’ open multidimensional view on the subject from the perspectives of con-
text, object and medium of the address. Seemingly absent connection between the text loosely reflects immense richness of the ‘matter’ of the topic when it’s approached from different discourses of reflection and analysis. Analytical speculations and artistic writings are part of the unified flow of narration.

All copies are numbered and signed. You can also download the .pdf of the book

Coexistence II is the result of rendering and fusing symbolic representations of 6 religious, philosophical and mystical teachings: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Confucianism, Atheism and Buddhism. The resulting pattern is aesthetically abstract, as our socio-political seemingly over-populated reality.

This object is a part of Horsemen of Apocalypse project series. It is cast using 3D-printing in .925 sterling silver in Belgium and finished in the UK.

model - Iskandar Widjaja
concept & art direction, styling - Denis Maksimov
photography - Alina Rudya 
design direction - Timo Tuominen 

jewelry - Horsemen of Apocalypse
clothing - Dandy of the Grotesque 

March 2013, Pergamon Museum, Berlin

'Semper eadem' (always the same, lat.) was a personal motto of Elizabeth Tudor, the true queen of political symbolism. Her personal image and style significantly defined the epoch not only in England but in the whole Europe. 'Semper in motu' (always in motion, lat.) is a timeless Ancient Rome catch phrase, which tells about necessity of adaptation as means of staying competitive in the changing environment.

The unison of these seemingly contradicting wisdoms represents a bold, very human paradox.

This object is a part of Horsemen of Apocalypse project series. It is cast using 3D-printing in .925 sterling silver in Belgium and finished in the UK.

'Fear the man of one book' (lat.) warns us about those who blindly see only one 'truth', just one possible interpretation of an event. The ring consists of 7 mirror polished empty squares. Like a blank notebook, it represents bearer's openness to reflection.

7 is A symbolic number. In christianity, creation lasted 7 days. In hinduism, there are 7 worlds in the universe, 7 seas in the world and 7 rishies (gurus). The number of layers of the earth in islamic religion is 7, the number of hells is also 7. Buddha walked 7 steps at his birth. There are 7 main islands of mythological Atlantis. 7 is a lucky number in Chinese culture.

This object is a part of Horsemen of Apocalypse project series. It is cast using 3D-printing in .925 sterling silver in Belgium and finished in the UK.

Religions and competing world views have been splitting humanity for thousands years. It is futility to even attempt counting how many have perished in a clash of opinions about who is the highest of the deities. The Coexistentia ring is a representation of critical tolerance and respect.

This ring encompasses seven sides with engraved symbols of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Atheism and Confucianism. One side is left blank, for the history of the world is not yet at an end and one should be open to the possibility of witnessing the rise of another revelation.

This object is a part of Horsemen of Apocalypse project series. It is cast using 3D-printing in .925 sterling silver in Belgium and finished in the UK.

"Either Caesar, or Nothing" is the personal motto of Cesare Borgia, one of the prominent members of the influential family of the Renaissance period. He devoted himself to an uncompromising approach in his political career, inspired by the credos of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar.

The history of his political and military endeavours still provides important lessons of political management had been methodologised by Niccolo Machiavelli in the widely spread classic of contemporary political science nowadays - "Il Principe".

The ring features the signature "OF" symbol: the sword in front of the shield. It is, however, safe to take onto an airplane.

This object is a part of Horsemen of Apocalypse project series. It is cast using 3D-printing in .925 sterling silver in Belgium and finished in the UK.

“Fortune favours the bold” – was coined by Virgil in Aeneid X, 284. A motto for self-determined, self-assured individuals ready for challenges ahead and having no fear of taking risks when the circumstances call for it. Allegedly, it was final words of Pliny the Elder before he left the docks at Pompeii to rescue people from the eruption of Vesuvius in 79.
The ring is representing the signature OF symbol, curved around the finger in the elegant way. The versatility of the design and the shape of the ring gives you opportunity to choose the way it appears in front of yours and viewers sight.

This object is a part of Horsemen of Apocalypse project series. It is cast using 3D-printing in .925 sterling silver in Belgium and finished in the UK.

