CIVILIZATIONS
part 2
2012
A series of “Civilization” picturesque works consists of three strands to the plot: thefirst one depicts African masks, the second – knight helmets, the third – museum specimens interacting with visitors. I am interested in the moment of emotional and visual contact between the beholder and items displayed under the window glass. For the most part mymuseum specimens, as a matter of fact, aretrivial items which had an exclusively household function in their “past” day-to-day life, under the glass of museum window display they take brand new image shapesunder the influence ofviewer impressions.
The idea of making pictures with knighth elmet sand African masks leaped into my mind after visiting a number ofhistorical museums.
First of all, I was attracted by thebeautyofitems I had chosen, I was interested in the visual contrast between the brightness of eerie ritual images of African ghosts and the dark gray steel of medieval armor.
While having external differences the practical purpose of these items was the same: the loss of freedom of choice, the devotion to ideas of an assumed image. At the same time, they are remote predecessors of the so-called “avatars” – when human individuals screen themselves behind the chosen masks for communication in the wired world.