Rusen Mihai Ionut

Concept – contemporary artistic research approach on the post-military realities, when all aspects of society are highly weaponized, so that the classic, traditional military status and icons/images are fading out and hidden away within technologies. The main body of works is composed from military artifacts made from canvas, tarpaulin, leather – unfolded on stiches, as an archeology of military design focused on the aesthetic aspect and the studio based artistic research procedures applied on military artifacts (Cold War Era military artifacts, with both eastern and western provenance, purchased at affordable prices from army supplies stores in Bucharest - examples of works can be found in the images that illustrate this text). The military artifacts, highly altered and evolved into sculptural objects and installation are mainly backpacks, individual logistic and tactical devices related to various military equipments and field actions. The terms taxidermy, taxonomy and skins are related to studio based artistic research processes and sculptural transposition techniques that investigate the aesthetic, cultural and iconic functions of these equipments within the various military traditions. The main body of sculpture works are inteded for parietal placement (or hung in ready-made supports such as bike maintenance stands) as two-dimensional support of contemporary military references - a symbolic narrative type augmented with readymade elements and widely available materials.