2022
PÉTER TAMÁS HALÁSZ, who graduated as a painter, has always created installations and objects although his objects often have the characteristics of panel paintings. His three-dimensional works are not sculptures as he is rather concerned with materials, shapes, proportions, textures, and often with scientific ideas and problems. Although his intellectual connection with certain movements of modernism is undeniable, he does not belong to any movement. His works carry multiple layers of meaning and are charged with emotion, and, often, with humour. As a critique of the aestheticisation of technology, his works are made from the waste of civilisation, from the unusable metal scraps of computers and modern electronics, from PC boards, heatsinks, pen drives, reusing everything that makes post-industrial society function but which is fast becoming waste. Wood Destroyer, a wood burning stove made from car parts, raises several questions. The firebox of the stove (like the sun’s tiny companion) is replaced by a car engine, burning wood instead of petrol and heating instead of moving. In addition to putting functionality on a pedestal, it also addresses serious and global social problems. Much of the world’s energy still comes from burning fossil fuels, which account for 60-70% of advanced technologies based on electricity. The mystification of technological progress is biting its own tail, with the huge amount of waste and the scale of deforestation now threatening the very existence of our planet.