GDP / Galeie TIC, Brno (CZ)
20 02 — 04 05

Curator: Borbála Szalai / Collaboration: Daniel Hüttler / Special Guests: Vanda Kováříková + Vojta Fröhlich / Graphic Design: Előd Janky / Installation: Ondřej Bělica, Adam Hejduk / Photo: Dávid Biró / Thanks to Péter Bencze, Takács Ákos (Red Bull), Linda Gergely, Endre Kis, Erik Mátrai, Meetlab, Márton Emil Tóth

Law of Excluded Middle

One of the basic principles of logic, the law of excluded middle states that either one of two contradicting statements must be true. There is no third, middle option.
The fictive, androgynous identity engendered ten years ago and developed ever since by the collaboration of János Borsos and Lilla Lőrinc, has been effortlessly toppling such axioms of logic for years. On the occasion of their solo exhibition at Galerie TIC, building on the dichotomy of the two opposite poles while at once surpassing it, the artists make an attempt to transcend the logical systems they have constructed for themselves over the last years. In a manner leaving behind their distinctive themes, the critique of national identity, their subsequent explorations into couple’s therapy and the individual mythological universe of black enamel paint (Blaek) constructed in close connection with these, the current exhibition marks new frontiers for Lőrinc Borsos. This identity - which is a synthesis of the two poles - is now extended, as a number of artworks of the exhibition were made in collaboration with a third co-creator, Daniel Hüttler, thus giving rise to a new unit (Another Name) founded on mutual self-relinquishment.

Law of Identity

The exhibition space appears like some night club accommodating neo-occult, techno-spiritualist séances, in which the repetitive beats and fetish objects are complemented with diverse biblical, alchemical and mythological allusions. The basic rhythm is provided by an anthropomorphic shape also related to alchemical and other (religious/personal) references. This shape is an arbitrarily selected element of the marquetry decorating the floor of the Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, which Lőrinc Borsos has been employing in their work since 2016, and which – also arbitrarily – they have coupled with the Homunculus theory from 16th century alchemy. According to the concept, humans, or humanoid beings can be produced chemically in a glass flask, as in each sperm cell there is a fully formed human being, a small homunculus that simply grows over time. Not only does each spermatozoon contain a „small human”, but each of those also has sperms containing more small humans. This self-contained system can be imagined as a fractal-like infinite chain. On the one hand, the so-called homunculus form recurring in the exhibition space contains the essence, that is, itself (Hyperhomunculus); on the other hand, demonstrating an extraordinary kind of evolution, it guides us through different levels of self-transcendence.

Homunculus Paradox

With the help of diverse fetish objects, inward trips, spiritual retreats, or even a 12-step program based on a personal and fearless moral inventory, the exhibition is an attempt to reconstruct some already existing frameworks. It proposes such new systems that allow extremities, the categories of good and evil, you and me, or other bipolar opposites to dissolve in each other, systems that make it conceivable to cross over between different worlds and are capable of creating space for the third half.