Borna Sammak is a mixed-media artist who collects and reconfigures the detritus of urban environments to create hallucinatory installations, videos and wall pieces which comment on the absurdity of contemporary American culture. Citing Robert Rauschenberg as a key influence, Sammak similarly brings together diverse sources, such as samples of graphic t-shirts, or discarded public signage, working these items onto canvas, wooden frames or enamel. Through this process of manipulation, Sammak lays bare the often polarising, bizarre and hypocritical messages channelled through American advertising and politics. Candy sweet puppy t-shirts collide with spring break merchandise, Vietnam veteran badges sit next to cigarette packs—charging seemingly colloquial items with a heightened sensibility. The works lean into the visually arresting register of adverts or political campaigns, using bright, concrete colours to accentuate the drama of the dogmatic narratives. The comic juxtapositions orchestrated by Sammak replicate the insatiable flood of commercial and political threads which seep into daily life— leaving the viewer overwhelmed by these manic manifestations. ...
