Garaža Kamba

We are overwhelmed by the rise in popularity of cute stimuli: fluffy dogs, stuffed toys, playful cats and silly babies are just some of the visual content that evoke different physiological, behavioral and emotional reactions in people. Cuteness (jap. kawaii) is often associated with innocence and a sense of accessibility, but when that physical, affective response “Awww!” is manipulated for political or commercial purposes, it becomes an influential aesthetic category that can play a significant role in shaping public perception and influence decision-making processes. Through the exhibition titled with a cute emoji, Luka Tomić problematizes the relativization of information through the specific aestheticization of controversial political symbols and personalities, as well as environmental and other current social topics. Objects, characters or beings that are usually perceived as cute have certain characteristics, such as a small, soft body and an innocent smile, so Croatian politicians become huggable stuffed toys, and the black chronicle news full of cute animated characters. Considering that affective reactions can blur boundaries between subject and object, cute elements are allowed to appear alongside oppositional categories. In combination with “difficult” topics and content, a grotesque hybrid of works with conflicting meanings is created, resulting in equally mixed emotional reactions in the viewer. The saturation of information, obtained primarily through the popular distraction of scrolling, gradually equalizes the content and unconsciously encourages the point of view according to which good and evil are relative terms, so universal values ​​and basic criteria for moral actions are lost. Through comical, disgusting, morbid and above all cute elements, the artist invites the viewer, reader and listener to become aware of obscured and trivialized information in which key political and economic issues are addressed.

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