The project is technically supported by Cyland MediaArtLab
" Any war begins with the willingness to fight. And this willingness is cultivated using militaristic slogans, hateful propaganda, and manipulation of patriotic feelings. In this sense, every war begins with words, before any shots are fired. The audiovisual installation “Ready To Repeat” is our response to the rhetoric of hate that is spreading worldwide, especially in political circles – and that we are strongly against."
(V. Rannev, M. Alekseeva)
The exhibition will also feature Marina Alekseeva's new Lifeboxes, miniature multimedia installations. Alekseeva uses small boxes to model exemplary interiors of public buildings and private homes, like a concentration of the surrounding environment. But these lightbox interiors are interactive. Each of them has a two-way mirror reflecting a screen showing a video.
Among the other lightboxes at the exhibit, “Prose” is being shown for the first time. It is based on Vladimir Rannev’s opera of the same name that premiered in 2017 at the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre in Moscow, where Marina Alekseeva used the same techniques of re-reflection as the set designer and video producer.
The ever-increasing success of “Liveboxes”– currently one of the most in-demand works of Russian art – can be explained by the fact that M. Alexeeva’s boxes are connected to multiple facets of our artistic and everyday experience. They are not only “built-into” the self-description of relevant art, but they also unite cultural tradition with fresh modern-day customs. Most importantly, the artist includes one of the most significant functions that make modern life attractive: she turns standardization into a playing field.
Inside M. Alexeeva’s lightboxes, there is always a transformation of a standard going on. Any object in its normal place can, here, unexpectedly demonstrate freedom from stereotypes of behavior and perception. The author copies nature not in the sense of increasing the diverse versions of something, but by developing mimicry of the world’s vivid transformational power. The superb level of art in “Liveboxes” is supported by the artist’s ability to look at things untraditionally and see their essence – new images.
After materials of the article by Ekaterina Andreeva, contemporary art department of the State Russian Museum.
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(video included)