ILLI STRUUNT

When Gregor Samsa is dispossessed of his belongings and clings to a portrait of no apparent value with an indisputable survival instinct, he makes it clear that ‘our things’, those objects that we have loaded with meaning, are also us.

It is the language of things, what matter hides, that primitive and universal desire to surround ourselves with things, to caress them, to make them our own, to look for objects that form part of our daily life, almost of our identity. It is the need to touch and preserve, to play with the tangible, to build and transform. What do things, our belongings, our tools mean? Why do we build? Why are we so fascinated by making and observing the shapes, the geometry, the beauty and particularity of objects? 

Because we are a tool-making species, lovers of the tangible, because we dream of materialising the invisible. 

Struunt represents an intersection between photography and aesthetic appreciation, each image reflects on the essence of objects. The artistic approach focuses not only on visual beauty, but on the subject matter itself, with innovative and surprising points of view.

Exploring elements of everyday life from unusual angles, reconstructing them in new perspectives, decontextualising and searching for hidden meanings by challenging traditional perceptions. This creative process not only highlights the aesthetics of the object, but also invites reflection on its meaning and transcendence.

The search for what things hold in Struunt is a journey that involves the creation of new pieces that are photographed before they are destroyed or pieces that have been worn out by time and have lost their meaning. This act of destruction and abandonment cannot be an ending, but a metamorphosis, a representation of transience and oblivion. The idea that each photograph captures an ephemeral moment, never to be repeated, adds a layer of meaning to each work.

Struunt challenges the viewer to reconsider their relationship with everyday objects and the strange nature of things when we add an artistic gaze to them. A visual experience that is both aesthetic and deeply reflective.