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(in hungarian)
János Fodor - Fix
12 - 31 October 2006
Opening: 12 October 2006, 7 p.m.
Video, photo, objects and installation
Momentary coincidence is called a conjunction. It
might be accidental or intended, but in both cases
the phrase denotes a phenomenon that displays a meaning
surpassing itself.
János Fodor is an excellent observer. He comes and
goes in the world, noticing minute details that are
self-existent, but for him, these connect with other
elements of reality seen at the same time and place.
Simple facts lead to association, to seeking connections.
Through this process, the selected thing becomes related
to another selected thing, thus turning into a channel
of meaning. Reality is full of minute details that
can become meaningful if matched properly. One of
the artist’s tasks might be to call attention to these
relations, stating that our world is a surface filled
with conjunctions waiting to be discovered.
The connecting link of Fodor’s oeuvre, encompassing
several media, is analytic, exploratory behaviour.
Be it drawing, photography, object or video, the works
display gestures that disclose the hermetic dimensions
of the cognition of reality.
If there are model conditions to be found in his works,
his photographs definitely conform to them. Surprising
conjunctions, mostly found in urban environment, call
attention to the interpretable accidentality. Street
objects, posters, stickers and signs radiate humour
and the happiness of recognition.
His objects may well be interpreted as projections
of seeking connections: his installations and sculptures
constructed of found objects display art historic
and common associations pertaining to material culture.
In his compilations, twentieth century concept- and
pop-mentality meets the practice of artistic awareness.
Fodor’s videos provide another aspect of his view
of the world. Besides the short films expressing the
aesthetic and philosophical beauty of accidental events,
lately he has been recording sequences exploring the
artistic aspects of movements and gestures. A pen
leaving a trace on the wall, a geometric shape tapped
by ballet shoes on the plaster or the sight of a piece
of clothing lashing against the wall; the sight and
sound of these convince the viewer in their simplicity
of the value and richness of the tiniest details of
reality.
A drawing is the most personal mark of the artist.
In Fodor’s case, his lines consequently depict and
align simply drawn figures, which narrate general
emotions and relations through their shape and movements,
with the help of the ever so acknowledged world of
cartoon culture.
The unity of this artistic activity arises exactly
from its diverseness. The more sides of the same experience
he sheds light on, the better he can render its beauty
and lovability perceptible. Although Fodor is a man
of words, he just cannot tell everything about his
experiences. His means of communication beyond verbality
is art, with he help of which he can direct focus
on such things that most of us would fail to notice.
Zsolt Petrányi
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