BWPWP/Back When Pluto Was a Planet

The focus of artistic exploration are factors that define us and how we form our perception of the world. On one side, that is the influence families and the genetic family background have on an individual and the formation of one’s first perception of the world through family memories, and on the other side, there is the impact of new technologies and social media.

A particular interest is the change of our relationship with reality, mostly under the influence of a large amount of information we are exposed to on an everyday basis. According to Baudrillard, the impossibility of once again discovering an absolute level of reality is equal to the impossibility of the setting of an illusion. An illusion is not attainable anymore, because it is impossible as a matter of act. In what kind of way did the technology shape our reality and our stance towards all the natural and social phenomena?

The artworks challenge the initial idealization of technology that is ironically dwindling with its development and mass usage. Have we found the long-awaited utopia in the virtual reality or is it precisely what amplified the society’s hysteria by diminishing our focus and awareness? The technology is radically transforming the mode and the nature of our living, existence and understanding of the world around us. Countless tabs and the disorientation that they cause, user profiles, and marketing algorithms condition not only our perception of the world but digital space as well, thus becoming spaces for the formation of identity. At what point does the virtual end, and the reality begin?