viral castrato / viruses in hungary by délia vékony
DESCRIPTION
Viruses in Hungary text by Délia Vékony for art exhibition Viral CastratO by Joseph Nechvatal, Presented byBudapest Art FactoryTRANSCRIPT
Joseph Nechvatal
viral castratO
September 8th – October 4th 2015
Presented by
Budapest Art Factory
H-1138 Budapest, Váci út 152-156
www.budapestartfactory.com
viral castratO
Viruses in Hungary
by Délia Vékony
The exhibition viral castratO by American artist Joseph Nechvatal, hostedby Budapest Art Factory (on view from Sept. 8- Oct. 4) is taking place inBudapest, Hungary in times highly sensitive for symptoms viruses of anykind can possibly cause. Nechvatal’s installation, a digital work in whichcomputer viruses consume digital paintings has a universal reference to
change, chance, disturbance of order and the uncanny.
Yet, the piece can also be understood within the light of the current socio-political framework in which thousands of migrants, mostly from Syriaarrive to Hungary weekly. They intend to cross the country and head to
Germany and other northern countries in hope for a better future. For havingany future at all, to be precise.
In spite of the hardships these people go through to arrive to Europe alive,by many they are seen as an infection on the body of the continent.
Nonetheless, they are at our borders and no matter how many fences areerected, they are coming in and wanting to move on. Although the EU
allocates considerable sums for dealing with the current migration crisis,there is not a consensual decision about what to do with the crowds arriving.Hungary is reluctant to claim any responsibility, but other EU countries alsokeep on changing their attitude. Although Europe is obviously not ready for
accepting so many people looking for a new life, it is striking to see thatmigrants are looked upon as viruses that are here to invade the mother-body.
Instead of thinking of them as change that could result in new, refreshingheterotopias, in new bodies that might be the alteration and reshaping of theold, anachronistic order, these people are seen as infectious disease, here to
pollute and destroy. Surely if mother-body Europe is not learning to ‘mutate’and adjust to this change, it shall die a painful death while resisting.
viral castratO
Introduced by Colleen Bell, Ambassador of the United States toHungary
A live interview was conducted at the opening by art historian DéliaVékony
Joseph Nechvatal is a post-conceptual artist and art theoretician whoemploys digital means to produce paintings and animations. The
centrality of his oeuvre acknowledges computer generated viruses as acreative stratagem. To address the merging of the biological and virtual,
he coined the term viractual with which he extensively experiments
through his work. In his paintings, the computer virus surfaces as theactive agent which manipulates and corrupts the information stored in
the image (the host) decreasing its integrity. On the other hand, theworkings of these viral entities redefine the structure of the host,
introducing novelties into the image system. Therefore their activity canbe viewed as a constructive, creative process.
viral castratO
viral castratO
viral castratO