Born in the small Polish city of Rzeszów during the last gasp of the Communist era, Slota immigrated with his family to the United States when he was nine years old. Much of Slota’s fascination with constructed violence, the border between actual physical harm and calculated risk, makes a kind of sense – he was raised in two worlds, one obsessed with order and obedience, the other fascinated by, and teeming with artificial, and highly entertaining, mayhem.
– RM Vaughan
My multidisciplinary practice consists of performance, sound, and digital art, presented in both art spaces and the public sphere. The work addresses the construct of the public persona, the cult of personality that often results, and the underlying motivations of such individuals. I also attempt to disarm systemic and interpersonal violence by mocking it and deploying absurd artistic strategies against it. These investigations confront external and internalized power structures, sensitivity to which is borne out of my Catholic upbringing in Poland, a totalitarian country at that time. This was later reinforced by my family’s emigration to the USA where I attended religious schools from primary to high school. Growing up in this advanced capitalist super power with its less obvious but arguably more insidious methods of control was also instructive.
In my performances I’m often seeking an intimate connection with the public, simultaneously complicating that intimacy with an uncomfortable and awkward atmosphere. I draw people close by sharing personal stories, gifts, or food, while at the same time revealing the ugly side of personal interactions, filled with power plays, unpleasant innuendos, and literal dirt. I attempt to create a space of tension and imbalance between the audience and myself, a gesture that complicates the reading of my intentions. The performance venue becomes unsteady and unsafe, the rules and borders become blurred. Given these methods, it may be unsurprising that my work is informed by the aural and visual aesthetics of the punk, metal, and noise music scenes.
Recently I’ve applied the above approaches to digital work, creating a computer game based on nightmares stemming from my childhood migration. Currently I’m working with virtual reality world building, where climate anxiety and catastrophes inform the broken and desolate environments.
email: aleks@aleksslota.com | tel: (+49) 0163 629 2473
Photography: photography.aleksslota.com
“Place I Can’t Go” 3D game | Portfolio PDF | YouTube | Instagram | Soundcloud
I’m a member of bbk berlin and the Association for Performance Art in Berlin
