On January 1st, Levente Leitner sculptor started to create a series of super-sensitive masks. Passing on his previous quarantine experiences, re-essentializing the concept of an object that is both useful and awful part of the pandemic – at the same time referring back to its original, gracious, exalted purpose. According to his plans, the installation is going to release the perfect mood swing paraphrase.
The current exhibition is a thematic version of the above-mentioned project. The Romans suffered a heavy defeat during the famous Teutoburg battle against the Germanic Arminius (Hermann in German) who received an upbringing as a Roman prisoner that was accompanied by serious military training, knew the tactics of the Romans, therefore he successfully forged the Germanic troops together – this was the first time when the Germanic tribes joined their forces, and plenty of soldiers of the Roman army numbering about 20,000 all but destroyed. A Kalkriese mask found near the scene of the battle with the unexpected ending inspired Levente to reflect on the artefact because during their city parades, the Roman soldiers of Germanic origin had to wear masks in order to hide their „barbaric” features.
The exhibited works are equipment found at the scene of a fictitious battle, yet they come alive in many ways. These military equipments are apparently from an alternate world. Leitner’s characters, like the masks of burned-out alpha versions of ordinary people, the unicorn wrestler, or the armor covered with duct tape, glistening in black are exposed fragments of the disposable world of uniformed plastics. The „protective shields” of the fancy, post-apocalyptic fantasy world, the representations of burnout and madness as foreshadowing mirror of an unsettling vision. Here, our future did not happen according to the best scenario.