Catalogue > At random

Just be glad it's not you combines texts sourced from various threads on the topic of narcissism from www.quora.com. Quora is an online forum for crowd sourcing answers to questions that vary vastly in subject matter and are often posted anonymously. Various self-proclaimed experts have listed accounts, definitions, and directives on the theme of narcissism. A selection of these texts are displayed in a synchronized installation across three screens, edited to appear in time to a specially commissioned hard techno track from sound designer Antoine Hureau, accompanied by an integrated LED light installation. This video, sound and light installation creates an environment of information overload that is reflective of the environment of information overload that we find ourselves in within digital culture, and within the wealth of language, accounts, opinions and stories that we find online. Walking a thin line between tragedy and comedy, the work contains an ironic sensibility, allowing complex and difficult issues to be addressed with a light touch.

Samuel Brzeski (1988, London) is an artist and writer living and working in Bergen, Norway. He studied English Literature at University of Sheffield, UK (BA) and Fine Art at Bergen Art Academy (MA), and participated in the Mountain School of Arts program in Los Angeles, USA. Recent exhibitions of note include Lydgalleriet, Bergen (2023), Bærum Kunsthall, Oslo (2023), bb15 Space for Contemporary Art, Linz (2022), Meta.Morf, Trondheim International biennale for art and technology (2022), Østre, Bergen (2022), Galleri Box, Gothenburg (2022), Chao Art Centre, Beijing (2021), and KRAFT, Bergen (2021). His work was included in the inaugural exhibition of the New Norwegian National Museum, Oslo (2022) and is in the collection of Haugland Museum, Norway. Samuel was a writer in residence with Contemporary Art Stavanger (2022), and with Lydgalleriet (2020-2021) and has published several artist books. He has co-run the Bergen-based art writing collective and publishing platform TEXST since it was established in 2016. Samuel works as a visiting tutor to Bergen Art Academy and Bergen Architecture School.