Feb. 22, 2012 - Issue #853: Folkways

Rearview Mirror

Does Eastern Europe really exist anymore? Guest curator Christopher Eamon poses this question in the AGA's new exhibition, Rearview Mirror: New Art from Central & Eastern Europe. Whether or not Eastern Europe is an accurate way to describe former Eastern Bloc countries, it is a powerful lens through which we contextualize the past, present and the people of this diverse set of countries. The recent works that form Rearview Mirror very much fit the title, that self-conscious looking behind, and the way it informs the way of moving forward.

An omnipresent expression of this looking back comes in the investigations of power dynamics throughout the exhibition. Religion forms a subject of interrogation in the show, including in Romanian artist Dénes Miklósi's video work "The Life of Jesus." The artist enforces audience subjection to self-critical religious contemplation. A mirror frame requires the viewer to stand in front of it in order to see the video, a film about Jesus's life used by Presbyterian missionaries, which is projected on the wall a couple feet behind it. This forces awareness of one's evaluation of their subject position in relation to the religious content of the film, ensuring self-policing judgment of themselves as well as the artwork.

Slovakian-born Roman Ondák takes on institutional power through another major theme in the exhibition, investigating issues of property and displacement, in "Freed Doorway" and "Shared Floor." The former work, a well-used door stripped of its hardware, leans against the wall. It faces the latter work in the centre of the room—a worn wooden floor, its perimeter delineated by baseboards, with electrical outlets acting as a reminder of the walls that should hold them. Are these domestic objects and spaces really better off in an art institution, decontextualized from their urban environments? Is this liberation from private space for the communal good by providing a shared art experience, or is this disrespect for the domestic use value of these things, and the now-floorless room and door-less doorway where they originated?

Origin stories are also considered through the power of identity and the power to transform the evidence of one's story, such as in Katarina Zdjelar's "The Perfect Sound." This Belgrade-born artist's video forms an interesting analysis of the rigour and discipline of language in its creatively edited footage of a young man's lesson to remove the accent from his speech. Through directing attention to decisive gestures and carefully manipulated muscles to form very distinct versions of sounds, Zdjelar makes clear the disciplining power of language, encouraging a finely tuned effort to conform. At times the image is removed, encouraging the viewer to lean in and listen more closely to the subtle distinction between the ideal expression of certain sounds and the attempts to mimic it.

The works in Rearview Mirror form provocative reflections of the struggle to grapple with the past, and the residue of a Soviet bloc political history, and national or religious history. These are thoughtful considerations of how to speak to, speak with, and speak in opposition to a history that has an uneasy relationship to a present existence in Eastern Europe.

Until Sun, Apr 29
Curated by Christopher Eamon
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