Leonard Bîrcu – “Paleolithic Soil”

Photography, digital prints, variable dimensions, photobook, 2025
(supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lavinia German and Prof. Dr. Florin Grigoraș, MA)

The project Paleolithic Soil consists of a series of photographs that function both as a study of the urban landscape and as a personal, lyrical essay — an active search for visual metaphors. The conceptual intent proposes a method in which the territory of Iași is subjected to a topographic mapping, where the camera operates as an archaeological tool for discovering and attesting new “vestiges” and “monuments.” Through these, and by means of interpretation, the project aims to reveal the society that has produced them. The images make subtle references to local history (both recent and distant), addressing social issues tied to economic and urban development while integrating cultural motifs.

Alexandru Cerbu – “Where My Home Once Was, the Bistrița Now Flows”

Photography, digital prints, variable dimensions, video loop, archival documents, 2025
(supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lavinia German and Prof. Dr. Florin Grigoraș, BA)

A research-based project resulting from the artist’s undergraduate studies, this work intertwines documentary photography with the historical memory of a displaced community. It documents the transformations brought by the construction of the Bicaz Dam over the village of Poiana Largului, following the impact of this intervention on both the place and its inhabitants. The work juxtaposes recent photographs with archival images from the personal collections of locals. Within this context, the project interrogates perspectives on life before displacement, altered landscapes, and the emotional continuity tied to the territory. It seeks not merely to visually recover what once was, but to keep alive the connection with that lost home, documenting how a place can transform while remaining vivid in memory and image.

Andrei Gavrilița – “BORDERLAND”

Multimedia installation, digital print (152.4 x 300 cm), photography, slideshow (6 photographs), 4K video (30’, loop), artist’s book (25 x 28 x 2.7 cm, 280 pages, edition 1/10), 2025
(supervised by Prof. Dr. Matei Bejenaru and Prof. Dr. Florin Grigoraș, MA)

BORDERLAND employs photography as a conceptual exercise in materializing the virtual worlds of video games. The work forms part of the broader artistic research project Borderland: Photography as a Tool for Materializing Digital Virtual Worlds, developed within the MA program. The process involves photographing selected scenes displayed on a digital screen, which are then printed in book format — an attempt to grant materiality to otherwise immaterial digital landscapes.

Dimitrie Hușanu – “The Reality of Illusion”

Film, 12’50”, full HD, sound, 2025
(supervised by Lect. Dr. Andrei Cozlac and Prof. Dr. Florin Grigoraș, MA)

Dimitrie Hușanu investigates how visual effects amplify the message of a video artwork or film, using the dream space as a creative territory. Digital manipulation offers new expressive tools for expanding the conceptual layer of moving images. The 12-minute and 50-second film follows two characters: a young delivery worker striving to surpass his condition, and an aspiring actress paralyzed by her fear of failure. Over the course of three nights, both descend into dream sequences — a process of healing and self-discovery, metaphorically signaled through symbols and challenges encountered in their dreams, culminating in a shared one.

Monica Mengheriș – “At the Valley’s Sunset”

Photobook, photographs of variable dimensions, 2025
(supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lavinia German and Prof. Dr. Florin Grigoraș, BA)

At the Valley’s Sunset explores the role of documentary photography in representing social structures. The project examines how interactions within rural communities shape relational dynamics among members, influenced by internal and external factors. Functioning as a sociological study based on direct observation, the work reflects on the mechanisms reshaping rural environments, grounded in the artist’s personal attachment to her birthplace. The resulting images act as metaphors for a society undergoing major transformations amidst the shifting dynamics of contemporary communal life.

Cezara Pâțâligă – “The Lady’s Bread”

Multimedia installation, object, photographic polyptych, text, full HD video (2’, loop), 2025
(supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lavinia German and Prof. Dr. Florin Grigoraș, BA)

Part of the research project Modes of Representing the Human Body in Photography and Video Art, this work addresses the theme of identity through a critique of idealized beauty standards. By proposing an analogy between two materials — the body and bread — the work invites a re-signification of self-image, suggesting that humanity’s universal love for bread could become a metaphor for self-acceptance. None of the bodies depicted have faces, becoming generic, open to projection and identification by the viewer. Although the work centers on the female body and its supposed imperfections, its intent is to deliver a message about transcending visual standards — an introspection on inner, rather than external, qualities.

Andrei Popovici – “Ctrl–Z”

Interactive video installation, object, 2025
(supervised by Lect. Dr. Andrei Cozlac and Prof. Dr. Florin Grigoraș, BA)

The project Ctrl–Z: Reassessing Memory and Temporality in Video Installation consists of an interactive and immersive video installation designed to give physical presence to the feeling of regret. Inspired by the “undo” function found in digital software and video games, the work explores affective reversibility through mirrors, video loops, and infinite-mirror structures, constructing a space where time seems suspended. The installation invites viewers to reflect on unresolved moments in life and on how regret shapes the present.

Călin Ursuțu – “A Beautifully Framed Void”

Video, full HD, 16’10”, 2025
(supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lavinia German and Prof. Dr. Florin Grigoraș, BA)

Part of the bachelor’s project Artistic Methods of Representing Personal Experiences, the work emerges from an artistic and psychological inquiry into how solitude influences human perception. Motivated by a personal and recurring sense of isolation, the artist investigates the emotional and cognitive mechanisms tied to this state. The project comprises three photographic elements and one video, proposing a perceptual circuit of loneliness and its altered relation to the external world. The decision to combine photography and video echoes Roland Barthes’ comparison from Camera Lucida: “…in film, the person can leave the frame, turn around, move. In the photograph, he is condemned: he is motionless, fixed.” The video component captures a collective performance exploring how social relations are shaped by the need for belonging and the attempt to fill an internal void.

The event was organized in collaboration with the Photography, Video and Digital Image Processing Department of the Faculty of Visual Arts and Design, “George Enescu” National University of Arts, Iași.