Cosmetic Is The New Cosmic
multi-media sculpture 03.04 - 30.4.2025 (extended to 07.05.2025) Collaboration with Aaron Roth - https://aaronroth.xyz/ Part of Group Exhibition 'This show was supposed to be about kitsch' at KO-OP Gallery, Sofia BG Curated by: Andrea Gandeva One of the principles of modern design and architecture is “form follows function”. In other words, any self-serving ornamentation or decoration should be avoided in a given building, object, or product. Naturally, not every architect and designer follows this edict. In 1990s Bulgaria especially, given the sudden boom in indiscriminate construction and the birth of “thug-baroque”, the principles of architecture and construction flew out the window. For the next two to three decades, however, the siren call of postmodern influence does not subside. Rather, they flourish and create balloons, a societal game of Chinese whispers. Such is the case with the use of brick-imitation wallpaper. During the 1970s, New York City legalised the residential and commercial use of industrial buildings and in 1982 officially accepted the so-called Loft Laws. These laws allowed artists to rent out loft spaces and legally use them as studio spaces. With the revived interest and scalability of these older industrial neighbourhoods, however, came rapid gentrification; rent spikes pushed artists out onto the streets and back on the search for cheaper options. The brick-lined wall, a fairly common material used in the construction of these buildings, becomes the symbol of industrialisation. Veronika Desova and Aaron Roth offer a site-specific piece for KO-OP: a column “plastered” with bricks. Its internal structure is offered up to the viewer as one wonders whether its construction will continue or, just the opposite, be left to rust in the gallery. The construction is made of “supports”, exposed studs, pipes, and various other materials which emphasise the absurdity of today’s fabrication processes, mocking the overburdened structures in our everyday lives. At the same time, the ornamentation (wallpaper, tiles, and brick-imitation prints) point to the imitation of the West, a fractured reality that nestles into the Bulgarian interior. The brick transforms from a real, industrial building material into a cheap decoration. The work questions the integrity of its own construction; was it meant to be real and lasting, or did it become a theatrical facsimile?
