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EXPERIENCE OF RUSSIAN ART INSTITUTIONS CREATING DIGITAL ART PLATFORMS
author: Katya Ceppel
author: Katya Ceppel
Burgeoning digital development has caused a splash in new forms of digital art, as well as opportunities for exhibiting it. Accustomed to exhibiting traditional art, Russian galleries and museums are wary of digital art, however have gradually started to explore it. The main reason for not actively engaging with digital art is the lack of experience in presenting digital art and also some technical difficulties, while many Russian artists still use traditional mediums. Nevertheless, the lockdown sparked experiments with digital art both for artists and art institutions. Global trends in NFT haven’t passed by the Russian artists and art market.
In 2020, The Winzavod Contemporary Art Centre launched a platform called Digital Earth to exhibit 15 digital artworks by Russian artists from all over the country. It was also a competition in which the main prize was an art residence in the Netherlands. In order to select the best 15 works, Winzavod created an expert council which included digital art specialist Antonio Geusa, member of the AES+F group of artists Lev Evzovich and curator Svetlana Taylor. The selected works reflected the diversity of new digital instruments and genres of digital art that are used by Russian contemporary artists.
The virtual building was architecturally reminiscent of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The visitor could digitally move in the space with several floors using an avatar, entering separate exhibition halls.
In 2020, The Winzavod Contemporary Art Centre launched a platform called Digital Earth to exhibit 15 digital artworks by Russian artists from all over the country. It was also a competition in which the main prize was an art residence in the Netherlands. In order to select the best 15 works, Winzavod created an expert council which included digital art specialist Antonio Geusa, member of the AES+F group of artists Lev Evzovich and curator Svetlana Taylor. The selected works reflected the diversity of new digital instruments and genres of digital art that are used by Russian contemporary artists.
The virtual building was architecturally reminiscent of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The visitor could digitally move in the space with several floors using an avatar, entering separate exhibition halls.
Some of the works assumed the possibility to go inside literally. For example, Anastasia Kvariani’s project Quarantine Zine is a website where the user can move like in the city entering various apartments and discovering the most unexpected objects and situations there. In each apartment there is someone's reflection about the lockdown. You can also walk around the city during quarantine and visit public places left by people.
Curators used an interesting technique to exhibit Anastasia's work, they created a virtual room for a security guard who monitored houses in the city under quarantine using surveillance cameras. So, the user’s avatar entered the room and literally got inside the work.
Curators used an interesting technique to exhibit Anastasia's work, they created a virtual room for a security guard who monitored houses in the city under quarantine using surveillance cameras. So, the user’s avatar entered the room and literally got inside the work.
Another work presented on the platform was an alternative ecological map of Russia created by Ksenya Sharapova. It is an interpretation of the ecological map that emphasizes the current environmental issues and highlights hazardous areas on the map. This is an attempt to comprehend the irresponsible treatment of nature in the Anthropocene era.
The installation was created from natural materials
The artist calls the form of the work interactive photography, the basis of the installation for it was created from natural materials, and referring to individual highlighted fragments allows viewers to witness the environmental disasters of 2020.
The installation was created from natural materials
The artist calls the form of the work interactive photography, the basis of the installation for it was created from natural materials, and referring to individual highlighted fragments allows viewers to witness the environmental disasters of 2020.
The winner of the competition was Kirill Zakomoldin with the work How to Avoid Getting the Bends that is dedicated to technological singularity. His work was some kind of virtual fictional space with no human life.
A digital immersion experience based on text by Vanessa Kowalski, curator and poet from New York. Her text is dedicated to dystopian future. In Kirill’s work, there is a virtual world, where the viewer is invited to reflect on his humanity.
A digital immersion experience based on text by Vanessa Kowalski, curator and poet from New York. Her text is dedicated to dystopian future. In Kirill’s work, there is a virtual world, where the viewer is invited to reflect on his humanity.
Apart from Winzavod's project, another example of the virtual platform for digital art is Celestial Hermitage which opened with it's first exhibition Invisible Ether that was presented in 2021 and curated by Dmitry Ozerkov and Anastasia Garnova. NFT and the blockchain are at the heart of the exhibition as Hermitage has been studying this phenomenon.
The Hermitage is one of the main large museums in Russia that efficiently works with the topic of digital art. The main goals as they say are to preserve, study and develop the digital cultural heritage: meta-objects from virtual reality, including those originally existing in digital form.
The Hermitage is one of the main large museums in Russia that efficiently works with the topic of digital art. The main goals as they say are to preserve, study and develop the digital cultural heritage: meta-objects from virtual reality, including those originally existing in digital form.
However, the difference is that this project includes only foreign artists. Among them are the stars of NFT in the global art market. Krista Kim, Jonathan Monaghan, Hackatao, Marco Brambilla, Kevin Mccoy, Urs Fischer, CryptoKitties and Mr Doodle.
The way of interacting with the platform is pretty similar to the previous example. The visitor creates an avatar with the ability to download a personal photo and explore virtual museum space.
The way of interacting with the platform is pretty similar to the previous example. The visitor creates an avatar with the ability to download a personal photo and explore virtual museum space.
Both examples of digital art platforms - Digital Earth and Celestial Hermitage - are short term projects, because it is still technically and financially problematic for art institutions to support such projects on a permanent basis. Despite this, the interest in digital art is growing and soon we may see new online platforms and initiatives.
Sources:
[1] Winzavod Contemporary Art Centre, 2020. URL: http://www.winzavod.ru/calendar/special/open-call-dlya-khudozhnikov-v-novyy-proekt-digital-earth/
[2] Kirill Zakomoldin. How to Avoid Getting the Bends, 2020. URL: https://thisworldout.nl/How-to-Avoid-Getting-The-Bends
[3] Ksenya Sharapova. Russia. MEMO, 2020. URL: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1375808833410039809
[4] Kvariani Anastasia. Quarantine Zine, 2020. URL: https://www.quarantine-zine.com/
[5] Celestial Hermitage, 2021. URL: https://celestialhermitage.ru/
Sources:
[1] Winzavod Contemporary Art Centre, 2020. URL: http://www.winzavod.ru/calendar/special/open-call-dlya-khudozhnikov-v-novyy-proekt-digital-earth/
[2] Kirill Zakomoldin. How to Avoid Getting the Bends, 2020. URL: https://thisworldout.nl/How-to-Avoid-Getting-The-Bends
[3] Ksenya Sharapova. Russia. MEMO, 2020. URL: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1375808833410039809
[4] Kvariani Anastasia. Quarantine Zine, 2020. URL: https://www.quarantine-zine.com/
[5] Celestial Hermitage, 2021. URL: https://celestialhermitage.ru/