Records On Imminent Things

Vlad Albu’s exhibition, Records on Imminent Things, challenges our conventional understanding of objects, urging us to perceive them as independent entities beyond human perception. These objects interact with one another, forming complex networks that can shed new light on their functional roles. He explores how objects relate to each other, shaped by the boundaries of the room that contains them. By focusing on these relationships, the exhibition invites viewers to reconsider the autonomy of those objects—how they exist and function independently, yet also influence and are influenced by the space around them. In the exhibition context, the artist draws on Graham Harman’s ideas to challenge the view of objects as passive components in a human-centered world. Rather, they actively participate in it, defined by their very existence. While these objects are shaped by human skill, intention, and technical expertise, they also possess inherent forms and actions that demand recognition. The relationship between objects and humans is not one-sided; it extends within the objects themselves, creating a complex, interconnected network. This reciprocity mirrors natural systems, such as fungi, which operate beyond our superficial understanding, revealing a deeper, often unseen reality. Albu’s works reduce objects to their simplest, most recognizable forms, pushing the viewer to engage with them as physical entities, potential functions, and abstract concepts. Integrating technical images, such as the sine bar or the Power Scale of Roundness, emphasizes the connection between the technical precision that defines the object and the organic, subjective experience of space. In this way, he represents the dialogue between the objective, technical construction of the object and the personal, sensory understanding of the space it occupies.