VEILS OF FALSE SECURITY

Installation
Mattresses covered with tar
120 × 190 cm

The pervasive lethargy of our time arises from the fact that many forms of existence are cloaked beneath various coverings – national, institutional, social, or religious—that restrict movement and hinder the unfolding of countless ongoing processes within the same dimension of reality. This raises a pressing question: how crucial is it to recognize the moment when certain modes of being – systematic, conscious, or unconscious – begin to suffocate and suppress other forms of existence?

What lies beneath each of these processes? Is the being concealed under the “blanket” content with its condition, or is it so immobilized that it merely appears to persist in a state of passive existence?

And is there another side to this ongoing process – one that, if made visible and acknowledged, might allow the possibility of renewal, of development, and of movement beyond the confines of its current limitations?

The installation presents mattresses entirely coated with tar. This viscous liquid, poured evenly over each mattress, preserves their original form while simultaneously obscuring and restraining them. Three mattresses are grouped into a smaller unit, while two stand apart as solitary forms.

Tar, as a dense and viscous substance, resists internal movement: its particles bind together, inhibiting flow. Yet when heated, its viscosity decreases, positioning it in a liminal state between solidity and fluidity. In this way, the material itself embodies the fragile tension between containment and transformation.

– This solo exhibition was part of POP-UP, an initiative for alternative presentations of international contemporary artists in Osijek, Croatia.