Revisiting Prospect Revenge

As the title suggests, Revisiting Prospect Revenge is based on an earlier work. It might be more accurate to call the piece in the show a new incarnation of the original project, Prospect Revenge, that Robertas Narkus developed during his residency at Delfina Foundation in London. Prospect Revenge is a type of start-up that offers an investment scheme for individuals in society unable to achieve their desired change.

A blurb on the official Prospect Revenge website states:

How to push through (new ideas), when no one needs them? How to concentrate? How to transform disappointment, desperation and insecurities into financial instruments? Artist Robertas Narkus introduces investment scheme, which will turn your negative emotions into über-financial resources.

We at ‘Prospect Revenge’ have a solution: we will buy out your anxiety – anxiety caused by failing to sort out the trash, dependency on social media, war, those who voted wrongly, who parked the car badly, rejected ideas, not listening to your wife, husband, lover, bad investment, poor service, dirty shoes or holidays in Bali.

Don’t tell us what to want, how to be, what to fight for. Fight? Are you kidding? To Survive, to live well, live a normal life, be positive. Peace of mind is what we want. Are we to be blamed? Don’t you feel guilt on your shoulders?

No, everything is not going to be alright, but is that news? Why wait for tomorrow? Accept who you are now.

The installation consists of of some discarded stuff, several short promotional videos explaining how promotional videos explaining how the Prospect Revenge financial scheme works and of an enlarged and seated “Revenge coin”. The coin is an embodiment of a restless soul striving for change despite the unforgiving circumstances. Its obverse depicts a mask of public relations under which lies contradictions, uncertainties, plain speculations and real determination for change, despair and luck, rage, love, succumbers and rebels, smart words, zany thoughts, greed and generosity. The reverse depicts a vortex, famously sported by Ubu Roi on his belly, that represents an eternal movement that, with every spin, increases both value and the determination to act.

Created and directed by Robertas Narkus, with design and website by Nerijus Rimkus and Laurynas Montvydas, and 3D modeling by Antanas Skučas, the work was realised within the framework of the European Media Art Platforms (EMARE) programme at FACT with support from the Creative Europe Culture Programme of the European Union.