When Metal Tells Stories: I Speak Hate – A Conceptual Sculpture
Author: Ladislav Gulyás, ⏱️ 1.5–2 minutes
Technical specifications of the work:
Material: Metal / iron
Dimensions: width 240 mm, height 310 mm
Weight: 5 kg
Finish: matte varnish mixed with coal dust, copper patina
Status: Available / For sale
"The inner life of today's world is sick. If I were a doctor and someone asked me for advice, I would reply: Create silence and guide people to be silent!" – Søren Kierkegaard
In the Grip of Expressionism – Artistic Blacksmithing and Modern Expressionism
The Expressionists didn't care what critics thought of them. While a screaming man appeared on the canvas, in Kafka's novella the protagonist turned into a giant insect by morning.
I've always loved art that doesn't leave us indifferent and forces us to reflect. For me, creating wrought-iron sculptures or metal statues is a way of giving form to my inner self, but it is also often a reaction to events happening around me or in the world. For this reason, I have never tried to create a work that would try too hard to please.
Through my work, I want to strike a chord with the viewer and make them reflect.
Starting Point: The Mirror of the 21st Century, or New Idols
We are increasingly following false idols. Thanks to smartphones, a world of instant happiness offered by "celebrities" has been revealed to us. Their efforts to present themselves as our role models, unfortunately, are increasingly falling on fertile ground, even though we all know full well that they are deliberately distorting reality. We live in an era when it is not only desirable but practically mandatory to be "IN."
This work is my response to the world today. For a few days, I drowned out the sounds of the world with the blows of a hammer and chiseled the face of a man who refuses to give up his struggle against spiritual emptiness—quite the opposite. With his cry, he wants to show people their true faces and their uncritical thinking. But his cry cannot be heard. It is drowned out by the cry of spiritual and moral emptiness.I didn't strive for symmetry or seek an aesthetic pleasing to the eye. The goal was to capture tension and spiritual unrest. You won't find any retouching here, nor any artificial layer to hide imperfections. Just raw reality. The wrought-iron sculpture I speak hate is the antithesis of the sterile world of social media.
A Final Thought
We live in an age when, thanks to social media, you can go from being a nobody to an opinion leader overnight—one whom unsuspecting sheep will follow. Sometimes it feels to me as if we're living in the Rococo era. You'll find nothing beneath the layers of powder. From time to time, the whole thing strikes me as a theatrical performance. The curtain has risen, and the main character is enjoying his five minutes of fame. The audience cheers and applauds.
Most people aren't critical, and the voice of the silent minority—the one that still has a shred of critical thinking left—is growing ever fainter.
The truth. Who will be proven right in the end? The one who is heard the most, of course. The one who can shout the loudest.
Photo: Ladislav Gulyás Metal Studio