<Alexey Buldakov: I Am A Primitive Artist Rather Than Contemporary>
author: Anastasia Yakubova
photos: Marina Ragozina
ODRA’s Anastasia Yakubova has interviewed Alexey Buldakov, a Russian artist and anthropologist, who took part in the Prague Biennale and has been awarded a fellowship by the US-based CEC ArtsLink, among many other accolades. In recent years, Buldakov has been exploring the use of kombucha and giant hogweed in creation of his other-worldly sculptures, now on display at his new exhibition School of Philoxenia at the Fabrika Centre for Creative Industries in Moscow.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ART? CAN WE CALL YOU A CONTEMPORARY ARTIST?
First of all, I would like to explain that I am not a contemporary artist – I am a primitive artist. I don’t do contemporary art, I am engaged in its primitive components. Primitive society is constantly exposed to dangers – it lives in fear and contradictions within it. These contradictions generate competition. In fact, society constantly risks falling into a state that Thomas Hobbes called the war of all against all. The war of everyone with everyone and the complete atomization of society can be prevented only by redirecting this war of all against one, by finding a scapegoat.
First of all, I would like to explain that I am not a contemporary artist – I am a primitive artist. I don’t do contemporary art, I am engaged in its primitive components. Primitive society is constantly exposed to dangers – it lives in fear and contradictions within it. These contradictions generate competition. In fact, society constantly risks falling into a state that Thomas Hobbes called the war of all against all. The war of everyone with everyone and the complete atomization of society can be prevented only by redirecting this war of all against one, by finding a scapegoat.
Outsiders, aliens, outcasts or kings are often used for this: "We need to purge society of criminals and homeless people and then we will have a better life" or "down with the king!". It's all really absurd. Nothing will get better and nothing will change. Nevertheless, the figure of one remains very important. The job of a king or a president to this day is to be a lightning rod.
Our society is still on the verge of slipping into the state of war against all and I am worried about it. That is why I do primitive art. My picture of the world is primitive - from my point of view, nothing has changed. Now culture is moving backwards, the time of the clock is moving forward along a predictable trajectory, and thermodynamic time destroys everything. Only culture can stop this destruction.
Our society is still on the verge of slipping into the state of war against all and I am worried about it. That is why I do primitive art. My picture of the world is primitive - from my point of view, nothing has changed. Now culture is moving backwards, the time of the clock is moving forward along a predictable trajectory, and thermodynamic time destroys everything. Only culture can stop this destruction.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR NEW EXHIBITION THE SCHOOL OF PHILOXENIA AT THE FABRIKA CENTRE FOR CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN MOSCOW?
The School of Philoxenia, which in Greek means warmly welcoming wanderers, is a continuation of a fantasy play that I have been developing for three years. The School of Philoxenia is "located" in the city of the future, which I call Pharmapolis.
The School of Philoxenia, which in Greek means warmly welcoming wanderers, is a continuation of a fantasy play that I have been developing for three years. The School of Philoxenia is "located" in the city of the future, which I call Pharmapolis.
The rest of the world, in my opinion, in the future would be occupied by only one species of plants and one species of animals – it is giant hogweed and jellyfish. It happened because people used the environment incorrectly and aggressively. Everywhere except Pharmapolis, everything on land and in the ocean has died out. And the inhabitants of Pharmapolis in order to escape from the onslaught of giant hogweed and jellyfish, come up with magical rituals to reconcile with these strange species.
Tatiana Nurieva // Getty Images
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE KOMBUCHA AND GIANT HOGWEED AS THE MEDIUM?
I have been working with giant hogweed for a long time, it is an interesting material. This is such a feral and invasive plant that vividly illustrates the ecological catastrophe. It is very different from other plants common in our latitudes: it is fertile - yields two crops a year, it can be used in construction - its stems are lightweight and durable after drying, and, in fact, a very useful plant in agriculture, if properly cultivated. But people do not cultivate giant hogweed and if left unattended, it captures more and more land, because it is extremely tenacious, and people complain that it burns the skin, although they brought it on themselves.
I have been working with giant hogweed for a long time, it is an interesting material. This is such a feral and invasive plant that vividly illustrates the ecological catastrophe. It is very different from other plants common in our latitudes: it is fertile - yields two crops a year, it can be used in construction - its stems are lightweight and durable after drying, and, in fact, a very useful plant in agriculture, if properly cultivated. But people do not cultivate giant hogweed and if left unattended, it captures more and more land, because it is extremely tenacious, and people complain that it burns the skin, although they brought it on themselves.
Kombucha is more complex. Kombucha — Medusomyces gisevii in Latin — is bacterial cellulose. Basically it is paper produced by bacteria. So this creature is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, it produces cellulose as a byproduct of fermentation.
