Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. -1 Corinthians 15:51-52
There is a looming air of déjà-vu. Things are changing, but probably not for the better. What does it feel like to witness the fall of an empire, the last breath of a sick society? Were the Romans of the 5th century aware that shit was going down? Today, the pessimists—perhaps the realists—are digging shelters and hoarding stacks of canned food, preparing for a future that feels increasingly uncertain. Meanwhile, others view the despair and chaos as a golden opportunity to amass more wealth, thriving in the cracks that threaten to swallow us whole. Most of us stand in the shadows, contemplating the fractures that riddle our society, caught between hope and resignation. In this fragile moment, the question persists: will we dare to change and imagine a different future, or will it blink out of existence?
Stars, both literal and metaphorical, shine brightly for a moment before fading, falling, or crashing. Caterina de Nicola’s stars, “Game of Turmoil,” are like shattered icons, fallen monuments, and banners of the nation in decline. Themes of social ascension and decline are also present in Philipp Timischl’s work, which uses viral pictures of Lady Gaga’s apartment before she became a celebrity. The apartment, a banal and everyday space, becomes charged with potential—it is both a relic of the past and a premonition of what is to come. It also reflects how quickly identities and relationships are constructed and deconstructed today.
Some are on the ascent, and others take the other direction. Some are upgrading their living conditions, and some are forced to sell their lives. As a reminder of the unforgiving nature of this society, Gina Folly’s Cheap Divorce and We Buy Houses All Cash signs highlight the shift in the way our personal trajectories have become just another commodity. In a society increasingly digital and transactional, even something as intimate as love and what we call “home” can quickly become, for others, a financial opportunity.
Fabienne Audéoud’s Till Death Do Us Part features fragrance bottles shaped like weapons of all kinds. This collection highlights the worrying tendency of some men to associate violence with masculinity. The sleek, alluring design of luxury perfume presents an object associated with power and destruction, giving men confidence that everything is possible. These “weapons of mass seduction” suggest a darker side of the desire for luxury, where violence is hidden beneath layers of glamour and sophistication.
But what about what once stood for resistance and non-conformity that has been absorbed by the same systems it was trying to fight. Georgie Nettell uses corporate logos of Paypal, K-Mart, United Airlines to spell out “punk.” Perhaps rebellion isn’t exactly outside the system anymore, it seems that it has become part of it. With her work, Nettell shows capitalism’s capacity to absorb and commodify everything it touches, even movements that once stood for resistance.
Participating artists:
Fabienne Audéoud, Caterina de Nicola, Gina Folly, Georgie Nettell, and Philipp Timischl
at Sentiment, Paris
until October 27, 2024