EXHIBITION
ABOUT
Our current reality is becoming increasingly difficult to rationalise – but we must make sense of it somehow. Where philosophy is powerless and sociology misleading, all hope lies in art. Gosha Ostretsov turns to the language of Pop Art with its postmodern irony and endless mass culture references to reflect on the world we find ourselves in.
The criticism of consumer society characteristic to pop art has once again become relevant, with one key difference: we live in an age of overconsumption of images, texts and emotions as opposed to material objects. The assembly-line production of content is perhaps the most important branch of today’s economy. Ubiquitous high-tech comes to the aid of humanity here as well: AI spews endless streams of quasi-creative content onto the web and subjects the user to increasingly sophisticated temptations.
In the world of the near future depicted by Ostretsov, a robot with AI-powered consciousness becomes the ideal romantic partner for both women and men, just as the virtual assistant Alexa has already become an irreplaceable companion and household helper for many. For Ostretsov, the aesthetics of vintage kitsch with its plastic confetti and stencilled semi-naked beauties is the best way to convey the atmosphere of a 24/7 party, a universal celebration of artificial euphoria of consumption that remains aloof and untouched by any tragedies and disasters of our age. What lies behind this celebration? No that anyone really thinks about it.
Robotic helpers are stuffed with incomprehensible microcircuits and neural networks whose mechanisms are not entirely clear even to their creators. It is no coincidence that one of the crucial parts of the project is a series exploring the underside of this euphoric carnival. Abstract works made using the artist’s complex signature technique depict the display in a store of spare robot parts, which can be used to endlessly upgrade one’s artificial partner, bringing it closer to some unattainable ideal every time.
The ancient maxim De gustibus non est disputandum (‘There is no accounting for taste’) becomes meaningless – the very concept of taste loses its meaning in an illusory world that endlessly adapts to the user/consumer. No wonder that disputes about tastes have almost become obsolete in social networks, replaced by endless discussions of ethics and morality – which, in the end, also turns out to be a matter of taste, and the role of the ultimate censor and Cerberus in these discussions has long been usurped by the same AI. Without realising it, we look at the world through its eyes, notes Ostretsov. After all, any image on our device screens has been repeatedly processed by all sorts of algorithms – from those built into the iPhone camera to those that make up our Facebook feed.
The criticism of consumer society characteristic to pop art has once again become relevant, with one key difference: we live in an age of overconsumption of images, texts and emotions as opposed to material objects. The assembly-line production of content is perhaps the most important branch of today’s economy. Ubiquitous high-tech comes to the aid of humanity here as well: AI spews endless streams of quasi-creative content onto the web and subjects the user to increasingly sophisticated temptations.
In the world of the near future depicted by Ostretsov, a robot with AI-powered consciousness becomes the ideal romantic partner for both women and men, just as the virtual assistant Alexa has already become an irreplaceable companion and household helper for many. For Ostretsov, the aesthetics of vintage kitsch with its plastic confetti and stencilled semi-naked beauties is the best way to convey the atmosphere of a 24/7 party, a universal celebration of artificial euphoria of consumption that remains aloof and untouched by any tragedies and disasters of our age. What lies behind this celebration? No that anyone really thinks about it.
Robotic helpers are stuffed with incomprehensible microcircuits and neural networks whose mechanisms are not entirely clear even to their creators. It is no coincidence that one of the crucial parts of the project is a series exploring the underside of this euphoric carnival. Abstract works made using the artist’s complex signature technique depict the display in a store of spare robot parts, which can be used to endlessly upgrade one’s artificial partner, bringing it closer to some unattainable ideal every time.
The ancient maxim De gustibus non est disputandum (‘There is no accounting for taste’) becomes meaningless – the very concept of taste loses its meaning in an illusory world that endlessly adapts to the user/consumer. No wonder that disputes about tastes have almost become obsolete in social networks, replaced by endless discussions of ethics and morality – which, in the end, also turns out to be a matter of taste, and the role of the ultimate censor and Cerberus in these discussions has long been usurped by the same AI. Without realising it, we look at the world through its eyes, notes Ostretsov. After all, any image on our device screens has been repeatedly processed by all sorts of algorithms – from those built into the iPhone camera to those that make up our Facebook feed.
Ekaterina Wagner
EXHIBITION VIEWS
ARTIST
Ostretsov (b. 1967) manages to preserve the provocative ambiguity of his whole project and to remain in an invulnerable position of independent social criticism, invariably quick witted and precise. The large canvases and installations are executed in the aesthetics of comics, mixed, as it were, with the accidental intrusion of the street, which spoils the totalitarian message with its colorful blotches and dirt. Ostertsov splatters bright colored graffiti across the picture plane creating his own style suggestive of techno folk art. His images of the destruction of capitalists and greedy authoritarian systems of control suggest a redistribution of energy and power. The artist doesn't treat Fascism, Stalinism or Capitalism, as implicit 'enemies' but regards any system of government that seeks to progressively tailor society as such. The power of his images lies in his universal message and mission.
