Presentation of Andrius Repšys’ Work
28 October, 11:00
“Owl Hill” gallery of the Academy of Arts of the Kauno kolegija HEI,
A. Mackevičiaus 27, Kaunas.
The project examines the relationship between freedom and control in political and social contexts, as well as in individual experience. Although freedom is often understood as the ability to choose and act independently, our choices are shaped by laws, social norms, economic circumstances and constraints that are not always visible. Where does our freedom to choose end and control begin? Are we truly free, or do we merely operate within prescribed boundaries?
Control is not limited to direct physical or political restrictions. It can also operate through the state, institutions, social norms, architecture, public space, religion and psychological mechanisms. These systems regulate behaviour and movement, shaping thought and our perception of the world. Embedded in everyday life, they define what is possible, acceptable, permitted or forbidden, even when we no longer notice their influence.
In this project, the drone becomes both a photographic tool and a symbol of contemporary surveillance and control. Yet it is used not to exercise control, but to reveal its mechanisms. The view from above allows us to observe the human-made environment as if from the outside: spaces designed to discipline, direct and control human movement, architectural structures that shape behaviour, and symbols that influence collective thought.
Photography becomes a means of observing and visually examining structures of control. The view from above allows us to see what remains hidden from an ordinary human perspective, creating a kind of map of ‘invisible’ control. This perspective can also reveal an unexpected, sometimes absurd or ironic side to human-made systems.