Szvet, Tamás: Case Study - Socially Engaged (2012)

wood
Purchased with assistance from the National Cultural Fund, 2018
Keywords

In his work, TAMÁS SZVET takes a keen interest in the possibilities offered by classical and new techniques. In his sculptures, he often uses elements such as light, movement, electronics and the various optical illusions they create, which allow his works to be interpreted as installations in conjunction with the surrounding space and the engagement of the viewers. He made his series of works Case Study Project in the frame of a residency programme in France, the Czech Republic and Korea, in which he was concerned with the positioning and mechanism of the image, the spectacle, the artwork in the museum. He constructed wooden boxes that resembled museum crates for transporting artefacts. He precision-cut the sides of the crates, creating a kind of constructivist pattern on the outside. By cutting the wood, he has created a space inside the box, which allows an image to appear from a particular perspective. Peering into the box through a peep hole, the viewer is presented with various classical visual topoi and images from art history through metamorphosis, an optical illusion based on perspective. This piece in the series features the allegorical female figure of Delacroix’s most famous painting, Liberty Leading the People, which became a symbol not only of the French Revolution but also of an art committed to progress.