The exhibition is in fact a single piece comprised of sound and moving image, both reflecting on and shifting away from the spaces of the Budapest Gallery. Living in the Netherlands for three years now, the artist conceived this work to speak abstractly about the question of seeking and finding one’s place. What points of orientation help us to find our way in our own lives? And what happens when these points become unstable? In general: can we feel at home in the world or is losing ground inevitable?
Balázs Varju Tóth began experimenting with writing literary texts in recent years. Partly autofiction, partly experimental, his text – which appears in the form of a sound installation – thematises the correlations of searching for a home, moving on/away, being confined, needing a change and being a stranger. The flashing footages can be interpreted as metaphors of different places and spaces that help us orientate ourselves and fix our attention, such as the beacon of a lighthouse or the emptiness of a room.
It is important to note, however, that these short scenes are not illustrations of the soundtrack that runs through the exhibition space: it is the relationship between the text and the images that the artist is interested in, inasmuch as it gives rise to uncertainty and tension. The physics term in the title refers to the principle according to which light travels between two points along the path that requires the least time: the exhibition is an attempt to create an immersive video installation that aims not for totality, but instead, for fragmentariness, while pointing out the difficulties, breaking points and confusions inherent in relating a narrative.