Macromolecule Exploiting some Biological Target, 2024

Dream/Engine. Brain/Drain. Vampire/Empire. Together, these three separate works form a group. The colourful sculptures have something lively and playful, but they are not as innocent as they look. They are XXL versions of popular party drugs.

Zuzanna Czebatul investigates the two sides of these drugs. They are used to facilitate social contact at parties and in clubs. In such situations there is tension between being yourself and adapting to group behaviour. Which role do you want to play? And do you control it? The pills can make you feel very open and connected, but also down and alone.

The artist also highlights the tension between euphoria and exhaustion, dream and reality, body and techno. Party drugs often come in the form of attractive sweets, bearing the logo of expensive luxury brands. This gives users the illusion that they are participating in a luxury lifestyle. For the artist they symbolise the all-devouring system of consumption and capitalism, for which people, natural resources and landscapes are exhausted in an endless desire for ever more prosperity and pleasure.

Numbers 5, 7 and 25 on the map.