~ if the gimp represented the current trends, the goat history, and the shapeshifter patriarchal force, then all three of them combined would be the force that pushes men forward: something akin to a culture. when that culture is perpetually changing, shifting, going back and forth in time, how would one make sense of that culture? should one even try? ~

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this is where i am now, in the mixing pot of what people colloquially call “culture” – an ever shifting mass of concepts that pushes me forward: telling me what to wear, which accent to use, where i should spend my free time and how to talk to a girl.

~ if the gimp represented the present, then the goat would be the past. so how did the gimp feel about the past? from what i could gather, it was not a pretty relationship. ~

i always found it so difficult to embrace what i was told my identity represents. the current portrayal from both the outside and the local felt like a gross caricature – while the historical, ancestral, too high of an ideal to reach.

~ if the gimp represented the masculine, then the mannequin was somewhat the feminine. their closeness was so alluring, yet so secretive. they seemed totally opposed, yet so intertwined. what bound them together?  ~

sometimes, trying to be the typical, somewhat toxic man was so fun, it felt like a high. even more peculiarly, it felt like other people loved and encouraged the toxicity. was there a way to play that character in a way i felt fully comfortable with?

~ it seemed that the gimp-mask had a deep hatred for the others, especially for the mannequin and the unicorn. in the absence of real power in the streets, he would try to impose his dominance over the other four. for what reason, i did not know. perhaps he saw himself as the necessary evil of this group? ~

realizing that as a man, i could not assert my dominance over anything, made me self-destructive. with every punch i would get from someone else, i would punch myself twice.

~ although the gimp-mask’s speech was the one i understood the most, he was a complete enigma. the first story he ever told me was already from the time he left the country. but i wanted to know more details of his life before that. at first, he would only talk about the usuals: cars, drinks, family, the streets and so on. i sighed in frustration, but i then realised: the cars, they were all broken; the drinks, all drunk out of desperation; the family, all turned to faint memories; the streets, haunting traumas of the past. ~

under the surface of this masculine performance, the cracks were hidden almost in plain sight. i was a victim of my past, everything i did was following life’s arbitrary order – or fiat, if you will.

~ the mannequin, the gimp and the unicorn opened up more about their common past. they talked about a space they used to share, one that was very dear to them. somewhere where they felt free, unchained from the expectations of the outside world. but something happened, and that place turned from architecture to memory. i got the feeling that from that point onwards, their lives changed forever. ~

i remember how, from a young age, i yearned for a safe space i thought i never had. only now do i realise how blind i was.

~ to my surprise, the gimp and the demon had history. it seemed that at one point in the past, the gimp was searching for the demon in hopes of taming it and harnessing its power. but with one simple touch, the gimp would find out how wrong he was. forever tainted by madness, it now made sense to me why the gimp revelled in chaos and violence. ~

i foolishly thought that by imitating the brute masculinity i saw in others i could perhaps one day be a full man too. but what ended up happening is that i assimilated only the superficial and the self-destructive.

~ from the start, it seemed as if the mannequin, the unicorn and the gimp had a strong bond with each other. even more than that, the mannequin and the gimp seemed to share a common locality, the basement. from the way they talked about each other, it felt as if these two were almost related. they also had a complicated relationship with the unicorn-head. ~

as i was grappling with my masculinity, i looked back at my childhood. i imagined myself sitting on the shore of a lake with my child self. what would make young me happy? how could i help him grow? could i be my own father figure?

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visual journal i (fairytales for the child within) follows the story of one peculiar being, whose head is that of a child, torso of a teenager, and lower body of a man. the illustrations were taken from a personal journal i kept from 2023 to 2024.

the being itself is an analogy for my lived experience as a man, as i struggle to understand and comply to societal and self-imposed standards of what it means to be a true man. this concept gets even more complicated as i am caught between two worlds (nl/ ro) whose expectations are both very similar yet very different. travelling from one world to another is a recurring theme throughout the zine.

the zine can be purchased upon contact. standard price is 8 euros, european shipping guaranteed, with possibilities for global as well.

zine is also available on singular papers

technical details:

