“All living beings are, in a certain way, the same body, the same life, and the same self that continues passing from form to form, from subject to subject, from existence to existence. […] We are all a fragment of it, a flash of light: energy, solar matter that tries to live in a different way from the countless previous lives. […] Difference is never a nature, it is a destiny and a task. We are compelled to become different, we are compelled to metamorphose.” — Emanuele Coccia, Metamorphoses (2021)
In his book *Metamorphoses*, philosopher Emanuele Coccia radically reevaluates the concepts of life and nature: he argues that every living being in the world—from bacteria to plants and animals to humans—shares in a single, continuous, and indivisible life. Accordingly, species are not separate, fixed categories, but rather the continuous transformations — or metamorphoses — of the same matter and spirit. By breaking down the traditional boundaries between nature and culture, as well as between the living and the non–living, this new perspective encourages us to view humans not as masters of the world, but as part of a global, interconnected, and ever–changing ecosystem.
Metamorphosis does not merely refer to biological and spiritual transformation experienced through the senses: the concept is also known from Ovid’s *Metamorphoses*, one of the most influential classics of Western culture. Emanuele Coccia also addresses this issue in his commentary titled *The Metamorphosis of Art*, written for this traveling exhibition. In the text, he explicitly links the concept of metamorphosis to the genesis of art. For when Ovid chose this term as the title of his work, he articulated two main ideas simultaneously. On the one hand, he described the continuous transformation of forms: everything changes, but precisely for this reason nothing dies permanently; change thus ensures the continuity of life. On the other hand, Ovid recognized in metamorphosis the very nature of literature and art in general, since he defined myth itself as an instrument of transformation: stories not only recount past events, but can also change us, for with their help we can step outside ourselves only to return as different beings. Myths, stories, and other works of art thus serve not simply to preserve a culture, but to give it ever-new forms. For this very reason, although cultures may disappear or merge into one another, myth — and art in general — lives on.
The exhibition is an attempt to convey this complexity through the work of nine artists. Following Emanuele Coccia, we can conclude that metamorphosis is not a specific phenomenon of life, but life itself. The works in the exhibition visualize this continuous transformation on various scales—from cells, through human relationships and family, to landscape and the cosmos. The nine artists featured in the exhibition are Vitalii Halanzha (Ukraine, 1991), Zoe Hamill (United Kingdom, 1987), Emilia Martin (Poland, 1991), Constantin Schlachter (France, 1992), Balázs Turós (Hungary, 1990), Máté Bartha (Hungary, 1987), Anna Orłowska (Poland, 1986), Claudia Amatruda (Italy, 1995), and Marcus Gustafsson (Sweden, 1990)—explore three dimensions of metamorphosis: the microscopic world of molecular transformations, changes in human and family relationships, and the fascinating instances of environmental—and at times cosmic—scale revealed through the landscape. As the artists observe and interpret these changes, they themselves become part of the metamorphosis: they create new forms and not only reveal these transformations but also offer us the opportunity to forge a new connection with our own world and to enter that shared intellectual space where we can reflect on change.
Emese Mucsi