Carnival of The Avant-garde
The "Carnival” three-part installation was made for Gorky Park in 2014 in the collaboration with Archstoyanie team. Those part were: Kolesolntse, Ogogon, and Tantamaret. The whole story grew out of my love with the Russian and German avant-garde. The revolutionary and powerful movement that was happening in culture and art in the early 20th century had a huge influence on me and that was why I wanted to do something on this exciting topic like translating ideas of constructionism and Bauhaus into modern life, especially since Russian avant-garde is closely intertwined with folk traditions. The celebration of Maslenitsa was the ideal occasion to realize my dream. "Tantamaret" is the first and main part of the project. 20 suprematist tantamaresque figures were installed at the park waterfront, representing a new vision of folk Russian costumes rethought with an eye on avant-garde traditions. Each suit had some movable parts and every visitor could “try on” such a garment and interact with it. "Ogogon'" - a giant abstract tongues of flame, symbolizing the main rite of Maslenitsa - burning the effigy of Carnival. "KoleSolntse" - is a 13-meter-high kinetic sculpture, placed in front of the main entrance is the installation dedicated to the sun and cosmic cyclism. Two huge solar disks rotate in opposite directions, creating an optical illusion of perpetual motion from the center to the outside.