Episode 2

Edition of 5 + 2 AP

Dimensions: 63cm x 83cm
Transparency in light-box, custom glass panel with cutouts, window frame, stickers

EPISODE SYNOPSIS

From his booth he has seen it all happen. People hopelessly betting their last pennies, very few winning a fortune. As people place their bet, he wonders what we are racing for. How far do we go to arrive at the finish line first? Once the race has started, we can’t change our bet. Or sometimes the race is already over, before you even knew it started. Perhaps that’s why they call it the human race.

VIVARIUM

Vivarium is an ongoing series of constructed dioramas, called Episodes. In the creation of these worlds Hardy fuses his imagination, personal memories and true events into ‘purposeful fiction’. Together, Vivarium’s Episodes explore the coherence and complexity of our zeitgeist.

For each Episode, Hardy designs, builds and photographs a new world in his studio. His photomontages are shown life-size - one-to-one - in a lightbox with a window frame, resulting in hyper-realistic works that spark a direct encounter between the viewer and the subject. 

As Hardy places one or more characters in a meticulously arranged setting, he merges ambivalent, melancholic scenes of private moments in the public, with social issues such as conspiracy thinking, racial profiling, and pre-defined gender identities. By addressing a different topic in each Episode while applying a consistent working method, Vivarium is an expanding multiverse of portals where life takes place.

Each constructed tableau takes 3 to 4 months to complete. Vivarium is an ongoing project that Hardy started in 2018.