Only Gold Can Judge Me
Only Gold Can Judge Me / Златото ми е единственият съдник - oil on canvas, 110x100 cm, 2020 Courtesy of the artist. Credit: Svetoslav Todorov
From the "No Time For Losers" seria (2019-)
Last shown at Success and Succession solo exhibition ot Balabanov's house, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 2020
In the series No Time for Losers I examine just that – what it takes from you, what and whom you pay, who constructs the content of success as a symbol and metaphor, what is its shelf life? I do it through the well-known moment of triumph, mandatory for sport photographers. A freeze-frame, in which I comment on the role interrelations between the award, the awardee and the award presenter.
I hit the brakes on the rat race for quick, immediate, instagrammable success. This concept is like a tomb. A remarkable pantheon, which you furnish meticulously with awards, trophies in your CV and what not, to the last day of your life.
Whoever wants to be a „relevant participant in the processes“ knows that things like vulnerability, exposedness and sensitivity smell of failure, they don’t make you competitive on the market. Like in sports, whose direct aesthetics I borrow for my series.
From an early age, you have to run in the right lane or track. Lest you compete on top level but outside of the field, or even worse – out of the range of the cameras reporting the game from the pitch.