Baby Cogito: Episode I, 2025

C-stand, PVC, bandages, Oracal sticker, found porcelain object, receipt, digital print on a paper object, custom perfume

In this photo documentation, a modified version of the project is installed on the exhibition “Není to tak špatný” at GAMPA – Galerie města Pardubic (07/07/2025 – 11/07/2025).
photographer: Jan Kolský

The installation from the Baby Cogito series examines sarcasm as a response to the overwhelming nature of contemporary catastrophes. Humor appears here not as a joke, but as a defense mechanism, a way of masking discomfort. Nervous laughter becomes both a symptom and a tool.
The work is structured around a constellation of symbolic objects that revolve around a “blank space” or something unspoken and suppressed. A PVC bandage suggests an attempt to cover a wound that does not exist, while plantago appears as both a meme and a metaphor for a universal remedy. Rolled forms conceal an empty center, pointing to acts of negation.
A subtle scent, released from a cigarette pack, spreads through the space and disrupts its sterility. Notes of violet, iris, metal, and an abstract sense of purity create an atmosphere of melancholy. The scent lingers like an aftertaste within the installation space.
The installation operates as a system of interrelated signs, reflecting contemporary emotional strategies of survival.