Lukas Kalos: UNTITLED exhibition text

To imagine something whole is usually impossible. The mind is hazy by nature and its replication into art is the Sisyphean struggle in which artists battle (when to start – when to finish). An artwork’s wholeness is an illusion we must maintain in order to feel as though the viewing and appreciation of it has been worth our while. We quantify and lose ourselves in it no matter how much love one pours into a work (into a song – into a word), it will never matter in the eyes of an audience until it is “complete”.

Wholeness, however, neglects the importance of the present – past, as its focus on the future tends to underwhelm our perceptions on the immediate.  Its neglect harms and hurries the oohs and aahs, and in a way, being in the audience has become insufferably difficult. Suddenly in these processes of viewings – the white cube, the sterility:

-         being told what to say (how to say it),

-         how to breathe quieter in noisy rooms,

-         how to stand with your arms crossed behind your back + holding moleskine,

-         How to vomit,

[These rules] Enact the role of an overbearing mother from processes past to creep into your most intimate and incentivise the constancy of start – finish – start – finish – move on – finish – start – finish. However, Lukas, of everyone I have ever met, has somehow miraculously escaped this phenomenon. I attribute such a feat to the lifelong romance he shares with life, and despite his love for art (and sweet treats) has remained unrivalled all his life. The beauty he finds in being the spectator, in all its slight gossip down to the delicacy of breathing, extends even further his practice.

The push to emphasise his one-ness with an audience– the feeling of being on the outside (but not alone) is in a way such a softness. It’s funny that we are locked out of the club, but we’re all there together. Look to your left (right) and there Lukas will be – presumably bouncing around the floor – looking and listening in the same way we are. As we murmur in uncertainty, he will be seeing the work in its fruition at the same time, offering no more insight than we could.

And so the inconclusiveness is the resolution we must come to. Or perhaps, the revelation will be of preparation– perhaps of change(?), or that you will get nothing or everything from it. The representation of process is nothing new, but the spirit of concentration (something we all encounter and seldom celebrate) presents the vastness of internalised background forward, inviting us to bite into a different corner of its viewing scape.

In its core, his works as a whole challenge the artist’s role as the central and often vindictive voice of reason in the gallery, manifesting this almost lucid driver-less experience. It leans closer and closer to a viewing that may have appeared once before, but the feeling of being beyond the self – outer body and floating amongst the crowd has always existed. Completeness is a negativity to all these moments that exist. Their tangibility is as prevalent, but some training of the eye is required.

So I implore you to talk, discuss if you have to. Realise everything you must and then watch it as it passes by.

Installation by Lukas Kalos. Backspace. 2022

UNTITLED (THE INVITATION OF SOMETHING, A SYSTEM TO REMINISCING THE CORNERED SPACE, PUSHED A FORCEFUL COLLECTION, IMAGINATION AND EMOTION FILL HERE CAN’T ENTER MY OWN MIND BUT I CAN IMAGINE MYSELF THERE, MY OWN PRIVATE DANCE FLOOR ENTRANCED AT THE LIGHT, THE ENTRANCE MAKES ME DANCE BATTLE MAN ON MAN MADE TO BE REAL, A PLASTIC ENCASED ENERGY WARMS A VIRGIN SOUL MAGNIFIES PROBE SPIKE THE ARENA! I DON’T KNOW WHY HE AGREED TO MAKING ALL OF THIS POSSIBLE FOR ME COMING AND GOING’S FOR A VAST DREAMSCAPE, VIVID FACILITATION SPECTRE ON MY LIPS, IN MY EARS, NOTHING TO SEE HERE IS THE SCENERY IN YOU’RE WASTING TIME AND EXPELLING ENERGY IS THE BEAUTY OF LIFE), 2022

Wood, lights, speakers, audio, music, plinths 

Dimensions variable