Solo exhibition „Extra Charge“ by Marje Len Murusalu in Bristol

Matthew Douglas curates Marje Len Murusalu´s "Extra Charge" under the title „Distancing Tactics“ at the WINDOWS204 gallery, Bristol.

The "Extra Charge" exhibit consists of two paintings, „Voilà Kitty“ and „La Cost“, which depict situations in everyday consumerism, observed from the distance. The schizophrenic objects represent the pursuit for perfection of an individual in the Western society, which is often affected by commercial standards. This is an experiment to demonstrate the extent to which channels, especially media, today influence the initiation of instinctive associations.

Marketing theory deals with the question of associating the product with a specific object in an individual's or potential client's memory. There are several methods and tricks; one of such can be a brand logo.

Often it serves its purpose so well, that when an element inherent to people naturally is visualized, the manipulative association with a product is even stronger than the contextual relationship with the original element. A similar phenomenon may occur even with the faintest reference to a visual form, or color combination. A person raised in the information age subconsciously senses and recognizes the brand known to him from the advertisements. It isn't solely about relativeness of the symbols, but relativeness universally. Not only about the memory association being unfathomable in a different time, but also in a different cultural context which exists in parallel to us here and now.

An individual is influenced by the environment they grow up in. The values that they have been brought up with stay with them even if they perceive them as incorrect. When moving from one environment to another, an individual always carries the knowledge about everything which has been previously experienced. The associations that come to exist are independent of the will. Any attempt of cleansing oneself is temporary unless it can touch the basic levels of understanding.