BALTIC WAY 35
Lithuanian artist Kestutis Svirnelis's interactive kinetic art exhibition "Synthetic Reality" will be held as part of the "On The Edge Fest'24 
and Baltic Chain 35" anniversary. Kestutis Svirnelis worked this summer at the Okapi gallery's residency space in Saaremaa, where he made 
a kinetic object related to the festival theme. In addition to his usual artificial materials, he used natural finds, such as swan wing bones, 
in the creation of the object. The author is connected with the gallery through previous cooperation with the Kunstverein Wagenhalle in Germany 
and ArtVilnius in Lithuania.
Kęstutis Svirnelis (1976) comes from Lithuania but lives and works in Germany. After completing sculpture studies at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, 
he obtained a master's degree at the State Academy of Art and Design in Stuttgart. By creating kinetic and interactive objects and installations, 
he analyzes capitalism and consumerism, liberalism and democracy, man and his role in the system, the relationship with himself, the state, 
and its values. The question of values ​​is personal and intimate, and the author addresses the uncomfortable and ambiguous situation 
that accompanies it, evokes emotions, and activates discussion.

Svirnelis calls the reflections of his work, claiming that he creates absurd art for an absurd world, 
while still leaving it open to personal interpretations, stories, and feelings. If there is no sense of the absurd, 
it is better to stay in your world and look at and evaluate things from the point of view of your value hierarchy. 
According to him, the face of society is shaped by the value system, which is created not only at the individual 
level through home education, but also by school, language, environment, and the state as a whole.
Material plays an important role in his creative process. The various mediums, including banknotes, old clothes, 
drain pipes, rubber gloves, wheelchairs, mannequins, fur, and cellophane, are also a kind of political manifesto 
that is very personal. Using kinetics and both recycled and cheap materials and new and expensive ones, 
the author creates unexpected visual and conceptual associations.

EXHIBITION "SYNTHETIC REALITY" IN OKAPI GALLERY / Tallinn .
 OKAPI ART RESIDENCY PROJECT / SYNTHETIC REALITY IN FRAME OF BALTIC WAY 35 ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS