Lithuanian artist duo Pakui Hardware, created by Neringa Černiauskaitė and Ugnius Gelguda, present their new kinetic sculptures in Warsaw. Made of steel, glass, silicone and elastic fabric, they move in a monotonous rhythm, creating the impression of autonomous entities.
"The materials allow us to connect themes that would otherwise require direct explanation - stainless steel is associated with medicine, silicone with skin-like prosthetics and laboratory glass with scientific experiments. In this way, we build our own visual language," explain Pakui Hardware.

The exhibition at the Zachęta particularly focuses on the metaphor of the filtering membrane, but also biological immunity. Organisms defend themselves by recognising their own and foreign elements. Using references to medical imagery, biology and the materiality of the body, the artists analyse its boundaries and its vulnerability to external influences.

Since 2023, Neringa Černiauskaitė and Ugnius Gelguda have been exploring the concept of the nervous system, genetics and the immune system as metaphors for the management of both the individual and society. Their earlier projects - Burn at the carlier gebauer gallery in Madrid and Inflammation presented at the Lithuanian National Museum of Art in Vilnius and later at the Venice Art Biennale - dealt with the theme of illness and healing, through which they referenced regional and global social issues such as climate crisis, droughts and migration. According to the artists, the body - both human and planetary - stores its history in the form of genes, molecules or shape.

The Thresholds / Thresholds exhibition is also in dialogue with the work of artists such as Zilia Sánchez Domínguez (1926-2024) and Alexandra Kasuba (1923-2019), who explored the relationships of the body, space and materiality. Pakui Hardware's work demonstrates that contemporary art not only explores the structure of ecosystems, but also addresses systems of control, surveillance and the complex relationship between the individual and society.

Pakui Hardware was founded in 2014. In their practice, the artists explore the plasticity of bodies and their as yet undiscovered potentials, tracing the ways in which technologies extend, test and control human corporeality. The duo represented Lithuania at the 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia (2024) with their project Inflammation. Pakui Hardware's solo exhibitions were held at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead and at MUMOK - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien in Vienna. The artists have participated in the Istanbul Biennale, the 13th Baltic Triennale in Vilnius, the Biennale Gherdëina in Urtijëa, Italy, as well as exhibitions at Centre Pompidou in Paris, Kunsthalle Basel and MAXXI in Rome, among others.

Simona Sigita, the exhibition's architect, is concerned with observation, analysis, responding to issues rooted in the local context, but which are relevant to wider social, urban and ecological issues.