“A circle and an ellipse”
Pavlov’s dog who was taught to distinguish a circle from a semicircle by accepting the appropriate food as a reward is the image of modern western society. In Pavlov’s experiment, the dog became confused and unable to distinguish between the two shapes when the semicircle gradually decreased in size and became almost like a circle, with only a small opening. He became agitated, started shaking and barking. This “ambivalence” of the dog to the stimulus, caused him neurosis. The process followed a gradual reduction in the difference between the stimuli. When the stimulus became more cyclical, a dramatic change occurred in the dog’s behavior. The neurosis/confusion of the animal persisted for several weeks after the experiment.
Today capitalism seems to have entered its final crisis and is beginning to coincide with itself, producing an almost absolute reification (Verdinglichung) of subjects. Work and life are now inseparable, time goes from being linear, chaotic and fluid where capital follows you even in your sleep. The human subject has become so attuned to the functioning of the markets that a world identical to itself emerges that abolishes any distinction between work and leisure. In this new landscape everything looks the same to such an extent that a generalised confusion prevails which in turn generates a social neurosis. The new subject of capitalism in total confusion is the neurotic Narcissus. In the context of contemporary culture, a complete homogenization of sensory experience prevails in which, while particularity and multiple identities are propagated, the complete opposite occurs, namely the loss of subjective identity and particularity. Subjects have been transformed into a target for surveillance and collection of data and information - i.e. an archivein upright position. The expanded confusion of subjects breaks the collective and shapes it into a fluid landscape of divided individuals whose interrelationship is based on empty narcissistic identities, removing at the same time any possibility of meaning and content. In such a landscape of confusion, class divisions in the Western Metropolis deepen even further.
The solo exhibition “Confusions” by Dimitris Halatsis aims through different artistic means (painting, drawings, objects, performances, texts etc.) to create a situation of “events” that reconstruct the landscape of social confusion and formulates in visual terms “thoughts” on issues that have to do with the reification and expiration of the Western world.