2A Metal
Year 2021
Night Time Story, Los Angeles, EEUU
Text by Dunja Jankovic
The interdisciplinary work of the artist duo Lolo & Sosaku escapes the standard genre
classification and labeling, bouncing between sculpture, painting and music all the way to
performance.
Similar to earlier works, in "2A Metal" the mechanical sculptures assume the role of dance
and music performers, creating a composition of various elements consisting of sculptures,
paintings, sounds and movements. They become a post-humanist musical, a concrete music
piece nested in a strong visual surrounding with rich layers of simultaneous actions, like a
continuous dance between creation and destruction.
By offering many different narrative points of views - between omniscient (the drone vision)
and limited narrations (the 1st and the 3rd person’s point of view through the cameras
positioned on the artists’ heads and even a POV of the machine) - the video performance
creates a feeling of being submerged into the action but at the same time being detached
from it, struggling to find logic or purpose in the unfamiliar actions or a soothing melody in the
cacophony of sounds.
Experimentation and ‘mistakes’ are integral parts to the work of Lolo & Sosaku, the freedom
that comes with the improvisation and chaos even becomes the artists’ leitmotiv, marking the
narrative structure of "2A Metal". Even though the beginning and the end of the video are
clearly marked, the spectator is thrown into the middle of the action where s/he assumes an
almost uncomfortable role of witnessing a strange process s/he seems to be a part of, but
doesn’t have any control of.
And indeed, once we are finished with the viewing, the sounds of the dying instruments and
the exciting ideas of men merging with the machines continue to haunt us, making us
dramatically aware of the everyday objects lying around us, wondering about their inner lives.
