The Dove Will Pick Another Route
On Saturday, 15 June 2024 at 12:30 pm otte1 will open an exhibition by Filippos Tatakis.
The cover image of Filippos Tatakis’ exhibition at the end of the scholarship residency appears enigmatic. Debris flies through the sky. Are they remnants of a controlled action? Where did the fragments come from? Was there an explosion? How can the danger be addressed?
The pigeon will take a different course, promises the title.
The study of the effects of armed conflicts on bird life has indeed shown that birds, disturbed by noise and bombs, change their flight paths. But what would happen if pigeons were sitting in the missile and dictating its direction? During the Second World War, the psychologist B. F. Skinner studied the control of rockets and developed a system in which pigeons were placed in a capsule at the tip of the rocket. The birds were conditioned to peck at the target on a monitor and thus steer the rocket into a target. The ‘Organic Control’ project was not developed further; technical solutions were favoured by the military.
In his painting, Filippos Tatakis deals with images of warlike events. His pictures deal with the disinterest that viewers experience when they are repeatedly exposed to such depictions. The deadly projectile has disappeared from the picture. We see the smoke. The sky is beautiful. ‘Artistic control’? Which route does the painter take?
You will see.