Karma (2nd edition)

In Karma, a project developed in Madrid between 2009 and 2013, Óscar Monzón focuses on the car as a means of transportation that is not entirely distinct from the person who inhabits it, for the vehicle is in itself a product of the wheel that endlessly spins inside us.

Karma explores a range of unconscious human behaviours imprinted on our memory. In terms of the relationship we establish with the car, these forms of conduct materialise in specific ways: detachment, competition, aggressiveness.

Applying a visual language that eliminates the illusion of depth and emphasises abstraction, Karma brings us up close to the paradoxical intimacy provided by the car within public space, reflecting its occupants’ attitudes. The sequence of images combine human skin with aggressively designed bodyworks; headlights in the night conjure the image of wild animals; close-up flashes confront the people portrayed.

Ultimately, this work reveals the social and aesthetic evolution of humankind, driven by our abiding desire to attain the perfection of a machine.