ABSENCE - PRESENCE
Group Exhibition
Parallel Hungary Artist Collective
27th October – 9th November 2023
2B Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
The Allegory of the Bubble, exhibited at 2B Gallery in Budapest as part of The Presence and Absence group exhibition, explores the tension between perception and reality. Through a sequence of three photographs showing a bubble seemingly bursting on a distant rod—and a sculptural installation using a balloon, wire, and shadow—the work challenges visual assumptions and reflects on the fleeting nature of existence.
By juxtaposing image and object, presence and absence, the installation invites viewers to question what they see, feel, and believe. It becomes a meditation on illusion, temporality, and the philosophical interplay between being and not being.
The Allegory of the Bubble is an installation exhibited at 2B Gallery in Budapest as part of the group exhibition The Presence and Absence. The work explores the subjectivity and objectivity of phenomena in human experience.
It reflects on what we see and feel when we confront the complex combinations of elements that surround us. This exploration relates to the fusion of space, material, and subject matter in installation art, allowing the work to challenge societal norms and provoke thought, engaging viewers on both intellectual and emotional levels.
The installation consists of three photographs depicting the stages of a water bubble bursting in the air near a rod visible behind it. Spatial illusion and perceptual error lead the viewer to assume that the bubble bursts upon contact with the rod; however, in reality, the rod is positioned several tens of meters behind the bubble.
This coexistence produces a semantic structure in the viewer’s perception. The rod and the bubble are physically distant, yet visually collapsed into a single event. The three photographs illustrate the formation, presence, and disappearance of the bubble, serving as a reminder of the philosophical tension between being and non-being.
Adjacent to the photographic sequence, an installation element extends this idea into physical space. Using a balloon, a pedestal, and metal wire, I created a sculptural metaphor for the moment of the bubble’s existence. Combined with a glass box and cast shadows, these elements suspend the fleeting instant captured in the photographs.
This arrangement generates a dialogue between existence and non-existence. The interaction between the balloon, its shadow, and the photographic sequence produces a layered visual structure in which the idea of “to be or not to be” is repeated—once through the temporal sequence of the bubble, and again through the spatial relationship between object, light, and shadow.
This interplay of elements constructs a layered narrative that encourages viewers to reflect on the transient nature of existence and the illusions embedded in perception.
The Allegory of the Bubble is an installation exhibited at 2B Gallery in Budapest as part of the group exhibition The Presence and Absence. The work explores the subjectivity and objectivity of phenomena in human experience.
It reflects on what we see and feel when we confront the complex combinations of elements that surround us. This exploration relates to the fusion of space, material, and subject matter in installation art, allowing the work to challenge societal norms and provoke thought, engaging viewers on both intellectual and emotional levels.
The installation consists of three photographs depicting the stages of a water bubble bursting in the air near a rod visible behind it. Spatial illusion and perceptual error lead the viewer to assume that the bubble bursts upon contact with the rod; however, in reality, the rod is positioned several tens of meters behind the bubble.
This coexistence produces a semantic structure in the viewer’s perception.
The rod and the bubble are physically distant, yet visually collapsed into a single event. The three photographs illustrate the formation, presence, and
disappearance of the bubble, serving as a reminder of the philosophical tension between being and non-being.
Adjacent to the photographic sequence, an installation element extends this idea into physical space. Using a balloon, a pedestal, and metal wire, I created a sculptural metaphor for the moment of the bubble’s existence. Combined with a glass box and cast shadows, these elements suspend the fleeting instant captured in the photographs.
This arrangement generates a dialogue between existence and non-existence. The interaction between the balloon, its shadow, and the photographic sequence produces a layered visual structure in which the idea of “to be or not to be” is repeated—once through the temporal sequence of the bubble, and again through the spatial relationship between object, light, and shadow.
This interplay of elements constructs a layered narrative that encourages viewers to reflect on the transient nature of existence and the illusions embedded in perception.
