POPICON, 2002
Paper, felt-tip pen, adhesive tape – 420 × 297 mm
POPICON can be understood as a visual avatar, simultaneously embodying a personal performance identity and an iconic symbol of the underground music culture. The work is composed of two layered sheets of paper whose interplay creates a multidimensional visual space: the lower, opaque layer features a stylized, anime-manga influenced MC-DJ figure rendered in black and red felt-tip pen, wearing headphones and holding a microphone, set against a white background. The upper layer is made of translucent adhesive tape, selectively cut to reveal the figure beneath, and displays schematic, emblematic representations of musical equipment – microphone, turntable, mixing console – arranged within red squares. The vertical inscription “POP.ICON” runs along the top left corner of this layer.
The adhesive tape layer functions as a unique aesthetic element, its slightly yellowed hue and linear texture acting as a varnish-like coat that both accentuates and subtly distorts the details of the drawing underneath. This layered technique is a rare visual device in contemporary art, creating a dialogic tension between individual character and technological-musical environment, and visually articulating the coexistence of personal identity and collective subculture.
POPICON is far more than a mere image or poster; it employs an experimental visual language that can be interpreted as both performative and political. The work channels the partisan spirit of techno-rap and underground activism, where music is not simply entertainment or aesthetic experience but a tool of social resistance. This visual mantra encapsulates the aesthetic and ethical aspirations of contemporary underground movements, simultaneously presenting the artist’s alter ego, Barbo Inject Q, as an icon of the countercultural, partisan attitude.
The piece anticipates the thematic and aesthetic directions of Bónyai’s later Popicon cycle (2011–2022), where the iconography of popular culture merges with glitch aesthetics and philosophical depth. The cycle’s works consciously blend analog and digital media, intertwining classical and secular narratives to produce a complex, multilayered visual language infused with irony and metaphysical undertones.
In sum, POPICON stands as an authentic representation of the underground artistic scene, visually synthesizing the intersections of rave subculture, experimental electronic music, and civil rights activist rap. Artistically, it reinterprets the iconography of popular culture while articulating complex social and cultural content. Thus, the work transcends being a mere personal self-portrait; it becomes a visual testament to subcultural engagement and a vital contributor to independent artistic discourse.