I tried figurative work in my practice. I did not plan the final result, it took shape in the process of the work itself. The idea of trees came to me while visiting the Museum in Brussels.
"The Public Gardens - The Two Schoolboys" Jean Edouard Vuillard - Painting – 1894 Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (24/03/2022)
Although there are no obvious shadows in the work, the atmosphere itself made me think of purple shadows and the play of light and shadow. Without preliminary drawings and sketches (I don't like it when you plan or train it, the final work is not smooth then) I started to work.
I only knew the colour that I want to use. And I find it more alive to improvise in the process. And only after the final completion of work with spray paints the complete image and an idea took shape.
Shadows, 2022, paint, spray colours, plaster, recycled newspapers, cardboard, wood, 150 x 88 x 13 cm.
I described the work like this:
«Когда с кого-нибудь из них снимут оковы, заставят его вдруг встать, повернуть шею, пройтись, взглянуть вверх - в сторону света, ему будет мучительно выполнять всё это, он не в силах будет смотреть при ярком сиянии на те вещи, тень от которых он видел раньше. И как ты думаешь, что он скажет, когда ему начнут говорить, что раньше он видел пустяки, а теперь, приблизившись к бытию и обратившись к более подлинному, он мог бы обрести правильный взгляд? Да ещё если станут указывать на ту или иную проходящую перед ним вещь и заставят отвечать на вопрос, что это такое? Не считаешь ли ты, что это крайне его затруднит и он подумает, будто гораздо больше правды в том, что он видел раньше, чем в том, что ему показывают теперь?
— Конечно, он так подумает.
— А если заставить его смотреть прямо на самый свет, разве не заболят у него глаза, и не отвернётся он поспешно к тому, что он в силах видеть, считая, что это действительно достовернее тех вещей, которые ему показывают?
— Да, это так…»
Платон, Миф о пещере
Translation:
And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision, -what will be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name them, -- will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?
Far truer.
And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?
True, he said.
Plato, Book VII of The Republic, The Allegory of the Cave
I write in Russian because my heart bleeds. I cannot accept what has become of my nation. Like blind and deaf, people hear nothing but TV and one-sided news. I hope that at least art can start a dialogue with the people I once loved.
In the allegory "The Myth of the Cave" Plato discusses the issue of knowledge of the world using the example of shadows and light. Such knowledge comes in a long and painful way, and it must be desired.
These shadows may be from trees, or they may be from people. It could be early dawn or a battlefield with exploding bombs. In order to understand what it is, as in Plato's allegory, a person needs to want to look at the light.
I think that this work is more successful than the work of 2021 when I first tried to depict a figurative object.
The colours are much more balanced and the composition is sharper.
This technique reminds me of pointillism.
Georges-Pierre Seurat, 1888 The Seine at La Grande Jatte, Höhe: 65 cm; Breite: 82 cm [on line] At: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Georges_Seurat_026.jpg (Accessed 25.05.2022)
Paul Signac, 1906 The Calanque (The Bay) oil on canvas [Painting] Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (24/03/2022)
My artwork is a sculpture made from recycled material. Such a peculiar reworked approach to painting with dots. If the bright representatives of this art movement, Seurat, Signac and Cross relied on the ability of vision to combine dots into spots of colour, then what can be said about my technique? Sculptural objects of the same colour can be mixed for a colour spot. But these are not separate painted dots, these are separate pieces of newspaper covered with paint. I think this train of thought doesn't work.
In parallel, I made another video of myself in the art process.
A previous tutor advised me to develop this topic further, but at this stage, I cannot understand to what extent should I include the video in my work? Primitively place the screen next to the work showing that this is an important part of the work? In my opinion, this is the level of Instagram and TikTok. Of course, for me, the process itself is of greater importance even than the final work.
On the other hand, if you highlight these videos for each work, maybe then the focus will shift. And physical work will already be endowed with a different context.
To watch video => https://youtube.com/shorts/EVcvXqijyag?feature=share
As I collect from neighbours and recycle old newspapers for my work, this caught the attention of a local firm. This company is engaged in the production of eco-cleaning products, pet food and cosmetics. They saw a like-minded person not through the art itself, but through the process of my work and approach. I have thought before about trying to switch completely to sustainable and recycled products, but until now I have not had the opportunity. I want to study the issue of sustainability. What exactly is called eco-friendly and what harms the environment and humans?
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