60 pages

romanian/ english

black and white on photocopy paper

modified a5

staple binding

2024

isbn coming soon

the zine, in its style and presentation, is a nod to childhood fairytale books i have inherited from my parents.

these books, printed mainly during the 70’s and 80’s of communist romania, are iconic for their blend of local visual folklore, as it was depicted on clothes, architecture and oral tradition; combined with byzantine-inspired illustration cannon, making heavy use of the inverted perspective, with scenes populated by characters that had more abstract body shapes.

the title “the păcurari-cug tram” refers to the two neighborhoods where i spent most of my life; one belonging to my grandparents, the other to my parents. between these two neighborhoods there has never been public transport that would go from one end of one neighborhood to the other – the only direct connection between them was the personal-affective one, through the memories i made.

the content of the video artwork is made up of distorted archival frames of my grandparents’ apartment superimposed on a video game scene whose virtual environment is a replica of my parents’ neighborhood. the contrast between archival and virtual frames reflects the effect of personal memory: the grandparents’ apartment as i knew it, no longer exists – only the recorded frames still recall its last moments of life.

although it is real footage, unlike the video game scenes, both frames are in theory virtual images, an imitation of the real. affective memory does not take concrete reality into account, but creates its own imaginary universe – just as i used to imagine a tram that would have taken me from CUG directly to păcurari.

the present work is an attempt to continue the narrative created in my dissertation project “what if you embraced your inner stereotype?” – stories about what it means to be a romanian emigrant.

– end of transmission –

untitled (palace of culture i) is a collection of shots that depict a virtual reconstruction of the building with the same name, which is considered the main symbol and visual identity of my natal city of iași, romania; all of it in the virtual space of grand theft auto: san andreas.

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firstly, having a building that is self-proclaimed “the palace of culture” in a video game about the trials and tribulations of mafia life already creates a contrast optimal for harboring an interesting setting for the film.

secondly, as part of my research into how to frame contemporary eastern european (masculine) culture in regards to present-day postcolonial theory, exploring how the implied story of gta:sa can be used to talk about my background is a key step in negotiating the inherent power dynamics and ethics of using cultural appropriation as a discursive/ artistic method.

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in framing the universe and stylistics of gta:sa as part of the west and therefore western culture, having interventions and/or markers of the second world space constitutes for me at the very least an exercise in creating so-called diaspora aesthetics. the difference I bring is that these aesthetics are confined to the virtual space in this context.

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lastly, framing the subject that is the building in the context of gta:sa is a personally relevant choice in the sense that the game has not only been an intimate part of my childhood; but it has also garnered an immense cult-following.

(scape)goat presents a short story about what it feels like to not fully fit in as a romanian in the netherlands. 

it explores how time is experienced through the variable that is identity, and how that perspective shapes your perception of both the world around you, and your own self.

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the movie follows the journey of one odd, unnamed character, that seems to be lost in what seems to be the city of amsterdam. 

short clips seem to constantly interrupt the flow of the main narrative, and it is quickly clear that they too have a story to tell. 

although disjointed at first, these competing narratives seem to all be pieces that are part of a bigger puzzle.

untitled( c.u.g. i) is an interactive art installation that consists mostly of a modified/ hacked virtual copy of the shooter game “serious sam: the second encounter”, to be projected on either wall or on a digital screen. 

the main virtual landscape consists of a deformed copy of the my childhood neighborhood (c.u.g. – iași) implemented using 3d data from google maps, which the audience can explore using the provided controller or modified keyboard and mouse.

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i wanted to create a work of art that used the apparently cold language of software and programming to talk about my personal experience of living in 2000s-era romania, in an ex-communist neighborhood that suffered economic and social degradation after the 1989 revolution, as well as the oncoming waves of liberalization.

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lastly, i felt that being born at the end of the 20th century meant that i have the opportunity, or rather the responsibility, to express the visual language of the new century through newly established mediums that have already left a lasting impact on our culture and society at large: the screen, video games, and the internet. 

using a combination of the choice of video-game genre (first-person shooter), the choice of the game (“serious sam: the second encounter”), and the choice of hacking or modifying a piece of software for artistic usage, the work rejects classical ways of representation to speak on the social and cultural aspects of living in romania during the 2000s.

shaving.mp4 is based originally on a performance which has been edited and transformed into a piece of videoart; both parts are made and performed by me.

