Pod utjecajem

Trezven znači biti trijezan. Ali i razuman, razborit, staložen, priseban. Tako barem kaže Hrvatski jezični portal. No što se događa kada se ta naizgled čvrsta definicija počne pomicati?

U radu Pod utjecajem trezvenost nije samo pitanje prisutnosti ili odsutnosti alkohola, nego stanje percepcije. Što sve može utjecati na način na koji vidimo, pamtimo, reagiramo ili se krećemo? Iskustvo, emocija, sjećanje, ritam, prostor. Jesmo li ikada u potpunosti izvan njihova utjecaja?

Kroz dugotrajno ponavljanje poteza kista do njegova potpunog iscrpljivanja, kroz performativni čin i sudjelovanje publike u izvođenju testova trijeznosti, umjetnik pretvara standardizirane postupke provjere u jedinstvene, gotovo intimne crteže. Svaki trag postaje zapis nečije prisutnosti, koncentracije i odstupanja; svojevrsni otisak stanja koje se ne može točno izmjeriti.

Karakterističnim pomakom perspektive svakodnevni postupci gube svoju izvornu funkciju i postaju prostor igre značenja. Test više ne dokazuje trezvenost, nego otvara pitanje što zapravo znači biti „pri sebi“. Izložba poziva gledatelja da preispita granice kontrole i gubitka kontrole, objektivnog mjerenja i subjektivnog iskustva.

Možda nitko od nas nije posve izvan utjecaja.

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Under the Influence

To be sober means more than simply being free from intoxication. It also suggests clarity, composure, reason, and self-possession. At least, that’s what the dictionary tells us. But what happens when that seemingly stable definition begins to shift?

In Under the Influence, sobriety is no longer merely the opposite of intoxication, but a state of perception. What shapes the way we see, remember, react, or move through the world? Experience, emotion, memory, rhythm, space. Are we ever truly beyond their influence?

Through the prolonged repetition of brushstrokes until the paint is completely exhausted, through performative action and the audience’s participation in sobriety tests, the artist transforms standardized procedures of measurement into unique, almost intimate drawings. Every mark becomes a record of presence, concentration, and deviation—a kind of imprint of a state that resists precise measurement.

By subtly shifting perspective, the artist strips familiar actions of their conventional function and opens them to new layers of meaning. The sobriety test no longer serves simply to determine sobriety; instead, it invites us to reconsider what it actually means to be fully present, fully aware, or “in control.” The exhibition encourages viewers to reflect on the fragile boundaries between control and its loss, objective measurement and subjective experience.

Perhaps none of us is ever entirely free from influence.

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Artist Statement

I work under the notion that anything including what you hear, eat, feel and even experience effects one’s psyche.
And have a direct Influence over your actions, reactions and one’s dreams.

In the US one is required to walk a straight line alone the Highway to determine how „Under the Influence“ one is.
I transform that „line“ into a black circle which I then try and reproduce over and over again. The result is a graphic
representation of my ability to replicate a perfect circle. The more I try to more the original circle is distorted yet and
I insist and keep trying.

The Black line itself starts deep black. I continue the brush stroke until the line disappears and I have to replenish the brush
with more paint. I continue this as if in a trance or dream where I try and follow the dream to it’s conclusion. Like
in all recurring dreams, I sometimes get further in the narrative and other times I fail sooner. The end result is never
getting to the resolution of the dream.

Alexander Viscio
Under the Influence, 2026.

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Born in Queens and raised on the south shore of Long Island, it was apparent that after witnessing the National Guard drag my sister and her friends by the hair this wasn’t the Hamptons. I went West and got my degrees in Kansas City and Los Angeles. It was on the 101 Hwy going South on foot and carrying a car-sized tumbleweed between rush hour traffic when it hit me, ” Get back home to N.Y. 15 years, several installations at The Kitchen in NYC, and R-Town, (a pop-up gallery) in Brooklyn later, I was in Vienna where a side-hustle ensued called “StandBys”. A StandBy is a reaction where I insert myself into an artwork, exhibition, or public context. StandBys are never sponsored and always executed without sanction where a single image is proof of execution. Since 2004 I’ve traveled throughout Europe doing StandBys at every port of call until when I inadvertently insulted an architect while doing a StandBy in Bratislava that started my latest series, “Floor Plans for Dirty Words”. I am currently in NYC where the Austrian Cultural Forum has agreed to sponsor in part a group show I curated and premiered in Vienna entitled, “Through the Night Softly”