The project “LOOK – ECOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY” was created as a platform for presenting contemporary creative positions that explore and interpret socio-ecological issues through experimentation with new materials and technologies.
The project supports the creation of artworks using innovative technological means, as well as the exploration and creative interpretation of ecological problems. For each edition, we invite both established artists and those at the beginning of their creative journey. We are convinced that the collaboration between artists from different generations not only promotes an effective exchange of experience and contacts between professionals but also significantly enhances communication with the audience.
Our efforts are focused on creating a contemporary, multifaceted artistic product that aims to spark interest in new trends in art, influenced by technological advancements, ecological challenges, and our responsibility towards the planet we live on.
This year, at Charta Gallery, as part of “LOOK – Ecology and Technology,” we will present the works of Krassimir Terziev and Leda Vaneva.
Krassimir Terziev
Visions of Dry Branches
(photo series), 2024, direct print on modified PVC board, 90/68 cm each
The classic photographic image is virtual. It is perceived only when one immerses oneself in the field of the image and forgets about its material carrier. This post-photographic series relies on the dramaturgy and dialogue between the play of light on the uneven material surface and the play of light in the captured image. It requires a particular form of heightened attention, one that can overcome the “either-or” opposition and embrace “both this and the other.”
The classic photographic image promises a complete correspondence between the piece of reality in front of the lens and the printed image. However, photographic software is capable of revealing things inaccessible to the lens—phantasms, mirages, and effects from invisible presences. Can we add all of this to achieve a fuller picture of reality, to replace the boredom and cynicism associated with banality with admiration for everything that surrounds us?
Leda Vaneva
Technology creates selectivе pressure and thus has become one of our evolutionary pathways. Although this intervention is shorter-lived than natural evolution and requires constant repetition for a long-lasting effect, it works significantly faster. This makes it especially attractive to our impatient nature. I don’t have to wait for the next generations to eventually have straight teeth, I can rearrange mine almost immediately. This drive for immediate results reflects a deeper shift in human perception of time and development. It creates the feeling that we can control our own evolutionary path without surrendering to the slow processes of nature. This not only accelerates change but also raises questions about what we consider “natural” in our existence. The line between natural and artificial is increasingly blurred. Where is the line between them, in our minds? Who can determine for sure what is more authentic? Which detail in the series of abstract images was taken from nature and which was created by an algorithm? We face realities where actual and fictional coexist. The works in the exhibition present a combination of natural, generated and altered images that explore the symbiotic relationship between technology and human development. They both speculate and critique our drift away from the “natural.” This departure is not just physical but also conceptual, as we reimagine our place in ecological systems through a technological lens.
“LOOK – Ecology and Technology” is being held for the third consecutive year in Sofia. The project was presented with selected works in May 2024 at the 2BUNA Forum for Contemporary Visual Art in Varna, where it was awarded the Jury Prize for Best Exhibition.
Participants in the 2024 Project: Anna Steward / Aksinia Peycheva / Boryana Ventsislavova / Georgi Ruzhev / Zhenya Kaleva / Kalina Dimitrova / Claudia Holzinger / Krasimir Terziev / Leda Vaneva / Lyuben Domozetski / Mihaela Lakova / Surschenko (Lea Rudy) / Han Tang / Won Jun Choi
Locations: National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Arosita Gallery, Charta Gallery, Depoo Gallery, Little Bird Place, Punta Gallery
Program:
- Official opening on October 11, 2024, at 17:00 at the National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Address: 1 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd, Sofia - October 11, 2024, at 18:30 at Arosita, Harta, Depoo, Little Bird Place, and Punta Galleries
Address: 12 Vrubcha St., 7 11th of August St., 13 Dunav St., Sofia - October 12, 2024, at 17:30 – Artist Talk at Little Bird Place Gallery with Vera Mlechevska and Lyuben Domozetski
Address: 7 11th of August St., Sofia