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throughout the whole performance, a story of a man and his conflicts unfolds; 

different characters and monsters take shape as the protagonist’s original body loses control and gives in to the internal mental struggle;

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what does it mean to be a man? 

when does confidence end to give way to arrogance, or even worse, rage? 

how can you control what is inside of you; is it even under control?

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the shaving cream might be considered a humble material, but for many men it is an integral part of their daily life and gender experience; 
by extension, the shaving cream itself becomes a masculine symbol;

the shaving cream marks the transition one has from childhood to manhood: it is during your first shave that you realise you are no longer a child;
but you are also not a man just yet;

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if one concept could be considered central, or symbolic to the whole work, it would be the idea of a “masculinity crisis”;
an experience that is almost universal, familiar, even defining some would say, to almost any man.

a “masculinity crisis” can happen at any point in one’s life; it does not care for age, looks, or status; in its absolute power it does not discriminate;
the only question is: are you “man” enough to face it?

according to diogenes laërtius, when plato gave the tongue-in-cheek definition of man as “featherless bipeds,” diogenes plucked a chicken and brought it into plato’s academy, saying, “behold! i’ve brought you a man!”

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a short and simple performance about male puberty and coming of age. as someone who cannot grow (yet?) a full beard, the act of shaving is not euphoric for my gender expression, as with every follicle of hair that is cut, i feel myself reverting back to a pre pubescent state.

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even as an adult, i feel that my body keeps me somewhere in-between boy and man -hood; i am as manly as diogenes’ man

gallery show at the contemporary art museum was a performance made (il)legally within the construction site of the building (which was to be) entitled the international center of contemporary art iași.
the video archive was then turned into this video you are watching now.

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an almost-human character runs an almost-normal exhibition in an almost-finished art gallery. it assumes almost all the roles of a staff involved in an opening, from the artist herself, to the curator, cleaning staff and even the audience.

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secondly, we wanted to draw attention to the state of contemporary art in the city of iasi. the second largest city in romania has an almost non-existent contemporary cultural infrastructure. we think this is worth changing.

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a year ago, in february, the building was supposed to be ready. the administration pretended it was working, and we, in turn, pretended to exhibit and provide cultural services.

love story is exactly what it sounds like. through this photo project i was trying to explore new modes of expressing masculine vulnerability, intimacy and power; all of course with a classic touch of experimental balkan aesthetics

link to the full interview > here <

during the 90’s, western pc’s slowly became accessible to the romanian population. while most people did not have the necessary resources for buying one, they certainly had enough pocket change to rent one for a few hours. these places who would offer computers to rent, later called internet cafes, became meeting points for the youth, developing a distinct community and subculture. after two decades, this trend has continued to survive and evolve in a very particular, unique way in the city of iași.

visual artists radu-mihai tănasă and ruxandra mărgineanu (under ap.6) aim to reconstruct the history and attempt to better understand the phenomena, as they have experienced it as avid visitors and long-time members of the subculture. the project analyzes the impact of technology on culture and young people in iași, romania, with an emphasis on the emergence of internet cafes and the development of a distinct subculture related to these spaces.

link to the inc longofrm that goes into more detail:

https://networkcultures.org/longform/2024/06/21/starnet

link to the press release > here <

excerpt from the curatorial text:

“radu mihai-tănasă creates balkan-fiction stories, not just through text and image, but also through an incursion into balkan identity and tradition, seen through a critical filter. the artist proposed an interdisciplinary methodology based on video, performance, drawing and music.

he talks about the balkan fantastic and the cultural dysphoria felt abroad through immersive media installations that function as portals to parallel worlds. in these fragments, both visitors and artists are invited to imagine a world beyond the limitations drawn by cultural identity biases and to explore their own version of how they have assimilated this identity into their own personality.”

