Ivan Plusch
In this project I deal with the issue of the influence of the Mass Media on Man as an individual and Man as part of the masses. Once in a while, everyone has pondered over how the flow of information, bombarding us on a daily basis from TV, radio, the Internet (whether wanted or not), manipulates our thoughts. Living and working within a society, we, of course, are not hermits dwelling in remote caves; nevertheless, the amount and bias of all kinds of news from this society is excessive. Occasionally, it makes us think and act in the direction promoted by the Media, not to mention the imposition of ideals, ways of life and moral values. The characters in my works are blurred, as if they are noise interference...
The flow of paint is associated with the flow of words, the magic of words pouring down onto Man. I want to create a kind of substitution for the person portrayed, that is, the human being and the background. Since I deem the person portrayed to be a bearer of information as information per se, as an everlasting, more or less vivid, backdrop out of which the richest and most interesting pieces are selected, the background is clearly defined... The viewer is already clued-up, – he is mesmerized by the colour and the amount of information that the image contains. Thus, I draw an analogy between colour and sound. The impersonality that I focus on in my works is one of the most typical signs of Man as part of the masses. The individual way of socio-political thinking and behaviour gives up under the onslaught of standardised passions and is replaced by impulsive reactions.
Bright and sensual colour refers to the predominance of the sensual over the conscious, which is evident in the masses within the whirlpool of manipulative information. Reason is, to a greater or lesser degree, overwhelmed by feelings, and critical thinking disappears... So, the Mass Media not only reflects reality, but is also instrumental in the creation of a new one. In light of this, I try to convey to the viewer that reality now being created, but in a different form – that of painting.