The Dead Sea is a place of legend. It's also the planet's lowest elevation on land which seems to devour the very essence of time and change. Nothing makes the heavy waters move; nothing is alive in their depths. It emerged between the African and the Arabian Plates in prebiblical times, and today it is still a place of mystery amidst a turmoil-ridden land. Parchikov’s works make us feel a silent danger hiding beyond the unstirred tranquility.
The ancient hypersaline lake is vivid in all its dispassionate glory, undisturbed by human interference. People are nothing but part of the scenery: inevitable, yet unimportant. Our creations, including items both practical and purely decorative, are all but impermanent against the unchanging landscape. The beauty of it affects the viewer, yet remains unaffected.
The lake attract tourists, offering the notorious ability to float effortlessly on the salt-laden water under a deep blue sky. In this series, we see both things and people in motion, yet the artist pays special attention to depicting the wary stillness behind all those beach parasols, lonely silhouettes and other mundane occurrences. They numb the sense of imminent danger, but bring no comfort. Nothing feels safe.
Parchikov's previous series are called Features of Intuition and Suspense, and these names are also quite descriptive of the current set about the Dead Sea, as well as the Peripheral Vision series about Moscow. In fact, all of Parchikov’s works seem to be interconnected with an almost tangible sense of anxiety. The artist is very experienced for his age, and is known for his fancy for places and scenes that evoke a certain kind of dread, or even smell of death.
According to scientists, the Dead Sea is dying. It is currently shrinking and will likely disappear off the face of Earth.
Olga Kabanova
