About project
Living in Truth is a video mapping inspired by the ideas of Václav Havel and the power of words to shape society. The artwork draws directly on Havel’s 1978 essay The Power of the Powerless, in which he examines the mechanisms of a totalitarian system and contrasts living within the lie with living in truth – the concept that gives title to this videomapping.
Words such as Truth, Freedom, Justice, Love and Democracy gradually appear across the building’s façade. They are then confronted by a cold, impersonal force, causing them to distort, fragment and disappear. In doing so, the work reminds us that wherever lies become the foundation of a system, truth itself becomes one of the most powerful forms of resistance.
In the final section, the darkness begins to dissolve as new colours emerge. Rather than restoring the world to its former state, they create something new – a society that remembers its wounds and is able to grow beyond them. In the context of the festival theme, Dream On!, the installation suggests that dreams can be a source of hope, courage and change, but also an illusion capable of gradually distorting our perception of the world.