The Hermit's Symmetry
Theo Michael
The practice of Theo Michael (Thessaloniki, Greece, 1978 is a hotbed of activity. There is a proliferation of creatures, environments, materials, tools, intangible inventions, shapes and images as diverse as:
a palm leaf mat,
Saudi Arabia, humor,
the Internet, glue, a bacterium,
architecture, the printing press, a sci-fi comic book, foam rubber, art,
the screw, Diogenes of Sinope, surplus, evolution, water, politics, success,
a sleeping bag, collapse, food, childhood, a corner, graffiti, the sound "riuu."
When merging with the rhythm set by Michael, this melting-pot of mixed origin has the peculiarity of generating a temporal suspension and undefined character on the objective it pursues. In other words, it casts doubts on things we consider static or too elemental to be reconsidered in terms of their use, origin and raison d'être. This feature provides this artist's work with a critical sense of the dynamics of overexploitation, overproduction and inertias of hyperconsumption within our societies and their still prevailing conviction of civilization's linear, homogeneous progress. Or, in other words, what South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han terms "the hell of sameness"—a state or situation in which the only difference allowed is a marketable and therefore fleeting one.
The figure of the hermit—the radical character that distances himself, stops and inhabits a non-civilized space—has taken this room in Casa del Lago as its temporary abode and testing ground. Contrary to his custom, the hermit has left the doors open and, even odder, imagines a possible interlocutor, an audience.
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01, Room 1, Hermit's
Symmetry, 360x480x220cm, 2018, various materials
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02, Room 1, Hermit's
Symmetry, 2018, 360x480x220cm, various materials, detail 01
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04, Room 1, Hermit's
Symmetry, 2018, 360x480x220cm, various materials, detail 03
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06, Room 1, Interplanetary
Farmer, 2018, 60x75x80cm, various materials
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07, Room 1, Poverty
Hedonists, 2018, 100x75x60cm, various materials
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08, Room 1, We Didn't
Need An Ark But We Build One Anyway, 2018, 60x80x60cm, various materials
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09, Room 2, Access To
Poverty, 2014, 140x90cm, weathered print on wood panel
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10, Room 2, Let Go Of
The Designer, 2018, 180x100cm, weathered print on wood panel
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11, Room 2, Made By
Assistants, 2014, 140x90cm, weathered print on wood panel
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12, Room 2, The
Documents, installation view
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14, Room 3, Crisis
Management Table, 2018, 230x160x108cm, installation view
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15, Room 3, Crisis
Management Table, 2018, 230x160x108cm, detail 01
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16, Room 3, Crisis
Management Table, 2018, 230x160x108cm, detail 02
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17, Room 3, Crisis
Management Table, 2018, 230x160x108cm, detail 03
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18, Room 3, Crisis
Management Table, 2018, 230x160x108cm, detail 04
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