Error

Error / Fehler presents works by Hungarian artist Dóczy Alpár and Ukrainian artist Danylo Kovach.

Both artists explore the rupture between image and reality in their exhibition at LLLLLL artist-run space.

Building on a concept introduced by Gilles Deleuze in The Time-Image (L’Image-temps, 1985), the two artists focus on the regime of digital images in their works for this exhibition.

In The Time-Image, Deleuze describes the concept of the “faux” (the false) and examines how images not only reproduce truth but also create fictions that establish their own reality. He distinguishes between two forms of the false:

The classical false (le faux classique): deception, manipulation, or intentional falsification.

The modern false (le faux moderne): a more complex form in which different temporal layers, perspectives, and realities blend, making truth and falsehood indistinguishable.

Danya Kovach approaches this topic from personal observations and reflections, describing his work for the exhibition ERROR as follows:

"Disinformation in times of war as an essential ideological component of modern warfare.

The spread of myths in the stories of some of my colleagues inspired me to create a video performance in which artificial, plastic flowers interfere with the natural landscape. This performance is an example of how important it is for us to distinguish between real information and artificial propaganda myths."

Also in The Time-Image, Deleuze develops the concept of "crystalline images", which generate a kind of blur between reality and fiction. A crystalline image is not merely a representation of the world but contains self-reflective elements that render it unstable.

This concept resonates with the work of Dóczy Alpár. Engaging with what he calls "a reality bubble built on false or incomplete information," he developed two series: "PIXEL – and what lies behind it" and its continuation, "ERROR", which also lends the exhibition its title.

In these works, he starts with the pixel as the smallest unit of the digital image. He sees it as a symbol of the infinity of digital information, while at the same time marking its limits and deficiencies, as a building block without depth.

In his graphic works, he interweaves digital and analog printing techniques, creating complex visual compositions that attempt to depict the irresolvable conflict between image, content, and truth.

I continue these ideas in a sculpture called per visibilia ad invisibilia - through the visible to the invisible. The title of the work refers to the Christian, particularly Catholic, mystical tradition in which the physical and material are only the doorway to the spiritual and transcendent. This principle was the basis of sacred art, and at the same time it resonates deeply with my desire to show the limits of visibility in the knowledge of truth.

The sculpture is composed of five main elements:

1. A ten-foot pedestal that is both a support and a symbol of distance. The title of the work is engraved on a black plaque - per visibilia ad invisibilia.

2. The mask on top of the pedestal is a hybrid of a skull with an elongated nose and David's left eye. The eerie image embodies the moment between life and death, the recognizable and the hidden, the classical and the modern. The papier-mâché, painted with rich gold pigment, creates the illusion of a precious artifact.

3. An octagonal mirror that approximates a circle - a sacred symbol of infinity and integrity. Only in the reflection of this mirror can the viewer see the mask. Direct vision is not possible.

4. Flowers: One is a small flower standing on the pedestal itself, the other is a foot and a half away. They are visually very similar, their species coming from Central America. But on a biological level they are radically different, because one of them is plastic.

5. Invisible participation is the last element that has no material embodiment. It is the viewer himself who, by approaching, changes the perspective, and it is through his presence that the image is revealed.

In this way, I raise the issue of the total presence and reliability of information, which is only possible through direct participation. Any message transmitted through a second, third or fourth source will inevitably be distorted, supplemented by someone else's imagination, which may have nothing to do with reality.

This work is an attempt to stop the moment of observation, where the viewer becomes a participant, where the visible becomes only a mirror of the invisible, and the truth is born not in the image, but in the experience of encountering it.

The exhibition opens on Thursday, April 3, at 6 PM at LLLLLL artist-run space, Sonnenallee 26, Seestadt, 1220 Vienna.

Opening hours can be found on the website, and the exhibition can also be visited by appointment outside regular hours until April 17, 2025.