“The Centre”, 2009, series of drawings
2 pieces: 41 x 81 cm and 4 pieces: 41 x 57 cm, graphite on paper
Times of crisis are emotionally wrought and are engendered by a decrease in consumption. Ironically, the major Lithuanian supermarket chain, Maxima, has released a green eco-friendly plastic bag emblazoned with the slogan “I degrade much faster!”. The text seems to describe the socio-financial degradation typical of the times – and eerily empty shopping centres – inasmuch as it pertains to bio-degradable petro-chemicals. The series of drawings “The Centre” (2009) reflects upon lonely and dull shopping centre architecture: typical of cynical boom-time development (that has receded as quickly as it arrived).
The shopping centres in the drawings are specific to the city of Šiauliai (artist’s native city) which is marked by retail space oversupply. As time goes by these new supermarkets turn into lonely museum ghosts.
Photographs by Artūras Valiauga
kristina inčiūraitė 