CNN
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Nora Turato is worried about whether it’s real or not. She wonders if positive affirmations are positive or even productive. What about longevity promoters and life coaching? “This is the biggest pyramid scheme out there,” she said.
For the past two years, the 33-year-old Croatian artist has been diving deep into what she calls “the whole space of healing, self-empowerment, and self-optimization.” The obvious answer is: “That’s not true!!!” Stop lying! ” — Spruce Majors’ solo exhibition at Los Angeles Gallery and a fight back against the wellness industry.
The project grew out of Turato’s ongoing analysis of the “collective unconscious on the internet,” she explains over Zoom from her Amsterdam studio. Her focus is on language, from overused platitudes to personal text messages, from advertising slogans to news headlines, from YouTube and TikTok videos to overheard conversations and her own thoughts. , in how we absorb information from the increasingly saturated world around us. These cut and copied fragments are assembled into her work in the form of books, text-based panels, and performances hosted by institutions such as the Secession Building in Vienna and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Robert Wedemeyer/Courtesy of Sprüth Magers
The 33-year-old Turat’s views not only come from a millennial mindset, but also take into account her own post-communist upbringing in Zagreb, Croatia.
At the latter in 2022, she performed her one-woman “Pool 5” monologue live over 20 times over two weeks. The way Turato changes her persona at dizzying speed, from marketing kingpin to con artist, was charming and comically spot-on. This performance was accompanied by a limited edition book. This is her fifth book of language tidbits, and its typographical expressions derive from Turat’s training as a graphic designer (she completed a two-year master’s degree at the Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem, the Netherlands). (graduated from the program) in 2016).
This appropriation of advertising techniques was inspired by American artist Barbara Kruger, who (in Condé Nast’s Mademoiselle magazine) used her background in graphic design to “question and change the systems that trap us.” It reminds me of works from the 1980s. Her views on Turat, on the other hand, not only come from her millennial mindset, but also take into account her own upbringing with a post-communist, hyper-capitalist society. Born in Zagreb, Turat describes her home country as “right in the middle, not really Eastern Europe. Not very Western,” she said. Her acting skills as a child also played a role, as she “used to pretend on the radio,” she said.
Robert Wedemeyer/Courtesy of Sprüth Magers
A large part of the show consists of typography on wall-mounted enamel panels.
“Nora’s work makes people look in the mirror,” she said of Spruth Magers co-founder Philomene Magers. She said, “When I saw her do it at the show in Berlin[last year]I thought, ‘Wow, this would really make sense in L.A.’ I think it would resonate really well.” .”
In this city considered the spiritual home of self-optimization, “That’s not true!!!” Stop the lies! “We examine Turat’s own skeptical yet sensitive response to the widespread notion that we can become healthier, happier, more authentic versions of ourselves. “Sleep / It’s For You Good thing!” One of his enamel panels can be seen attached to the wall. Another argues: right! “Meanwhile, three of his stark black and white murals scream ‘It’s real,’ ‘Ha ha ha,’ and ‘I’m telling you the truth!!!’
“I don’t know what I personally believe deeply about authenticity or if such a thing exists, but I do know that I’m often told to be authentic,” Turato said. said. “It’s everywhere. You know, ‘Buy this and it’s going to be real.’ The whole obsession with identity is very confusing to me. ”
For the past four years, Turato has been working with Hollywood dialect coach Julie Adams. This is also a process that triggers a period of introspection. “When I work with her own voice, things come to me,” she explained. “You start to reflect on yourself. At first I thought, ‘This will be good for my job,’ and I started all these different treatments.”
Robert Wedemeyer/Courtesy of Sprüth Magers
“Nora’s work makes people stand in front of a mirror,” said Philomene Majors, co-founder of the gallery.
She comes up with the following list. Tomatis sound therapy. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which processes traumatic memories, and internal family systems that are “like talking to a part of yourself”. Mindful movement using the Feldenkrais method. Holotropic breathwork. “She hyperventilates for about three hours with her eyes closed while listening to this crazy music,” she says of the latter, which she still does at least once a month. “At a certain point, I started to realize that it wasn’t about work anymore. It was about me.” In this way, Turato embodies both consumer and critic, and her own ambivalence, even explores contradictory positions.
Her performance at the opening of the LA show was both delightfully melodramatic and darkly comical, as Turato strayed from evangelical health guru. Cut the cord. Some shadow work. Heal your inner child. I have to cleanse my fields,” she spat, her nerves failing. One line in her performance, “I was so focused on healing, so focused on resolving the trauma…I forgot to just live my life,” feels deeply personal.
Apparently, Turato’s journey of self-optimization ended with a digital detox. “She went offline,” she said. She says, “She got a bad phone. I want to take a break.” Does she feel something different? “Maybe I’ll be less anxious,” she hinted, adding that after the LA show opens, she and her husband will take a tent and set off on a 10-day hike into the Mojave Desert. . How will this new offline version of her be reflected in her work? She’s still not sure. “Maybe this is just a phase,” she thought. “But I still think it’s an interesting stage.”