– – my project: – –

in this exhibition you are invited to explore the stories of 6 characters through an interdisciplinary journey to worlds forgotten by time and almost surreal situations. each character was created from the research i did on cultural dysphoria, specifically drawing on bogdan ștefănescu’s research related to the differences and similarities between post-colonialism and post-communism. besides that, i was inspired by slightly stereotypical cultural trends from different periods of romania: pre-christianity, the communist period and the 2000s.

the exhibition is also populated by a few sculptures made/modified by me to give a little touch of immersion to the present works.

– – povești balcanico-fantastice: disforie culturală – –

a satellite project done in collaboration with apartament 6, balkan-fiction stories: cultural dysphoria was a pop-up screening event done in the gallery to give a platform for other balkan artists to talk about the subject matter while activating the exhibitional space

participating artists include:

ana-maria cojocaru
ibrahim kurt
mihai aureliu savin
ioana mihai
blxsh deaddy
maria mălcică
mircea mondreanu
ana nedeljkovic & nikola majdak jr.

link to the press release > here <

excerpt from the curatorial text:

“subversiv is an artistic expression through which the exhibitors show their creativity by working with elements inspired by people from their past who had a significant impact on their artistic journey.

apartament 6 approaches the subject of the formation of an artist’s personality through the influences accumulated in the past from various contexts with a strong formative effect felt in both a positive and a negative variant.”

– – my project: – –

an interactive web-archive installation featuring my work called: casa lui Bunicu’, which can be browsed in real time by clicking on the bolded work title.

it tells a short story about searching for support and inspiration as a first-generation artist in a middle class family with a modest upbringing

text

a private exhibition/ happening done on 18th aug 2023 as a follow-up to last year’s similar exhibition.

this time, protest turns into practice, as apartment exhibitions become the defining trait of Apartament 6

>>> click here to see the details on the Apartament 6 website <<<

to see more details on the overall exhibition and graduated students, please go to:
thecurrent.is

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~ it is 8 in the evening. me, my sister and my parents are all in front of the tv at my grandparents’. a few thousand kilometers away in eindhoven, my uncle is just finishing up his shift. he will buy a prepay sim worth 5 or 10 mins call to call all six of us.
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the tv in the living room shows another top story from italy, or maybe france, where another gang of romanian beggars has been captured by the police. my parents are dissapointed, but not surprised.

they make a semi-ironic comment about how we (romanians) are deep down all the same. my grandparents both sad and surprised. they thought of how during the regime, they could never even dream of visiting italy or france.
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i am one the other hand waiting for my uncle to call. i want to ask him if they have tigres and giraffes and dinosaurs roamning the streets of netherlands. he will tell me that there’s not alot of dinosaurs left in the netherlands, but that there are alot of tall buildings and people of all kinds living here – it all looks like new york, he’ll tell me. ~
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my graduation work is an instalation that honors these precious memories i had as a child.
all my questions and research about self perception, cultural dysphoria and the complexities of colonialism go back to this symbolic moment of one family reuniting across borders; living in, or seeing themselves through the eyes of the west, trying to make sense of it all.

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“men, what do we do with them?”  | 

a diversity dialogues walk-in lunch 

a conversation piece by radu-mihai tănasă  

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10 may 2023 | 13:00-13:50 | canteen st joost school of art & design 
parallelweg 61 | den bosch
nederlands & english   

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the diversity dialogues lunches are an initiative of diversity dialogues st. joost/ mivc, supported by aci; the aim is to explore stories/ narratives of under-represented groups, or to bring forth topics that need more visibility

for my take on the diversity dialogues, i chose to talk about and present immigrant masclinty, the challanges of redefining toxic standards, and how to deal with navigating different cultures, standards and expectations.