In Greek mythology Hemera and Nyx, the Goddesses of day and night, are the primordial deities - the first beings that came into existence. They preceded the Titans and the Olympians, and together they embody the world. Hemera bathes the Earth in the shining light of heaven while Nyx lets the world rest and can be found in the shadows and only ever be seen in glimpses. The dynamic beauty of changing states, sunrise and sunset, signify the richness of their harmony. Hesiod wrote: "Nyx and Hemera draw near and greet one another as they pass the great threshold of bronze: and while one is about to go down into the house, the other comes out at the door."

The rings depict balance and the creative power of the unification of opposites. The design of the rings is in reference to Doric Ancient Greece style, in the prime of its simplicity and strength. The piece can be worn either by one person as complementing rings or can be shared with someone special.

This object is a part of Horsemen of Apocalypse project series. It is cast using 3D-printing in .925 sterling silver in Belgium and finished in the UK.

Plato taught in Academia that objects as we see them are the mere reflection of their ideal forms, eidoses. these shadows of perfections are falling onto wall of platonic experimental cave, which he used to describe metaphorically an experience of the world of those reflections, that we see in the world we call “real”. Immortal, perfect soul of an object is perceived “real” through a contact with surrounding environment, a surface. As in Einstein’s relativism in physics, our aesthetic perception of objects is greatly influenced by a surface which plays the role of background for it.

A Surface, unlike an object, hardly speaks for itself in a bold way. It can be strong, but will remain abstract. surface creates an aura around objects, playing vital role in defining particular character.

Character of surfaces, presented in this exhibition, is in focus. you are invited to meditate on them, place your own imaginary objects onto them, play with your emotions and fantasies.

Present is so short, so it’s almost inexistent. we exist on a razor line between always misunderstood Scilla of the past and immanently random Charybdis of a future. Capturing an immediate uniqueness of the moment is why photography became so influential and revolutionized visual arts, opening channels for liberalization of aesthetical expression.

Here, birth, existence and death are meeting face to face - like Three Fates, Moirai, of Greek mythology, their metaphorical thread is a captured shadow of an eidos.

Plato taught in Academia that objects as we see them are the mere reflection of their ideal forms, eidoses. these shadows of perfections are falling onto wall of platonic experimental cave, which he used to describe metaphorically an experience of the world of those reflections, that we see in the world we call “real”. Immortal, perfect soul of an object is perceived “real” through a contact with surrounding environment, a surface. As in Einstein’s relativism in physics, our aesthetic perception of objects is greatly influenced by a surface which plays the role of background for it.

A Surface, unlike an object, hardly speaks for itself in a bold way. It can be strong, but will remain abstract. surface creates an aura around objects, playing vital role in defining particular character.

Character of surfaces, presented in this exhibition, is in focus. you are invited to meditate on them, place your own imaginary objects onto them, play with your emotions and fantasies.

Changing state is a source of melancholy and philosophic reflection. Carpe diem importance is especially evident through observation of the fading surface. Emotional art movements, such as romanticism and impressionism, are conceptually bearing state of transformation in their core. They mean to inspire in us superiority of “intuit” above “rationalize”.

“this too shall pass” was engraved on the ring of wise Solomon. In the end, the only constant is a change.

Plato taught in Academia that objects as we see them are the mere reflection of their ideal forms, eidoses. these shadows of perfections are falling onto wall of platonic experimental cave, which he used to describe metaphorically an experience of the world of those reflections, that we see in the world we call “real”. Immortal, perfect soul of an object is perceived “real” through a contact with surrounding environment, a surface. As in Einstein’s relativism in physics, our aesthetic perception of objects is greatly influenced by a surface which plays the role of background for it.

A Surface, unlike an object, hardly speaks for itself in a bold way. It can be strong, but will remain abstract. surface creates an aura around objects, playing vital role in defining particular character.

Character of surfaces, presented in this exhibition, is in focus. you are invited to meditate on them, place your own imaginary objects onto them, play with your emotions and fantasies.

It is a harsh frivolity to name anything immanent. However, some changing states might go on for centuries, thousands, millions of years and thanks to this humanity is able to develop, building on the basis of experienced. We are empirical species and perhaps therefore human brain proves to be unable so far to imagine the concept of eternity.

Surfaces of this kind are like ancient books, awaiting to be read and learnt from. They can teach us to reflect on the lessons of the past.