Artists: Paul Barsch, Kah Bee Chow, Clemence de La Tour du Pin, Valentinas Klimašauskas, Pakui Hardware
Exhibition title: End of Meaning
Curated by: Neringa Černiauskaitė
Venue: Editorial, Vilnius, Lithuania
Date: June 22 – July 2, 2016
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Editorial
When she first saw Donald Trump face on her facebook feed, she thought it was a hoax. Some fictional character from the Late night or Morning show or whatever daytime show they watch there for entertainment. The fact that this face was trending among the memes did not really help to distinguish the hoax from what we call reality. And it was.
Welcome to the end of meaning.
She looked for excuses in the velocity in which she digests information, faster than the not-so-healthy sandwich that she munches at her desk or moves around with her eyes glued to the smaller screens, smaller letters, fragmented texts. The information which is a mesh-up of algorithm-generated articles, circulation of memes – an open-ended product of a collective mind – news about a 2000 year old butter chunk found someplace in Ireland, another list of must-see Art Basel booths next to dry academic articles. And that frog-like face appearing again and again in form of horrifying language or as an endless loop of another gif. ‘The privileged position of human as a meaning generator (and perceiver) has long been shaken.’ – she thinks to herself. Or has someone/something else thought it for her ?
In Wikipedia she trusts and image is the ultimate text. The subconscious of the Web is where the current meaning lies.
Welcome to the end of meaning. As we know it.
Paul Barsch, BIO BCI CARRIER “Olly” detached (relaxing), 2015
Dreadlocks, baby sun chair
Clémence de La Tour du Pin, Untitled, 2016
Silk robe, acrylic paint, DeviantArt embroidery
Valentinas Klimašauskas, Angry Bird Cry Or Emoticon Phonetic Alphabet, A to Z, 2016
An RGB laser projection, text
Clémence de La Tour du Pin, Untitled, 2016 (detail)
Silk robe, acrylic paint, DeviantArt embroidery
Pakui Hardware, Sweating, Sparkling, 2016
Cutout from images selected from NASA digital archive, UV prints on PVC Pentaprint film, plastic container, humidifier, water
Pakui Hardware, Sweating, Sparkling, 2016 (detail)
Cutout from images selected from NASA digital archive, UV prints on PVC Pentaprint film, plastic container, humidifier, water
Clémence de La Tour du Pin, P3_Adult Situations, 2015
Inkjet digital print on paper, Veronica-2 blend
Clémence de La Tour du Pin, Juice, 2015
Printed label, computer store scent, hair gel, wine, food skin, dye, sealed aluminum can
Kah Bee Chow, Upward Mobility, 2014
Designer: Nell May. Laser print on Munken Polar 100gsm, paper fasteners
Valentinas Klimašauskas, Angry Bird Cry Or Emoticon Phonetic Alphabet, A to Z, 2016
An RGB laser projection, text