Nóra Juhász’s new project explores the authenticity of communication, the identity of museums and the disappearing world of letter culture through correspondence on behalf of a fictitious postal museum. The resulting multi-layered installation is both an ironic and emotional exploration of the historical significance of the postal service and the impersonal nature of the digital age. The project originally began as an unconventional performance based on the traditions of mail-art and the practice of catfishing, or deceptive online identities. Hiding behind a fictional institutional persona, the artist engaged with museums to explore the limits of authentic communication and the fragility of trust in the digital age.
The title “I’ve got a letter, lájf – We only use electronic communication” aptly sums up the project’s underlying idea: the aesthetics of misunderstanding, deception and recoding. The first half of the title is a Hungarian mishearing of the 1984 hit song by the band OPUS – an ironic, nostalgic meme that plays on the disappearance of the mail culture. The second half, on the other hand, is an official, typed reply sent back by a postal museum to the artist’s questionnaire. The contrast between the two quotes highlights the fault line between personal, trusting relationships and digital, institutional communication – a theme that the exhibition sensitively explores.
The project originally started as an unconventional performance based on catfishing, or deceptive online identity. Hiding behind a fictitious institutional role, the artist interacted with postal museums to explore the boundaries of authentic communication and to critically illuminate the situations of trust that are taking shape in the digital age.