Darja Popolitova at EKKM

TRIGGER is the group exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn. Curators Evelyn Raudsepp and Maria Helen Känd have selected international artists dealing with situations where we are constantly witnessing the tense chaos of political crises. The idea of the exhibition was born from a need for emotional ventilation through metaphorical and poetic means. “TRIGGER” includes video works that have a deeply bodily presence, a site-specific sound installation charged with industrial energy, delicate yet sharp kinetic sculptures, digital-synthetic paintings, and objects that break with the tradition of fashion and jewellery design.

My contribution to this show is a headpiece titled DELUSION INDUCER HEADGEAR, and a video illustrating the process of wearing the gear on the body. The headpiece is created out of dyed polymer clay, a deconstructed handsfree device, and metal armature, and refers to the phenomenon of the so-called Delulu.

Delulu entails extravagant or irrational beliefs that contradict reality. This means that from the perspective of subjective experience, Delulu is a defense mechanism, and from the viewpoint of a more ‘rational’ observer, such behaviour is therefore delusional. In this regard, I was interested in the Delulu emotion, which is expressed mimically in an intense smile, without the participation of the eyes. It can be seen that the face projects an attempt to connect the internal dissonance with the external, showing a formal smile but not resolving the internal conflict.

From this emotion comes the form of this decoration, which includes hooks for pulling a smile at the corners of the mouth. Thus, decorations are a kind of tool for the emergence of Delulu’s attitude towards the world. In combination with the video, the composition works on the level of criticism of over-positive thinking in times of crisis.

Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn
06.04.—02.06.2024

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
(LA)HORDE (France)
Adrian Kiss (Romania/Hungary)
Bárbara Sánchez-Kane (Mexico)
Cevdet Erek (Turkey)
Darja Popolitova (Estonia)
Hanna Antonsson (Sweden)
Jacolby Satterwhite (USA)
Mihkel Maripuu (Estonia)
Oona Doherty (Ireland)

SUPPORTERS
Estonian Ministry of Culture
the Cultural Endowment of Estonia
City of Tallinn
French Institute in Tallinn
SAHA Association
Goethe Institute
AkzoNobel