Amidst turbulent chaos can unexpected hidden order be found? Can destructive and desolate crisis give birth to creation? In Serendipity, new works by Lucien Murat and Sebastian Helling dare audiences to not only find order in utter disarray, but to accept the possibility of there being positive, even joyful meaning beyond the uncertainty and anxiety.
Just as the serendipitous mind instinctively finds happy accidents within the seemingly chaotic, this new show reframes the notion of discovery in disorder and the process of succumbing to what is.
But what if that chaos is too much to confront? When fear and apprehension of impending global catastrophe is beyond Lucien Murat’s own imagination, he delegates that burden to AI. The resulting physical translations present viewers with a fateful glimpse of our future, one the human conscience is not capable of originating. As Murat questions the grandiose of chaos, could it be there is beauty and joy hidden within the fear?
The serendipity-mindset concept of serenity co-existing with chaos is explored further by Sebastian Helling. Succumbing to his own immense force of energy and submerging himself with the canvas, his artworks are a beautifully chaotic aftermath, revealing unexpectedly recognisable humanlike forms and biomorphic shapes.
Both artists show, in two deeply different ways how when faced with tumultuous forces, resistance is futile. Serendipity calls instead for surrender. Maybe only by releasing control can we tune into a deeper, more resonant connection with the patterns of nature’s enduring cycle, honing our unconscious ability to turn the unexpected into the fortuitous.
— Daniel Sundin —