“in my artistic endeavor titled ‘untitled (apartment)’, i aim to delve into the subtleties of a safe space for masculinity. through the portrayal of three distinct characters, each representing various facets of the male experience such as childhood, adulthood, puberty, and the masculine/feminine dichotomy, i invite viewers to explore and interpret the work freely, without any judgment or apprehension.”

i believe in the power of shared experiences, where male and non-male individuals can come together and exchange personal stories, including those seemingly insignificant or irrational fears we may have encountered or overcome. I believe that such simple acts can have a profound impact and foster a sense of connection and understanding.” 

visitors were invited for a screening of my work, untitled(apartment), and were also encouraged to answer questions about the definition, history and role of masculinty in the past, and for the future

link to the instagram page > here <

”the mivc graduating class of 2023 has worked extremely hard to put together this event and hope that you will be able to join us as we open the doors and invite you to experience what we have been working on!

by combining the notion of an open studio and an exhibition we created a curated event where we bring our studio projects into a curated space to hold a public event that propels the discourse around our artistic practice and research

each individual artist or designer was not confined by an overarching theme that may not have resonated with their research. instead, they were encouraged to present the work in a way that suits their practice
for the curation of the event, we have divided the space by pathway.

this show exhibited pieces from the master institute of visual cultures graduating class of 2023’s work in progress as we brought the research out of the studios and into the exhibition space”

– – my project: – –

”through staged and filmed performances, radu-mihai explores the eastern european masculine identity and speculative male archetypes. he uses as a jumping point his own romanian identity, along with local traditions and subcultures that are directly linked to the male (balkan) condition, in hopes of discovering new ways to embody his new migrant identity.

radu-mihai’s artistic research is focused on creating video art pieces that act as abstract personal journals, in which aspects of romanian and dutch migrant culture are fused together and discussed.
in most of these “video journals”, the focus is put on five unnamed characters that each could be considered a “caricature” of some aspects of migrant life. the narrative is often times somewhat abstract, and the work tends to be very self-referential.”

the open studio exhibition was a project i started along with other students as a preparatory step in having our graduation show be exhibited somewhere outside of the university, in a larger, more appropriate space. to prepare for this, in our thrid semester we organized a walk-in open studio, where students were encouraged to share their latest work and thesis research with the broader public.

behind the scenes, alot of meetings were done internally by me; on one side with my fellow visual arts students whom i represented, and on the other, with my other representatives, to make sure proper mediation and coordination was ensured across different departments. the bulk of the work was coming up with and supervising the different work teams that would have been responsible for production, curation, social media etc. this was done through multiple check-in meetings within and throughout the three departments.

in the end, the exhibition was a resounding success and it allowed us to further push the university into providing us with more practical activities and more visibility for the hard work that the students do on a daily basis. we hope that what we accomplished here will continue to be a tradition for the next generations to come.

a private exhibition/ happening done between 20-21 aug 2022 to protest a lack of affordable and accesible quality galleries for emerging artists from my home city, iași

>>> click here to see the details on the Apartament 6 website <<<

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link to the press release > here <

excerpt from the curatorial text:

“estul sălbatic is not just an expression, but really represents the eastern european space; more precisely the romanian space translated through the prism of the experience imprinted on the individual who developed here, as well as the way in which the community around him evolved.

time is also a fundamental element of this exhibition, being in this case about the current moment as well as the recent past, after the 2000s. the artists in this exhibition, being those who belong to the ’99 generation, chose to include in their discourse visually numerous subjects that apparently seem heterogeneous to an objective eye, but which in fact, upon even a superficial analysis, one can notice how these subjects coagulate around the society in which the artists were formed.

by doing so, they create a common discourse, with diverse voices and stories behind it. they create the story of a generation from different perspectives.”

– – my project: – –

for this event, i have decided to exhibit two projections of works i have recently done: figure 1 is my interactive work untitled(C.U.G. I); while figure 2 is the short-film scape(Goat).

together they present an intimate narrative of what it means to be a kid in the recently eu-approved country of romania. explored here are themes of work migration, early popularization of american alternative media, and especially cultural (or country) dysphoria.

link to the press release > here <

compromis was the first independent exhibition i had the pleasure of contributing to; and it is through this first compromise that our artistic group started taking shape.

– – my project: – –

part of the exhibition text can be found below:

welcome to the king’s menagerie.

every wealthy king has a menagerie, it is a symbol of power, respect, and a safe choice when it comes to flaunting your wealth. 

the menagerie is not only a window into the king’s tastes regarding animals, but also a mirror of the outside world, of the places and territories the king rules over. every exotic animal has its own story to tell, and each one of them has a background that can be analyzed.

after all, every animal is perfectly suited for the habitat it was born into.