Century Bingo (2024)
Installation with series of 25 collages on canvas (40 x 40 cm)
690 x 690 cm
Documentation photography by Lola Pertsowsky
Century Bingo draws on pivotal moments from the 20th century and the present, a period sometimes referred to as the “American century.” These moments, such as the liberation of Auschwitz; the Palestinian Nakba; the assassination of Patrice Lumumba; the American invasions of Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq; and the events of October 7th, embody a spectrum of emotions—grief, joy, victory, and defeat. The collages, featuring the last two digits of each year, echo the traditional format of a bingo card.
Century Bingo offers a non-linear reading of history, akin to a scrambling of any conventional flow of time. The installation probes into how certain events shape collective consciousness, how people both create and are created by these moments. It challenges the traditional retelling of events in straightforward sequences, critiquing the teleological view of progress and the cumulative construction of political history.
The events, people, and cultural artefacts referenced often remain only partly recognizable, allowing for layers of meaning to emerge in the encounter by the viewer.
