What occurs to me based on these pieces?

 

As I entered, the first thing that occurred to me was how there is a kind of unique, beautiful picturesqueness within these pieces. It appears as though, instead of plain photography, colours and dynamics take over here. There is such a rich picturesqueness within these photographs, which may rarely even be witnessed among painters. Colours, colours, colours… And movement: always. A mysterious dog in some sort of curious, transcendent space – there is no knowing whether it’s coming, in motion, perhaps shaking the water off of itself, or what it’s up to. Or there is a landscape, comprised of static, which seems as though it's an uneventful sight, however, a miracle takes place in the depths of this uneventfulness. The way one’s eye wanders across these, is in itself, movement. The photograph next to this, which revolves around motion inherently, is as if Péter Gothár had taken a picture of an unfamiliar level of existence. I will circle back to this later on. 

 

So: movement, movement, movement. These pieces are in constant motion, even if they aren’t. These photographs exist in the sense of ‘being’, and ‘to be’. They exist, because Péter Gothár wanted them to. Or did they simply materialise? If I were Péter Nádas, I would argue that these images ‘transpired’. I wouldn’t know, only Péter might tell us, but it is a fact that the pieces are here and they are real. Each piece is undeniably beautiful. Yet somehow, it’s not about beauty, but a different kind of perception and being present within this perception. It is about the experience of the perceived moment. Clearly, these are not moments anymore, but stable and motionless realities, yet they keep us moving. The images capture an undocumented aspect of reality that one cannot even fully grasp. However, most of all, the photographs capture the fact that Péter Gothár took them.

 

As art is being discussed, I must touch on another significant topic. We must think about whose eyes we’re living in front of; To whom we’re accountable when we create what we create, in the transcendental sense of the word. My dear friends, Nietzsche said that God is dead. I don’ know whether he was of this opinion or not, perhaps he was, then again, perhaps he wasn’t. This is a basic statement. Indeed, the question is how humans, art, and culture react to this. How Péter Gothár reacts to this. It is quite likely that he, and we, too feel a lack of uncertainty. Anxiety. We live and we face the silent void. Thus, we must consider, how to approach this transcendental loneliness. Since humans are creative beings, Péter Gothár is anyway, we have a chance at this.       

 

Secretly and subconsciously all artwork strives for quality, his too. The significance of quality is, if what was created is a part of a big story. The story of humans, that is. Whether there’s a mysterious law at work in this. In other words: a ghost. That is, to use my favourite word, the Geist. Or to put it into the words of Tamás Soós: Get Geist. How might everyone realise the Geist they got. This ghost, or this law is the driving force of human civilization. It comes down to this, what becomes part of the myth, and what will be included in the big story. Although, oftentimes politics try to determine this, fortunately, they rarely succeed. It must be considered, based on these photographs, what this chant-like whispering, the keynote of civilisation, is all about. About good, bad, light, darkness, arrogance, sacrifice, love, but fundamentally about quality. Such things ripple through the depths of our being.     

 

How is this connected to Péter Gothár? Péter Gothár pictures this life stream, this peculiar depth. He does this in a very unbiased, honest, and brave manner. Meanwhile, continuing to feed into this shared story, about the image, quality, and the Geist, which we whisper about in this way.  

 

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Opening speech by Tamás Soós

Translated by: Sára Wiszkidenszky