The Flight of the Hen/Installation view

The virtual space of today has enabled the existence of a utopia, a perfect world where everything is in opposite to the real world. In The Flight of the Hen, Albert Merino stages a process where a desirable, ideal policy on public art is realized. With a specific setting of time, space, organization, and characters, the video is produced with an excellent visual style and directorship. Although the work narrates a fictional story of solidarity among artists that takes place in Barcelona, it induces viewers to doubt whether the story staged in the work is real. In addition to raising confusion and suspicion, the work even transforms a dramatic tension into a solid experience for the viewers. Through a well-staged fictional account, The Flight of the Hen raises a question on how solidarity among individuals can impose positive influence on the public policy as specific forms of media are developed with the passage of time. In this work, the most contested issue on contemporary media is delivered in the form of comedy, with questions done in an entertaining yet insightful way.

(Photo : Nils Clauss)