entry #3: MĂDĂLINA GĂCEANU

Do you ever find yourself endlessly mentally replaying situations in which you wish you’d performed differently? Overthinking in this way is called rumination. 

This exhibition is a reflexion of my attempts on understanding my attachment to the past. 

According to research by Matt Killingsworth, human beings spend almost half their wakeful hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing. This includes contemplating on what happened in the past, regardless of whether it was positive or negative. Attachment research shows that in order to free ourselves from the past, form healthier relationships, and show up today as the people we want to be, we have to make sense and feel the full pain of our story. 

When we fail to face unresolved pain from our childhood, we have many, often unconscious, ways of repeating it. 

Rumination is a curious habit. It's like binge-watching bad movies on Netflix. That's what happens when we can’t let go of the past. We make sad stories play nonstop. The more we watch our life's movie, the more it hurts. 

Why is letting go of the past so hard? Because the brain handles negative and positive information differently. Negative experiences require more thinking and, thus, are processed more thoroughly. This causes our brains to become better at remembering adverse events. 

You can't change how your brain works. But you can train yourself to get off of the hamster wheel. That requires cutting the emotional attachment we have with the past, especially negative experiences.

Mădălina Găceanu

Rumination is the exhibition project that won the third edition of Quadro Gallery’s entry [ˈentri] programme. The programme is aimed at strengthening the dialogue between artists, the Gallery and the public and encouraging the diversification of the Cluj art scene by promoting young artists.