Total Installations

Not everyone will be taken
into the future, (2001)

"Not Everyone Will Be Taken Into The Future" is a hugely enjoyable exhibition at Tate Modern, London (18 October 2017 - 28 January 2018) showcasing the extraordinary work of international conceptual artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov. The title of the exhibition "is drawn from Ilya's response to a study on the Russian abstract artist Kazimir Malevich". Kabakov imagines Malevich as a headmaster making a selection of students for summer camp - "[an allegory for those artists who will (or will not) be taken into the future...]" (2017:06) The installation(2001)from which the exhibition takes its name fills a large gallery room with the scene of a train pulling away leaving behind strewn discarded paintings on the platform and track.  The sense of despair is palpable in this atmospheric mis-en-scene. 

The Man Who Flew Into Space From His Apartment(1985)installation narrates the story of a fictional character shot into space by a fantastical catapult rigged indoors and blasted through the ceiling. It is at first hilarious but then the subliminal message of wanting to escape from 'a regime' became more apparent. The vacant room raises many questions. Did the inhabitant escape? Are they now safe? Increasingly a disquieting feeling descends and surrounds the spectator. 

Labyrinth (My Mother's Album),
1990

(detail)

In Labyrinth (My Mother's Album) (1990)is a very emotive installation. Kabakov creates a very believable reality through an uncanny archival environment. The haunting presence of the artist's mother is felt through her typed memoirs punctuated by intriguing grainy monochromatic photographs (much like those seen in W.G Sebald's writings). The muted colours achieved a remarkable gloominess, an air of oppression was intensified by the seemingly never-ending maze like corridor. The spectator is drawn towards a mournful, melodic sound of singing but is met only with an empty cupboard room. No one was there! The feeling of wanting to escape the labyrinth was strong but the continuation of the mother's memoir was compelling, inviting the spectator to linger longer. Presence is very much felt in this piece together with the socio-political themes emerging within the quotidian. 

Conversations with Mother, 2018

The Kabakov Total Installations have been a key influence in how I proceeded to curate my studio space. Conversations with Mother (2018) is an installation of several elements of site specific work generated at Alice Holt forest and those within the studio. The scarves used in Mother II video hang forlornly along the railing. Leafless trees provide an allegory for loss together with the strewn printed sheet music. Photographic imagery is displayed throughout the space narrating layers of story. A reliquary box provides a collection of talismans providing echoes of the familiar and the unfamiliar past. Crows are never far away and emerge at various points within the installation.