Diorama

Realized: 2017
film, 41’ 45’’
Open Group (Anton Varga, Yuriy Biley, Pavlo Kovach, Stanislav Turina)
 
The work progresses in the film presented at the exhibition as well as around it. The basis of the work is the return to our „group-forming” and long-lasting theme of defining the space of potential art, that is to projects like „Open Gallery”, „Ars Longa Vita Brevis”, „Object Passport”, „Cubic Meter”, „1000 km view”. We are still interested in the concept of space, however, our approach to it is changing. This time we do not define the space with its potentiality that assumes filling it with certain activity or event. We act as initiators of a situation that enables the creation of a particular space, which, at the same time, is accessible only with a very subjective understanding.
The method consists of listing the space details. Words become extremely significant and, simultaneously, act as the only embodiment of the space. In this case, the parts and the basic points of the space are invented. They become elements that can be used by the viewer to form a whole. Guided by their experience, the viewers can appropriate and take it with them by means of displacement and replacement of details. In fact, the space is ordinary, there is nothing special, complicated or provocative about it. Therefore, it becomes difficult to summarize this work as it is a “summary” in itself. This imaginary space has its defined boundaries and coordinates: it is measured with dialogues and monologues of the people who summarize it, or rather, describe it. It expands with suggestions and immediately contracts by contradiction. Some people form space with imagination, some, however, fill it in with logic or knowledge. The space as a potential project for realization is complete, however, constructed in the imagination, becomes ephemeral and boundless. By the way, we have taken interest in dioramas as visual tools and cultural phenomena. The images are adapted to artificial lighting and they are very often placed in special pavilions or museums. The factors that play a critical role in the exposition of dioramas are: the equipment in the exhibition room, the structure of the audience, lighting and sound (music and narrator). This means that great attention is paid to the viewers' point of view, the way to get them to trust the new, constructed reality. That is why, in our work, we have assumed a simultaneous existence of a number of levels of such perception, or, as we call it in the work, „steps of perception”. If we were to shortly define these steps, we would say that they are realized on such levels: us – receiver of our work- film protagonist – receiver of the diorama, diorama protagonist, who is not asleep – current diorama protagonist, who is asleep. Whereby, the last level is self-sufficient as its continuation happens in the dream sphere, which, in this case, is just as real as all the other ones. The existence of one of these steps might justify the involvement of professional actors in the project. It is also worth mentioning that most dioramas represent historical battles. In the Soviet Union they presented one of the most spectacular forms of official art as well as propaganda tools. Taking this into consideration, our goal was to find the subject of the diorama, we were interested basically in an „ordinary space”, a space with a common pre-image. For the first time in our artistic activity, we do not attempt to demarcate a specific, real place or situation, but we create a new space by calculating mean average or construing a „perfect image” of that space. In this manner, the search for a „calm space” becomes the main theme of the film, which is realized in the working process of a specialists group, who construct a diorama presenting sleep in the forest. The visible visual part is formed by nature as a symbol of unchangeability. It is of no coincidence that the main element of the diorama is a group of people resting on a small, quiet forest clearing. The forest, which dwells in its own darkness, is divided from the clearing by a ray of light. Looking back at the meanings of „around”, we have to admit that it is also an attempt to create a „perfect open group”, at least in the world of the screenplay, the image and the film. At some point, we use our own projections to create dialogue and attempt to understand the activity within the group. 

In practice, it is also a way to move away from the ready-made objects and go back to creating and organizing, return to the classical illusion of an artistic work. 

Carried out with the support of PinchukArtCenter, Kiev, Ukraine.
Shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize 2017, PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv, Ukraine (2017).