People seek guidance, comfort, and advice, no matter how banal they are, and prefer them in a short, digestible format. In such a context, words embodying thoughts, emotions and memories, provide a powerful reserve of super power from a true supporter, summoned by a hero in a fantastic duel:
"And, sir, challenge you to a duel!"
(Man shoots himself) ... ”1
This is an abstract concept that includes a perceived quality of dignity and respect that affects both a person's social status and self-esteem.
A Signpost To Other Places is an experience of a personal challenge for those who enjoy real observations in small doses: reflections and worries on topics of creativity and social belonging, love and morality of the individual. The pursuit of universality, achieved by summarizing sensations, can be a trap: the attempt to capture the complexity of things in miniature forms, inadvertently limits the author to a small stock of the familiar. The author imposes/reveals her wisdom on - implicitly less enlightened - observer. This method of revelation can be defined as "impatient", as the form of the work can encourage superficial consideration of topics, that have the appeal of a common and universal experience, which in turn can create a sense of distance from the true essence.
Looking at A Signposts To Other Places shows light on my work: the project is a collection of states, thoughts - lively and with captivating inertia. My appetite for self-disclosure is necessary to reconsider my own positions and reject them. In this way, previous works of art are intertwined with internal uncertainties and searches in order to serve the author, providing new fields and flows. Both the derived self-knowledge (the work) and its search are equally subjective, but nevertheless the second method lacks the halo of imposition and the tone of indisputability, which often leads to one-sided reading. Just as a thrown glove could immerse you in this challenge, so the handkerchief collects signs leading to another time and space and serves as a secret intermediary for storing and sending messages to the observer. Thе embroidered words are without pre-delineation of the field, just as thoughts invade us without an initial trajectory.
James Alai, “Duel”
40х40х10 cm, embroidery on textile objects, handkerchief 20/20 cm, glove 10/24 cm