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 into 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. 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.