Metallic Taste of Patience

Metallic Taste of Patience
Solo Show by Marta Mattioli
Presented by Catinca Tabacaru Gallery x Atelier 35

‘We need first to understand that the human form—including human desire and all its external representations—may be changing radically, and thus must be re-visioned. We need to understand that five hundred years of humanism may be coming to an end as humanism transforms itself into something that we must helplessly call posthumanism.’

Ihab Hassan, “Prometheus as Performer: Towards a Posthumanist Culture?”

Intercellular hybrids, digital embodiments, artificial consciousnesses, melting together in a blend of unfulfilled existences. We’re still on the brink of grasping the new worlds unfolding before us. Stuck in a barely perceptible hiatus, we’re actively participating in its becoming. Never settled, our human nature cannot slow down its efforts of transcending any predetermined condition. Our fight for survival turned into a grown-ups game of patience in imagining our possibilities.

‘Metallic Taste of Patience’ proposes a contemplation space for our dystopian realities as they’re becoming more and more dissonant. Working at the limit of adaptability of materials, Mattioli brings to the fore a seldom seen organicity of sturdy elements. Juxtaposing technique with subject the works reveal an invisible liminality between the virtualities we populate. Granting a peculiar appreciation to the sublime, thought to form the essence of human psychology, Mattioli enacts a fresh perspective on the pleasing temptations that empower our modern sins.

Being trained in the traditional medium of painting, she approaches different materialities with an already established sense of technique and aesthetics, constantly testing the adapting capabilities of each and every media she expresses herself in. Deriving from the unique characteristics of the 3D environment, Mattioli brings into our physical world new configurations of the bodily instruments that carry us through life, but also of the android personalities that we ended up developing.

Surrounded by cold reflective surfaces, the assemblage confers to the viewer a stunning feeling of closure as it becomes a simulation of our vulnerable condition. Focusing on specific parts of the human body – the heart, the spine and the coxal bone – the sculptures present in the space turn into altered renditions that accentuate their intangible essence. The video works augment, in this context, another layer that’s mirroring the process behind the composing of the physical artworks. Symbolizing the transient nature of life, the sand scattered on the floor reinforces our need to adapt to dynamic circumstances. Hence, the digital dimension is not merely a means of escaping, but more an engine for questioning our personalities in a deeply alienated world. As the artworks are echoing constantly into each other, the space is subject to an uninterrupted transformation portraying our own immersion into virtual experiences.

‘Metallic Taste of Patience’ is a homage to the rich traditions of artistic practice, boldly bringing into our tangible reality the unprecedented flexibility that the digital realm allows us. As we are gazing at the flickering signifiers encircling us, we are carried in Marta Mattioli’s personal imaginary realm of merging concepts and materialities.

- Teodora Rosu