Pixel and Blood by Olson Lamaj is a project that was created during the artist’s residency at Tirana Art Lab which was facilitated by the project Beyond Matter.
By means of Augmented Reality (AR), contemporary slogans sprawl across photos of buildings that are meaningful to the city of Tirana. All situated around the main square, the Palace of Culture, the National Bank of Albania, and the Tirana International Hotel have shaped the identity of the city center for many years. In the past, however, the communist regime took advantage of the prominence of these very buildings and used them as sites for the placement of political slogans and dissemination of state propaganda. Lamaj not only references but also overwrites the past by creating new statements and projecting them on to the top of the buildings via AR. The slogans are combinations stemming from popular expressions as well as the artist’s own turn of phrase. As interventions in the virtual space, they capture the paradox of the current virtual and technological era.
Visitors are invited to use this AR APP through which new slogans appear on the photos presented by the artist at the exhibition Immerse! at the Tallinn Art Hall between 18.2. - 30.4.2023.