Judit Lilla Molnár’s exhibition explores the issue of social mobility and the unpredictability of individual life paths through a large-scale installation. Rethinking the logic of the well-known “Snakes and Ladders” board game, the work presents the dynamics of rise and fall, where ladders and snakes are linked to contemporary psychological concepts such as “perseverance” or “learned helplessness”. Underlying the playful structure are serious socio-critical questions: to what extent do external circumstances influence the chances of success or failure, and what role do individual choices or social determinants play?
The installation is made of metal and wood elements, and its visual world refers to the spaces of board games, playgrounds and social structures. The sand, which functions as a playing field, reflects Áron Márk Éber’s class model, which analyses the structure of Hungarian society after the fall of communism. The steps between the fields, the distribution of opportunities and obstacles, draw attention to the question of how much mobility is a real opportunity and how much an illusion. The viewer becomes part of this simulation, sensing the complex and often frustrating nature of social movement.
In dialogue with the theories of Mark Fisher and Byung-Chul Han, the exhibition reflects on how self-optimisation becomes an expectation in a system of capitalism and the psychological effects of a success-oriented society. Visitors can take the experience of the exhibition with them through an interactive dice roll and individual dice, so that the game and the issues raised in the exhibition live on after they leave the space.