December 11, 2013
ZSOLT ASZTALOS
Fired But Not Exploded
Under the patronage of the Ambassador of Hungary in Kuwait Ferenc Csillag, Contemporary Art Platform (CAP) in collaboration with Art Moments and Hybrid art, Hungary, is proud to present the video installation of the Hungarian artist Zsolt Asztalos, ”Fired But Unexploded”, Exhibited recently at the Hungarian Pavilion in the 55th international exhibition, Venice Biennale 2013.
The installation comprises sixteen videos, each presenting an unexploded projectile found in Hungary. The vision of the destructive weapons, which hover in a homogeneous, indefinite space, is complemented with the sounds of the world around them, and thus the films open the way to new narratives.
Each bomb has its own story. Which is essentially one of two kinds. Bombs may explode and thus fulfill their role as objects made specifically for the purpose of destruction, and then enter history books and the personal histories that families maintain. Zsolt Asztalos Hold, in his turn looks into the other possible story in his installation, the story of the malfunctioning device (unexploded bomb) as it leaves behind its original function, assumes a life of its own, starts writing a narrative, becomes a director of our lives through the contingency it introduces.
It stays with us humans as it generates and symbolizes conflicts among us.It is an object of mercy, a threat, or a memorial. In HOLD’s work, unexploded bombs are revealed to have several functions and fields of interpretation. Floating in an indeterminable space, the bombs seem to exist, thanks to the sound effects that surround them, in a matrix defined by the continuous interaction of the past and the recent past, the present and the future.
Zsolt Asztalos HOLD’s objects trouvés are multiple representations of conflict situations, open to simultaneous interpretations on personal, local, regional and global levels. This brave and thought-provoking installation belongs to the praxis of visual art that has been instrumental, through research and exhibition, in processing the brutal traumas of the late 20th and 21st centuries.
The website Fired but Unexploded is an integral part of the installation: it not only provides further information on the exhibition, but also aims to create a worldwide map of conflicts with its interactive interface. An application available for all smartphone platforms will guide visitors through the exhibition and will provide more information for those who want to further immerse themselves.
This Exhibition is part of Zenith Art Exchange program between Contemporary Art Platform, Kuwait and Art Moments, Hungary.
Fine Artist, Lives in Budapest, Born in 1974,
Education: 1993-1999 Hungarian Academy of Fine Art, Department of Painting
His art focuses on the past in several aspects. He uses large variety of exposition: installation, film, video, photograph, graphics etc.
"Storytelling is the philosophy of the things that have happened - wrote Egon Friedell.. Every story is born to an individual, however much the writer struggles to achieve scientific objectivity. The memories of the past are like separate musical notes, which we make into a melody in a certain era and put down in a sheet of music. Each era has its own melody. Each historical memory is waiting to be conceived by the future, so that a reality is formed. The way of thinking about the past or a canon can be formed or changed, as it is not exclusively about the original truth but about ourselves." - Zsolt
Zsolt Asztalos exhibited through Hungary and all Europe. He represented Hungary at 55th Venice Biennale with his project 'Fired but Unexploded'.