crocodilePOWER — art duo

TGHNN

crocodilePOWER/Sandor Szasz

Triumph gallery, Moscow 2017

This game has no name

A five-year-old boy is travelling on a bus with his parents. He looks out the window with interest. At a certain moment a beetle lands on the other side of the glass. The boy touches the window with two splayed fingers and starts actively pushing them outwards. At first, we wonder what he is trying to achieve with this action. Soon it becomes clear he wants to bring the beetle closer, as if it were a picture on a tablet screen.

With each generation, the "virtualization" of society is becoming more pronounced — penetrating into our psyches and changing not only our general mentality, but our personalities themselves. The future quickly becomes real and already loses its relevance in the flash of an eye. Our modern information society is structured by its movement towards virtuality — the gradually blurring of the line between the material world and the world of artificial intelligence — although it should be noted that humanity as a whole is not necessarily happier, nor has it begun to live better. The fictional, fantasy stories about artificial intelligence which takes over the world and the advent of man-made disasters, no longer seem like fantasy. All the changes that occur are swift and unpredictable. The "celebration" surrounding the progress of modern society, in which, in principle, except for the outer shell, nothing has significantly changed since the Middle Ages, seems reminiscent of some sort of insane party. People were given a magic ticket to a virtual dimension which was originally intended to advance humanity, but it inevitably takes the form of a huge web, from which it becomes difficult to escape.

We are presenting the story of an enchanting party in the forest. The guests have received a map with a plan. Getting to the party is not difficult, since any chosen road leads to a goal. The party is fun, bright and festive — until it ends, and the tired guests part ways and crawl through the forest — no one can remember what has happened. The guests share their impressions with each other and each — in their own way — interprets the event. It is absolutely impossible to get to the truth, and meanwhile, all their plans to get out of the forest have been abandoned. The majority continue to believe that this is only part of the festivities and all the fun is yet to come, although there are already separate individuals who rush through the forest in panic, trying unsuccessfully to escape.

The guests' energy begins to wane, and the remaining food begins to deteriorate. The longer they wander in the forest, the more they absorb its artificial essence. Everybody is becoming increasingly similar — not to the other guests, but to forest inhabitants. They discover new abilities in themselves and are ready to do anything for the sake of new opportunities that the enchanted forest gives generously. The guests see drones buzzing around like bees, and in principle they realise that someone is following them. Perhaps this is even some kind of perverse experiment, but their will to resist has been lost and due to their new appearance, the guests no longer feel the "foreignness" of this place. They now think that the forest is quite pleasant and is a suitable new home. Moreover, the ubiquitous drones can be extremely delicious, if properly cooked.

The forest is growing. It is increasingly being filled with a bizarre ecosystem. Life in the forest is a never-ending celebration which many new guests are keen to attend. The party continues and an unpredictable, breathtaking finale awaits us ahead.