THERE’S NO EXIT, ONLY ESCAPE

I am a snail on the road,
I am a plane without a pilot,
I am snow during a thaw,
I am a soldier in the trenches,
I am a bee settling on honey,
I am a lobster in an aquarium,
I am a bark beetle during a fire,
I am a cavity at the dentist,
I am a head on a block.

The exhibition There’s No Exit, Only Escape deals with the theme of the end. It brings together artists who address the transience of the future and the demise of reality in their work. Through art, they present the degradation of positive thinking about the future and show that nothing will be as we expected. It asks visitors whether our actions have the power to influence the flow of time, or whether we are now merely passive witnesses to the inevitable.

The three artists, each of whom approaches the theme differently, belong to Generation Z. They grew up in a world full of promises of a bright future, the fulfillment of which now seems uncertain, if not impossible. How does this sense of finitude manifest itself in their work? And how is it possible that the question of mortality is no longer the preserve of old age?

In a globalized world, we watch every small demise almost live. We know about threats, disasters, and individual suffering—and we suffer along with those who are going through them. Yet we often feel like a snail on the road. With no real possibility of changing our fate, we try to accept the situation and enjoy the last moments before our fragile shell is crushed. And if we aren't run over by a car, we might be stepped on by a kid from the apartment building on the corner.

Recurring motifs of endangered bodies, unstable systems, and beings trapped in inhospitable conditions create an image of existence without any real possibility of return. We feel that we cannot leave the maze of amusement parks that pretend to be freedom. Here, the maze is not a space for play, but a structure that simulates choice, while the real exit does not exist. But perhaps there is an escape. We can try to leave the maze through a hole in the fence.

And then there is only one question left:

Does the maze cease to exist the moment we leave, or do we cease to exist outside the maze?