“KONZUMERIZAM” — Ervin Kadić
6 — 18.2.2025.
U doba u kojemu je kritika konzumerizma i/ili potrošačkog društva (skoro) nestala, čemu je u nemaloj mjeri doprinijela potpuna normalizacija istoga, Kadićev se rad pojavljuje kao (re)aktualizacija spomenute kritike, ali i kao oblik njene reimaginacije. Izbjegavajući već etablirane, pop-artističke cliché-e koji su ovu kritiku često forsirali na temelju upotrebe i/ili eksploatacije proizvoda i prateće estetike, umjetnik se u ovom slučaju odlučio na tematiziranje i (re)artikulaciju izgleda okruženja i prostora proizvedenog konzumerizmom, tj. ideologije koja institucionalno i socijalno stoji iza njegove proliferacije i normalizacije.
Ovaj fokus na prostor, naime, nije fokus samo na fizički prostor. Ovdje se radi o fokusu i na fizički, recimo to tako, arhitektonski layout prostora devastiranog konzumerizmom i (neoliberalnim) kapitalizmom, i na psiho-socijalnu arhitektoniku paradigmatske potrošačke populacije u globalnom i post-tranzicijskom kontekstu. Ova dva vektora pristupa u tom smislu mogu biti viđeni kao temelji Konzumerizma kao selekcije niza radova čije funkcioniranje u galerijskom prostoru treba vidjeti kao svojevrsni mikrokozmos zrcaljenja ili refleksije šireg fizičkog i ideološkog prostora determiniranog hegemonijom logike profita, tj. hyper kapitalizmom te kolonijalizmom/imperijalizmom.
In the period in which a critique of consumerism and/or consumer society has (almost completely) vanished, which was in significant measure corroborated also by the normalization of correlated ideology, Kadić’s work appears as a re-articulation of the aforementioned critique, as well as a form of its reimagination. By avoiding the already established, pop-art clichés that often forced the usage of; or the exploitation of, products and accompanying aesthetics, the artist in this case focused on the (re)articulation of the environment and/or space produced by consumerism, i.e. of the ideology which institutionally and socially stands behind its proliferation and normalization.
This focus on space, however, is not the focus exclusively on physical space. It entails both the articulation of the physical, let’s say, the architectural layout of the space devastated by consumerism and neoliberal capitalism, as well as the articulation of psycho-social architectonics of paradigmatic consumer population in global and post-transitional contexts. These two approaches can be seen as pillars of Consumerism as a selection of works the functioning of which in gallery space should be seen as a sort of a microcosm of reflection of the wider physical and ideological space determined by the hegemony of logic of profit, i.e. hyper-capitalism and colonialism/imperialism.