Marcin Dudek: Neoplan
"Twisted metal, screeching tyres and shattered glass: there’s been a catastrophic accident. A bus has crashed into the gallery, and its splayed remains have been scattered across the space by the impact. The results are brutal, uncomfortable, unsettling, but like any accident, you can’t look away.
The bus was found abandoned and derelict in Romania by Polish artist Marcin Dudek. It had once belonged to a Dinamo Bucarest fan group, used for years to ferry ultras to away games. The shattered windscreen that greets you as you walk in tells the tale of the vehicle’s final act: troop transport taking enemy fire until it could move no more.
Dudek found it whole but broken down and then took it to pieces. It’s reconstituted here but it won’t drive again. Instead, it acts as a container of history. Written into the rows of torn seats, stinking, fetid carpet and shards of glass are a million stories of togetherness and conflict. People convened here, came together to travel and show faith in something they truly believed in. Once they arrived at their destinations, they fought against those who opposed them – rival fans – like modern crusaders decked out in Adidas."
Dudek found it whole but broken down and then took it to pieces. It’s reconstituted here but it won’t drive again. Instead, it acts as a container of history. Written into the rows of torn seats, stinking, fetid carpet and shards of glass are a million stories of togetherness and conflict. People convened here, came together to travel and show faith in something they truly believed in. Once they arrived at their destinations, they fought against those who opposed them – rival fans – like modern crusaders decked out in Adidas."
