Metamorphoses of Control

The interdisciplinary exhibition and performance project Metamorphoses of Control by Isabella Fürnkäs shows existential conditions in the digital age with epoch-transcending references. An installation with videos, drawings and as central element an immersive performance based on the painting Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault (1818/1819), that opens up a dialogue in rela- tion to the interior of the Museum by Henry van de Velde.

Compared to Géricault’s visually loaded and emotional drama, this scene looks like a vision of transhuman reality. Imagery of a technoid raft with isolated and partly unrecognizable individuals appear, whose struggle for survival takes place in the immateriality of the mind. The four perform- ers form monologues and dialogues that are repeated in loops over the course of 3 hours. The boundaries between the performers, the island landscape and the spectators are blurred and the spectators witness the exhibited individuals like voyeurs. The question of the representation of pain and suffering arises in comparison to Géricault’s painting. The performative installation re- sembles a tableau vivant and negotiates questions on transcendence, role-play and immateriality.

The things that subconsciousness desires are not necessarily good. - Joseph Murphy

 - Text by Ihsan Alisan