MIXED MEDIA. 'THE BOOK OF FIRE' SERIES. 2014

DIALOGUE OF DRUM AND FIRE 


Valery Savchuk: In this series, the circumstances of the photography are vital. The exposition is as follows: a musician beats a large handmade drum brought from Buryatia, close to a flame. Since the drum creates a powerful sound wave, an element of air and sound hits the fire, which responds to different intensity and types of sound with a unique configuration each time. This is basically a documentary of the dialogue between the two elements and the dialogue between the musician and the artist that is held in a metaphysical dimension. Here, photography is not just a means of recording reality, but a metaphor of the artist's viewpoint, which is able to capture something invisible. 

Of the more than 1,000 photographs taken, 64 were selected and arranged in blocks of 4 images, which trace the overall rhythm and the particular tonality of an utterance, supported by a variety of anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and phytomorphic images. 

Alexander Kirillov: It seems that the images are presented in their zero degree, i.e. without any signification. The fire, as a primary element, reflects other primary elements, like the current state of water, for example. As a result, everyone can see something that invokes associations: movement, flow, continuous change. This is how the artist draws us into a process of collaboration and joint contemplation. 

VS: The fluidity of the fire reflects the conception of a substance that seems to be in a pre-material, plasma state. In other words, it is a state of Chaos that has not yet been defeated by Space and that hasn't cooled and settled, hasn't established a form yet. 

AK: This dynamic movement can be sensed not only at the content level of the images themselves, and not only in the contrasting dips of flame and darkness, but also in the rhythmic structure of the entire series, through the oscillation between continuity and separation. The author's vision is most clearly expressed in the selection of 64 works out of a thousand. The selection process involves all his life experience, his fears, hopes, maturation, upbringing, culture; but most importantly, his intuition, and his ability to externalize a unique inner experience and make it available to others. 

VS: I agree. The Book of Fire expresses a dialog between the drum and the fire, the elements of air and flame, and engages me. I am sure it will take the viewer on a complex visual and metaphysical adventure. 


Valery Savchuk, Alexander Kirillov 

WORKS FROM THE PROJECT "...AND LOVE"