Clowns in Search of Hidden Brains

Three maskless clowns wander the unkept edge of a forest in search of hidden brains. Watching the fools, who fail to find what they sought, are observers wearing clown masks.

A story tells of the genius brains of politicians, warriors, scientists and sceptics, objects of study at a brain research institute in Vilnius in the interwar years. When the centre closed at the start of World War II, the brains were hidden in a now forgotten place on the city’s outskirts, in hopes they could one day be recovered and revived. Inspired by this urban legend, the artist sets out to revive the materiality of the disembodied union of utopian science and radical politics. With the help of three hospital clowns, practitioners of irrationality and foolishness, who say their work leads to a merging of body and psyche, the artist embarks on a search for the brains.

As it unfolds, the event’s materiality gradually pulls away from its root ideas. Philosophical and political tensions playfully yield to re-actualising temporary relationships and states, with a reversal of the roles of observer and observed taking place. Balancing between documentary and fiction film, the artist undermines any certain reading of the situation, depriving what is portrayed of symbolic promise yet testifying to its physical authenticity.