Project for: “Leaping into the City. Chisinặu, Sofia, Pristina, Sarajevo, Warsaw, Zagreb, Ljubljana. Cultural Positions, Political Conditions. Seven Scenes from Europe.”. A publication of relations, a project initiated by Kulturstiftung des Bundes, Germany. Publishing date: 03.2006

This cycle of images is an exploration into the visual logic of early neo-capitalism. It represents a vision for the possible future development of the urban environment and visual interface of one neo-capitalist city, the city of Sofia, Bulgaria. Neo-capitalism is a kind of society that originated from the late totalitarian version of socialism that was to be found in the Eastern European countries of the former Soviet Block. Its “progress” is marked by processes of re-distribution of public wealth and “normalization” under the pressure of the looming membership into the European Union. Neo-capitalism is capitalism without bourgeoisie; consumer society without consumers (at least not yet…); and the development of its cities is marked by the stormy appropriation of public space by private interest.

All of these features are seen in the interface of Sofia, a city where you can put up anything, anytime, anywhere as long as you can pay…. In a neo-capitalist city the economical aspects in the life of the society are overpowering the political ones; the booming market is suppressing the civic agenda; the visuality of enterprising and consuming is eating up the visuality of reflection, contemplation or representation of anything else but consumer identity.

In fusing the material surroundings with the advertisement context I have taken these processes to their logical visual conclusion.

Luchezar Boyadjiev (BU)
Artist, based in Sofia, Bulgaria