Mouth To Mouth
"Mouth to Mouth" is a collaborative project between Lithuanian artist Mykolas Valantinas and folk craftsman Mečislovas Ežerskis, whose oeuvre of over 4,000 intricately carved walking sticks has transformed his home into a living museum. The project spans the "In Exchange to Ages" group exhibition and intervenes in the permanent interwar-period folk inspired exposition at the National Museum of Art.
Central to this work is the juxtaposition of Ežerskis' hand-carved folk artifacts with Valantinas' contemporary practice, blending photogrammetry, AI technology, photography and mythological imagery. This interplay examines the legacy of folklore narratives, while recontextualizing it within contemporary art's symbolic and technological landscape.
Mykolas Valantinas, Seekers, triptic photograph series, (150, 230cm) x3, archival inkjet prints on vinyl, 2023. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko