EX-SITU[existing situations] is an interactive installation that incorporates a computer, sound, and lighting technologies in which users/ viewers take part in the destruction of the painting by stepping on it. At the same time, a motion tracking system marks visitors and a light spot tracks them.
The content of EX SITU calls for awareness of social indifference, self-promotion, and their impact on society. The structure of EX SITU is intentionally ambiguous, revealing the obsession/fascination for the protection of material in contrast with the empathy for other people.
The interactive installation underlines the responsibility of individuals in society. The theoretical part analyses the Destruction in Art Symposium in 1966 and The bystander effect, or bystander apathy, in which individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present.
Tonia Ainot studied Fine Arts and Sciences of Art, (2007-12) at the Department University of Ioannina in Greece and attended the Postgraduate Program "Creation and Communication in Audiovisual Arts" (2017-19). Her practice focuses on describing contemporary life and how the impact of the individual's actions forms the frame of society. The artistic work depicts social issues with the aim to raise awareness and to expand a public discussion on how art can motivate the usual response to ecological-political-social issues. Starting from this overarching perspective, the paintings and videos try to give voice to the struggles, sufferings, and journeys of those in the zones of abandonment and marginalization as well as represent those (gendered or ethnic) voices that are oppressed and dominated by hegemonic structures in society.
These stem from a belief and understanding that by synthesizing the social facts with the artistic speech, artists may invite the public to an open and unconventional dialogue.
