3+5

Desks, books, prints, rust, metal, staining solution, blades, wood. 2024. Phot. Jed Niezgoda  www.jedniezgoda.com

3+5 is currently shown at LHQ Gallery, Cork City Council Library, Cork, Ireland. Mon-Fri, 9-5.30

‘3+5’ by presents art works that look at knowledge manipulation and re-framing of history. Co-existing opposing versions of ‘truth’ become more apparent in the times of conflict. The themes of censorship and contamination of information are explored by the artist, who uses books in various languages and other printed materials (maps, personal documents, photographs) to build up a sculptural installation, suggestive of a classroom environment. One of the books is George Orwell’s ‘1984’, where an omnipresent Ministry of Truth is tasked with erasing unsuitable knowledge and replacing it with its own version of reality.

The exhibition title ‘3+5’ refers to the ongoing events in the artist’s country of origin, Russia. Since the outbreak of the conflict with Ukraine, the word ‘war’ has been replaced with the phrase ‘Special Military Operation’. A simple mathematical formula, ‘3+5’ (нет войне, rus. 3+5 letters), became a coded message, a substitute to the punishable ‘No To War’.

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