The Tower of Babel and the social phenomena associated with it is a recurring subject in art history. The two artists were born in the 1970s, and their generation has experienced and witnessed the technological innovation, in which the virtual reality and the information overload fundamentally changed the structure and the everyday relations of the society.
In the art of Mátyás Boros, social criticism is a returning subject: in this exhibition he reflects on the communication chaos and isolation – as an interpretation of the Babel story. The common experience, and watching as the community is falling apart, is depicted in his installations.
Babel Cloud is a cloud-like installation, which points out the importance of the cohesive spirit of the community, and its dangerous hiatus. People’s faces, like bricks in the wall constitute the truncated seven-storey building of his work Unfinishable, which shows us what is the problem with the communication on social media. Elements of the scattered Crumbs refers to the rubbish of communication with quotes in different languages. Boros is mixing digital instruments with unique analogue procedures– this mixing is obvious and conscious in his exhibited works.
Sci-fi literature and steampunk has a significant effect on the world of Gábor Kerekes. For him, recycling is not just a technique but it is a mission as well: sustainability is one of the most important alternative for survival. With constructing his own Bábel 2.0 tower, he reproduces the effort to reach the unreachable. He makes fictional, tiny worlds that seem very realistic in details. He use paper based techniques on flat surface, but constantly experimenting with 3D solutions, and this is his first completely 3D, stand alone, statue-like installation. The installation is complete with Balloons around the tower, which are representing moving cities, and the tower is the base, some kind of “service station” for them. So this work, and the title as well (planetbabel) refers to the eternal struggle of humanity, and to that this construction is going on all over the Earth.
Choosing this sacral location of the exhibition was conscious. The Hall of Knights is located directly beneath the cupola (the look-out tower). Therefore, the exhibition venue is kind of a passage, balancing on the edge of profane and sacral: these works were inspired by ancient, sacral themes, but they are giving a profane interpretation.
In the art of Mátyás Boros, social criticism is a returning subject: in this exhibition he reflects on the communication chaos and isolation – as an interpretation of the Babel story. The common experience, and watching as the community is falling apart, is depicted in his installations.
Babel Cloud is a cloud-like installation, which points out the importance of the cohesive spirit of the community, and its dangerous hiatus. People’s faces, like bricks in the wall constitute the truncated seven-storey building of his work Unfinishable, which shows us what is the problem with the communication on social media. Elements of the scattered Crumbs refers to the rubbish of communication with quotes in different languages. Boros is mixing digital instruments with unique analogue procedures– this mixing is obvious and conscious in his exhibited works.
Sci-fi literature and steampunk has a significant effect on the world of Gábor Kerekes. For him, recycling is not just a technique but it is a mission as well: sustainability is one of the most important alternative for survival. With constructing his own Bábel 2.0 tower, he reproduces the effort to reach the unreachable. He makes fictional, tiny worlds that seem very realistic in details. He use paper based techniques on flat surface, but constantly experimenting with 3D solutions, and this is his first completely 3D, stand alone, statue-like installation. The installation is complete with Balloons around the tower, which are representing moving cities, and the tower is the base, some kind of “service station” for them. So this work, and the title as well (planetbabel) refers to the eternal struggle of humanity, and to that this construction is going on all over the Earth.
Choosing this sacral location of the exhibition was conscious. The Hall of Knights is located directly beneath the cupola (the look-out tower). Therefore, the exhibition venue is kind of a passage, balancing on the edge of profane and sacral: these works were inspired by ancient, sacral themes, but they are giving a profane interpretation.
More info: planetbabel.tumblr.com
Babel 2.0 by Gabor Kerekes, collage installation, 6 meters high
Babel Cloud by Matyas Boros, digital print installation
Babel Cloud, detail, Matyas Boros
Babel Cloud, detail, Matyas Boros
Air Balloons by Gabor Kerekes, collage installation, 3 x 4 meters
Babel 2.0 detail by Gabor Kerekes, tattoo salon
Babel 2.0 detail by Gabor Kerekes, Baloon Food
Babel 2.0 detail by Gabor Kerekes
Unfinishable by Matyas Boros, coal, graphit, paper
Unfinishable, detail by Matyas Boros
Unfinishable, detail by Matyas Boros
Crumbs by Matyas Boros, mixed technique
Crumbs, detail by Matyas Boros
Crumbs, detail by Matyas Boros
