on innocence

Wunderwald, 2021
Oil and acrylic on canvas
160 x 200 cm

The storm is gone now, 2021
Oil and acrylic on canvas
160 x 200 cm

Chthonic one I / Chthonic one II, 2021
Oil on light reflector
125 x 165 cm each

Abutiliku malasalam, 2021
Oil and acrylic on canvas
160 x 140 cm

One more story, please, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
110 x 115 cm

Memory bag, 2021
Acrylic on synthetic PU leather
100 x 160 cm

Photo: Julian Salinas

Look - Jump - Run, 2021
Oil and acrylic on canvas
each 160 x 170 cm

Photo: Julian Salinas

Roboto II, 2020
Oil and acrylic on canvas
80 x 120 cm

In the fields of my science dreams, 2016
Oil and acrylic on canvas
80 x 120 cm

Searching communication, 2016-2021
Acrylic and oil on glass-fiber textile
80 x 120 cm

The Holy Me, 2016

Oil and acrylic on canvas

80 x 120 cm

On Innocence

A series of paintings, 2015 - 2021

Innocence Revised, 2016

Acrylic and spray on carbon-fiber fabric

410 x 110 cm

A story is told through colors, lines, shapes and figures. This is a story about the past, the present and the future. Children are floating among planets and wandering through galaxies, while technological media observe, monitor and facilitate communication. Information is transmitted through different levels of space and time. The children seem to be in complete harmony with this futuristic environment, naturally and spontaneously, in full innocence.

This work attempts a passage through different times and spaces of technological history and culture. The medium - painting - carries the narrative in a direct and rather nostalgic way. The human gesture is visible. The substrate brings the story to here and now, travelling over a long span of geological times. It is made out of carbon, the fourth most abundant element in the universe by mass after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. Carbon in various forms counts an almost infinite existence on earth compared to the short human presence. It is charged by the geological past and at the same time via the technological manipulation is transformed in a high-end technical textile for demanding industrial applications. History and technology are met to demonstrate our unlimited capabilities for innovation and development. However, one could argue: why has technology failed to fulfill its optimistic vision for a brand new world?

We will most likely agree that the potential of technology is equally brilliant and horrifying at the same time. Satellites, smart phones and drones provide us with countless amazing possibilities, but they are simultaneously used for spying and surveillance, for public manipulation and as automated killing machines, respectively. These phenomena could be attributed to a possible unwillingness of us humans to evolve. It is currently a fact that technological change itself and the pace of change are exponentially accelerating. At the same time we find ourselves in a moment of cultural de-acceleration. In a nutshell, it seems that while our machines get smarter, we get dumber. In order to overcome this discrepancy, we need to raise the level of our general awareness in order to meet the complexity of the technological systems in which we are embedded.

If we seek true transformation, we have to overcome our intrinsic technophobia without oversimplifying history, science, philosophy and art. We need a revised innocence to lead us to an alternative futurism.