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An interesting exhibition recently opened at the POP&ROLL Art Gallery, entitled Just Decoration 2.0, which we also visited, tried out the Selffitting Room and looked around in the most fantastic toilet in Budapest.
Only a few months have passed since the Just Decoration exhibition, but now the artist, kissmiklos, is once again turning the city upside down: his new production, JUST DECORATION 2.0, has opened enriched with new works. The venue is the POP&ROLL Art Gallery on Dorottya Street, a few steps from Vörösmarty Square – it is worth starting here, exploring the works, and then you should also visit and experience the Selffitting Room, the Art Shop and the coolest toilet in the city, the Art Toilet, which is located next door. But let's move on in order!
Just Decoration 2.0: is everything just decoration?
“The Just Decoration 2.0 exhibition features a wide range of works, from fine art to design objects. And there are some that you can’t even decide what they really are. They all play on the idea that if someone buys these objects and they end up in, say, a hotel lobby, an office communal space or someone’s apartment, they instantly become the decoration of the space. Here we still treat them as works of art or as an exhibit, but for the buyer, it’s easy for an object on display here to lose this character and become just a decoration,” explained the artist, kissmiklos, with whom we toured the exhibition, which features objects that are sometimes entertaining and sometimes thought-provoking.
We really liked the giant figures with the inscription ENJOY, inviting us to relax, one of which you can sit on the belly of and the other on the ears of. But we will certainly not forget the ARTY / FARTY sculpture, the Indian tiger rug with the inscription GONE, referring to the extinct tiger subspecies and endangered animals, and the LOOK’IN GLASS wall mirror. The latter is a monkey-like face, with the letters of the word LOOK, in which we look at ourselves, or at an object, or perhaps the monkey face looks at its surroundings? And is this now a utility object or “just decoration”?
Selffitting Room: face yourself
Once you have looked through the artworks and perhaps bought the one you liked (you can buy all of them – ed.), don’t declare your visit over! Be sure to walk over to the adjacent room, where on the one hand there is an Art Shop, with all kinds of quirky, funny, ironic souvenirs, and on the other hand a so-called Selffitting Room.
It is a combination of the terms selfie, fitting room, self fitting and fit with myself, and is actually a cubicle with mirrors on the inside and a concrete cube on the outside that can be walked around, with peepholes on all sides. We can peek in and be peeked in, just like on social media, but just like social media, the Selffitting Room also presents a distorted picture. Upon entering, you find yourself alone in this strange “reality”. With the help of mirrors and the enclosed space, the installation also examines the complex issues of self-knowledge and modern loneliness. Do you surrender to the illusion or face yourself? The decision is yours!
Art Toilet: the coolest toilet in town!
After all that looking and thinking, you might want to take a bathroom break. You couldn't find a better place to do this than Art Toilet, which is literally just a few steps away from the entrance to the Selffitting Room and the Art Shop. The entrance fee is 1500 HUF, which you can buy at the entrance. Believe me, it's well worth it: for that amount of money, you will have an unforgettable experience!
As soon as you start going down the stairs, you feel like you're falling into a strange world.
The magic begins beyond an entrance gate: you can enter a space lined with small cabinets. Safes or museum display cases, who knows? These contain different things, all of which reflect on the room itself (the bathroom block), or dissect the question of what you would store in such a safe. Interestingly, the items labeled Lost are actually things that their owners didn't need, and the creator either picked them up on the street or from bags full of discarded belongings left by acquaintances.
If you've admired these, you'll also see figures whose faces have inscriptions that are somehow related to the toilet, such as Taboo (let's not talk about it) or Error (when the toilet breaks down). But we bet your eyes will already wander to the weapons on the opposite wall. Did we get it? Well, these are offline versions of computer games, painted in nice colors, and for fun, they're all water guns. And the code is always the word Hate.
Each cubicle is a separate work of art
A few steps from here is the men's restroom, where each cubicle is different, as if they were separate works of art, and each one is very funny. You can meet Pac-Man, who is Shit-Man here, there are references to Tamagotchi and Space Invaders, but the little yellow rubber duck here is also special: it was the artist's child's toy, and it even has his teeth mark on it.
Our favorite is the toilet that commemorates his gold cockroach project. "First, I smuggled pure gold cockroaches into museums. Then I was invited to the Műcsarnok for an exhibition, where I exhibited 12,000 gold cockroaches. Every visitor who came in could take one. They were all plastic, except for one, because it was pure gold. Whoever found it received a certificate, which was signed by me and the Műcsarnok," Miklós recalls.
On what basis do visitors choose a toilet? According to the artist, everyone looks at all of them and then chooses one, but not everyone uses them, they are more likely to be curious. The women's section has almost exactly the same booths as the men's section, but the space is more spacious and the lighting is better, so you can get your hair and makeup done before moving on to your next program.
Discovert the Pop & Roll universe (Art Gallery, Art Shop and Selfitting Room, Art Toilet) at 6 Dorottya st., Budapest, Hungary 1051. It is located right next to Madame Tussauds Budapest and just a few steps from Vörösmarty Square. Don't miss this awesome experience!
Opening hours: Art Gallery, Art Shop and Selfitting Room, Art Toilet.
