4.-16.03.2017
"A Notion of Cosmic Teleology"
Sala Santa Rita, Rome, Italy.

Aljoscha sees his objects and installations as living beings. They are heralds of the distant future and bring a message: humanity will be freed from endless suffering and unlimited happiness will be accessible for all. Aljoscha´s art is a sign of the future, and marks the appearance of a new aesthetic.

Human beings seem to have an inborn mechanism which continually produces suffering. We seem doomed to engage in endless production for its own sake, we strive for success and power, we have become slaves to the needs of society. The prospect of lasting happiness seems to be just an illusion.

But biologists are already developing genetic, biochemical and other methods that could make sustainable happiness available. The vision of a completely happy society opens up new perspectives. If people’s right to happiness is fulfilled, the need for a government to distribute power and money and the need for a religion to overcome fear and set forth moral values will simply fall away, and society will continue to develop naturally. The purpose of a happy human life will become a sense of »paradise engineering«.

This briefly-outlined thesis is the central idea of bio-ethical abolitionism and at the same time it is the heart of Aljoscha’s recent artistic work. In order to situate it in the present multifaceted world of contemporary art Aljoscha has coined the term »Bioism«. Under this banner he displays these organically-arisen forms and anchors his aesthetic vision in our future evolution.

Specifically designed for the Sala Santa Rita, this installation is entitled »A Notion of Cosmic Teleology«. It draws on Aristotle’s teleology, and poses questions about the purpose of visual Art itself.

Aristotle defined Art as an ideal imitation of nature, which expresses its essence in sensual perceptible form. Aristotle held that Beauty is immanent in Art, and that the first purpose of Art is to give pleasure and aesthetic delight. Moreover the visual experience of beauty has the power to educate the human soul.

In the historic, originally sacred space of the Sala Santa Rita, Aljoscha has placed a Bioism installation that embodies his vision of the future and of the ultimate meaningfulness of the biological universe. He builds a quasi-organic system which does not occur in nature, and imbues it with a new quality – that of a prophet. The bizarre shapes of this translucent installation, its strange beauty, seem to spring from the next stage of evolution. In his work Aljoscha assumes the role of the demiurge. He sees his work as exceeding the generative activity of nature with its creative richness and thus challenging the central message of Aristotle as to the purpose of the visual arts.

Joy and aesthetic pleasure play the central role in the perception of this installation. But not only senses and feelings are at play here. All sensations and emotions are received by the mind as naked experience, which is the core of perception, and yet this core in its essence remains free and unaffected by any purpose. The inherent purpose of Aljoscha’s work manifests in this pure presence of the harmony between the joyful message of his art and its perception by others.

Natalia Gershevskaya

http://artecracy.eu/ > A Roma la pittura prende corpo con l’opera di Aljoscha