Bacterial cellulose is such an interesting material of the future that can replace the products of monocropping which destroys the ecosystem. But at the same time, it is also a material from the distant past. It is a product of fermentation, commonly called leavening. For ancient people, the process of fermentation symbolized the slow internal transformation of a person. This meaning can be traced in many ancient religions, for example, in the Gospels there is a parable about leaven "The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven" or here is a warning "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees", which by leaven means a new idea.
Exhibitions are such a thing that I do not need. For me, the artistic world begins and ends in my creative workshop. But sometimes you need to do an exhibition to report, because I rent the studio. But I 'm not doing this for exhibitions. The main motivation is to create a masterpiece.
Via my works, I communicate in my own language, and I am not trying to tell viewers something in their language. Each artist creates his own language. And it seems to me that I'm not doing an exhibition for the people, I аm not interested in public attention, when an outsider comes to the exhibition by accident and tries to comprehend it. Mainstream popularity scares me, because it brings unnecessary attention.
HOW DO YOU WANT VISITORS TO FEEL AFTER SEEING THE EXHIBITION?
THEN WHO DO THE ARTISTS EXPECT AT THEIR EXHIBITIONS?
Artists, in order to continue working, of course, need collectors — who appreciate the value of art — not people from the street.
Every artist wants the right people to come to an exhibition rather than everybody. So that it would be either influential decision-makers from the art world, or rich wives and daughters of oligarchs. There is no one else left. It used to be different: there used to be a very vibrant intellectual community in art that gathered for seminars and discussed new books.
Artists, in order to continue working, of course, need collectors — who appreciate the value of art — not people from the street.
Every artist wants the right people to come to an exhibition rather than everybody. So that it would be either influential decision-makers from the art world, or rich wives and daughters of oligarchs. There is no one else left. It used to be different: there used to be a very vibrant intellectual community in art that gathered for seminars and discussed new books.
YOU ARE ONE OF THE FIRST RUSSIAN ECO-ARTISTS IN RECENT DECADES. HAVE YOU NOTICED ANY PROGRESS ON ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS IN SOCIETY OVER THIS TIME?
My first exhibitions were held back in 2002. And yes, I certainly feel that the changes and progress are happening in the world. But the sad thing is that it happens only at the level of small business policy: it is usually waste management, choosing food consiously. Therefore, there are changes, but they are dismal and seem to be cyclical — sometimes there is an upswing followed by a decline. It seems to me that now people are very confused by the fact that there is a lot of conflicting information about eco-awareness People are afraid of being manipulated by someone. They are afraid that someone is seducing them with some unrealistic ideas.
Ecology is connected with culture and behavior, and it is very difficult to change them.
My first exhibitions were held back in 2002. And yes, I certainly feel that the changes and progress are happening in the world. But the sad thing is that it happens only at the level of small business policy: it is usually waste management, choosing food consiously. Therefore, there are changes, but they are dismal and seem to be cyclical — sometimes there is an upswing followed by a decline. It seems to me that now people are very confused by the fact that there is a lot of conflicting information about eco-awareness People are afraid of being manipulated by someone. They are afraid that someone is seducing them with some unrealistic ideas.
Ecology is connected with culture and behavior, and it is very difficult to change them.
Exhibition at Winzavod Contemporary Art Center. Urban Fauna Lab. Photo from Batenka.ru, 2017
ARE THERE ANY PROMISING YOUNG ARTISTS THAT YOU COULD SINGLE OUT AS THOSE WHO EVERYONE SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO?
Yes, when I first started doing "urban fauna" and exercise environmentally conscious view of culture and society, there was one person who understood everything I was saying and who enriched me with his ideas. This is Ilya Dolgov, a fairly prolific artist from Voronezh. He is a botanist who works with diseased plants. He is my soulmate, you might say.
You can also single out Arseny Zhilyaev. He has done a lot for environmental awareness. It is not like what we do is similar, quite the opposite, but what he does is interesting to me.
And, of course, Ian Ginsburg. He is on top of contemporary art now. He does such a subtle criticism of art history by making interesting collages.
Yes, when I first started doing "urban fauna" and exercise environmentally conscious view of culture and society, there was one person who understood everything I was saying and who enriched me with his ideas. This is Ilya Dolgov, a fairly prolific artist from Voronezh. He is a botanist who works with diseased plants. He is my soulmate, you might say.
You can also single out Arseny Zhilyaev. He has done a lot for environmental awareness. It is not like what we do is similar, quite the opposite, but what he does is interesting to me.
And, of course, Ian Ginsburg. He is on top of contemporary art now. He does such a subtle criticism of art history by making interesting collages.
Gallery: Alexey Buldakov's art works from his archive