A Message People Do Not Want to Receive
Nadezda Pomyteeva, Young Vienna, 16.04.2013
Local artist Zenita Komad explores the issues of today’s world through art
A well-known Austrian artist, Zenita Komad, opened her new exhibition The Work in the Heart at Webster University on 11 March.
There are 11 works in the Thomas K. Lang Gallery on the third floor of Webster University; the space is open to the public. The artist was influenced by society, the new generation and disasters that are currently happening in the world. Komad wants her viewers to be able to open their mind to what is happening around them; she wants send a message and to awaken people‘s attention. She believes that if people focus more on the environment rather than their personal life, they will be able to change the world.
“We have to feel more what the other needs,” said Komad, “and take care [of] the others more than for ourselves.”
The most eye-catching piece in the gallery is a big 3D reproduction of a phone. It is not possible to see the numbers or even answer it, but it rings every time someone passes in front of it. Komad makes her works interactive in order to create a more realistic experience, and to allow viewers to communicate with her art. She said that the phone represents today‘s generation; people hear a phone call, they know that there is a message but they ignore it and even reject it. (I believe that I should restructure this sentence because we are not talking literally here. A phone call is a message that nature, environment and disasters send to people. But we ignore them and keep harming and hurting each other and environment.)
At one point, the phone rang and one young student came into the room, asked what was making the noise, and then turned it off without asking about its purpose.
“It was distracting me,” he said later on.
Thus, the location of the gallery perfectly fits its theme. Students leave their classes and pass through the exhibition. It attracts their attention and they stop to look at the various works.
“This exhibition definitely focuses upon things that go through your head,” said media and management student, Rudolf Suchodolski. It was easy for him to understand the meaning of the works and their message: The world around you will look the way you want to perceive it.
Komad started her solo career in 2002 in Vienna, but soon became well known internationally. She has traveled with her exhibitions to Chicago, Moscow, Berlin, Paris, and Beijing, among others. All of her works are created based on what people go through, what is happening, and how people change.
“This is why I do my work, always,” she said.
In the end, the artist had to rush to the opening of her second exhibition, but she was pleased to show her works while giving young people an opportunity to see them.