Duba Sambolec: Doomsday/Singularity

The exhibition entitled Doomsday/Singularity in the former monastery church of GBJ showcases work of art by Duba Samobolec, who thus responds to one of the (still) looming threats of the modern era – a nuclear conflict of global proportions. With the spatial installation, adapted to the specific ambience of the venue, the artist addresses hazards of accumulated military arsenals, which include a hefty quantity of nuclear weapons. Hereby she refers on Daniel Ellsberg’s influential book The Doomsday Machine: The Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner (2017), which provides a first-hand account of the dangers of total nuclear war in the 1950s and 1960s.

Even though the popular fear of a devastating nuclear conflict has diminished over the past couple of decades, it has recently once again become part of the public discourse and thus a real threat due to various ongoing military conflicts. In the 21st century, this fear has obtained additional contexts, largely related to the increasing complexity of the global technological, industrial and military complex. Today, humanity seems to be dominated by an omnipresent force that possesses the potential for the planet’s destruction, be it for the use of modern weapons of mass destruction or for the possibility of (self)destruction due to the tectonic climate change that is gradually but steadily being caused by uninhibited human activities on the planet. With her installation Doomsday/Singularity (2017-2020), Sambolec addresses in engaged and direct manner the destructive instincts of a handful of people in powerful positions in politics and the military. She creates her narrative with objects and their spatial relationships that engage and involve the audience, thus becoming an equal and active link of this complete installation.