Artūras Makštutis-Maksimilianas
Presentation of the idea for the exhibition “Heads, Half-Heads and Illusions”
The human head is one and is located in the upper part of the body, enclosing it. The head has a skull, which protects and covers its inner content, the brain, from the outside.
In this case, I will not go into portraiture, which is used in art as a way of conveying a person’s inner state through facial expression. I am interested in the head as a very complex apparatus that receives, produces and conveys Thought. The head as a component of the thinking process.
Head-think-think comes from the same word and has one root. In life, it is often said of an intelligent person that he has a head. A head is often a manager, a leader, a decision-maker, a person in charge, or someone who stands out from the rest because of his or her extraordinary ability to think. In most cases, such people are very rare in life.
In most cases, the capacity of the head as a thinking machine is used minimally. Thinking is a difficult, demanding and energy-consuming process that is also very uncomfortable, even dangerous. It is used very minimally in everyday activities and is replaced by automatism. Most individuals are generally reluctant to think because it is more convenient, less effortful and less responsible. Those who are not autonomous or do not think at all are dependent on external judgement, have no opinion of their own and are susceptible to the influence of others. They do not use the main function of the head, and are usually half-thinking, half-not half-headed.
These two types of Head – full head and half head – are the extreme forms of the manifestation of the Head as a thinking process. Their collision is in itself conflicting and dangerous. Being opposite sides of the same brain activity, they create a lot of tension and waste a lot of energy during the clash. And at the same time they cannot do without each other, because their collision is necessary for the dynamics and development of the processes. I believe that in this collision a third characteristic of brain activity is born: creativity.
Here I would like to show a part of creativity such as illusions, which are a by-product of reality. Illusions are inherent both in reflecting on the world around us and, instead (without reflecting), simply living. The mind is able to distinguish between reality and illusions, but still has a dependence on them. For the half-brained, illusions are an integral part of the medium they live in. Other half-heads regard illusions as the only reality and persist in trying to convince others of this. They are even determined to change the world, making them dangerous lunatics when they get into positions of responsibility.In the art world, however, they are even considered geniuses.
Heads will never be half-heads, half-heads will never become heads. A half-full head or a half-empty head means the same half-head. A full head will not become a fuller head, because there are half-heads who will not allow that to happen.
The endless course of evolution is continuously creating new Heads.
Galvanonautics 2024 Wind in feathers 2024 Oracle 2023 Don’t turn my head 2024 Illusion Machine2024 Hymn2024
Exposition view
