Chantal Akerman (Belgium-France), Tatiana Akhmetgalieva (Russia), Mona Hatoum (USA), Marianne Heske (Norway), Nan Hoover (NL), Yurii Kalendarev (Russia), Dina Karaman (Russia), Elena Koptyaeva (Russia), Ivan Lungin (Russia), Merel Mirage (NL), Irina Nakhova (Russia), Bruce Nauman (USA), Marnix de Nijs (NL), Adrian Paci (Italy), Ksenia Peretrukhina (Russia), Mariano Sardon (Argentina), Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau (Austria), Steina and Woody Vasulka (USA), Bill Viola (USA).
The exhibition 'House of impressions – classic and contemporary media art' at Golitsyn Manor is a collection of nineteen works by outstanding 20th and 21st century video and media artists. The project is dedicated to the collision of the past and present, to the innovative processes that took place in the 20th century connected to the 'liberation' of artistic tools and mediums.
Today's art strives to go beyond not only the picture frame, but beyond the space of the screen. Amongst all the features of the works in 'House of impressions – classic and contemporary media art ', this is one of the most important ones. Moreover, in the 21st century a museum does not need to be absolutely quiet – our sight, hearing and movement through the museum display are the means of our perception; from the retina of the eye to a tactile sensation – such is the process of immersion in the image.
The future of Golitsyn Manor is now linked with the Pushkin Museum. Reconstruction of the Manor will commence in a few months' time, and upon its completion, the site will operate as a Museum of Impressionism, which will include a significant portion of the Pushkin Museum's collection.
The exhibition 'House of impressions – classic and contemporary media art' is the first museum project to be held within these walls. It has been organised by the Pushkin Museum's new Department of Film and Media Arts to study the development of a new visual language – of new classics, being born before our eyes.
Despite the fact that the word 'impression', has a clear link to the same French word and the experiences of the Impressionist painters, a direct dialogue with them is not the main goal of this project. Rather, their experience is important as a starting point of a journey – a journey towards comprehension of a new experience of perception of the human world, in which visual images plus tactile and auditory experiences are inextricably linked with the process of learning.
Thus, the Austrian artists Christa Commerer and Laurent Mignon's installation 'Water Garden' (2014), is reminiscent of Claude Monet's famous painting 'Water Lilies', but at the same time, suggests we consider how the immediate visual impression that was so important for the Impressionists has changed. If Monet previously 'dissolved' the boundary between the surfaces of air and water, then Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignon cast doubt on the border between the image on the screen and the flowers in reality. The water lilies in their installation react to the approach of the audience, responding like living beings. Today's art also appreciates the fleeting moment and invites the viewer to experience its transience and integrity, combining optical, mental and tactile images and creating a valuable experience
The twentieth century has inherited from the Impressionists the ability to appreciate inner experience, a taste for the immediacy of impressions, for changing, dynamic, plastic forms, for fragmentation of vision, and a concurrent yearning for Eastern meditativeness, plus a refusal of the didactic narrative of the 20th century. However the next generation of artists progressed further with these ideas, and Marcel Duchamp and his ilk were not inclined to be grateful for 'retinal art' – Duchamp's terminology for the art of the Impressionists. In his film 'Anemic Cinema', just as in his controversial painting 'Nude Descending a Staircase', Duchamp worked with movement and with 'inner' vision, referring to a rational and intuitive perception of the world.
The interest in the inner world of man, the appeal to the Eastern tradition, the ability to see eternity in an instant unites the art of the masters of the early 20th century and artists that explore effects of media on our perception. In 'Reflecting Pool', Bill Viola explores themes of time, the transience of human existence, duality: life and death, light and darkness, fire and water. He draws inspiration from Chinese Taoism, Buddhism and Greek philosophy.
The theme of 'new sight' or 'new vision' was one of the central concerns of the art of the avant-garde of the 20th century. It was associated not only with artistic discoveries, but perhaps above all, with the rapidly changing environment around an individual person. Art in the age of modernity, rejecting the rational, geometrically accurate perspective of Renaissance invention, attempted to return to the 'natural' model of vision, discovering it again in archaic or naïve works of art, or experiments, such as those of Michael Matyushin, with their 'extended looking'.
There is no longer a place for linear narrative. Spatial and temporal bonding which exist in the mind of the artist now affect the image itself, become part of the perception of the image. A linear and consistent way of perceiving the world is changing simultaneously, and we begin to understand the image as something multi-sensory, that acts upon all the senses.
The renowned French director Chantal Akerman filmed the scenes flitting past her train window while traveling in Eastern Europe and Russia. The curator of the Venice Biennale viewed these meditative, mesmerising sequences, and suggested creating not a film, but an on-screen installation. In this way the work 'From the East' (1993) was created. For the Venice Biennale in 2015, Chantal Akerman created her piece 'Now' specially for the event. At the Moscow exhibition, audiences will see Akerman's 2007 'Women of Antwerp in November' installation.
The 21st century has brought a new experience of existence in spaces where the boundary between reality and virtual forms, and between the observer and the object of his observation melt away. Moreover, the 'fairground attraction' we are invited to ride on can be very uncomfortable – as with Bruce Nauman's various 'Corridor' pieces. The spectator, located in a narrow corridor, moves forward to a mirror, expecting to see themselves. But the camera, shooting their movement from behind, transfers the image to the screen ahead. Approaching the 'mirror', one only sees oneself, retreating away. Before us is a perfect metaphor for the elusive, changeable 'I', but also a metaphor for aloof, remote surveillance.
Art helps us to understand the 'invasion' of electronic media in the most familiar, basic relationship between the body and the visible world – our notion of this world and the language used to describe it. Not surprisingly, this transformation of relationships requires a transformation of art spaces, the emergence of 'hybrid media', if you recall Lev Manovich's term.
Yuri Kalendarev's sound sculpture 'Silent Action in Blue' is one of these type of works. A heart – the favourite symbol of romantics and lovebirds, and an object of attention for cardiologists – appears in Kalendarev's work as a 'generous heart', embracing the viewer. The beating heart of the artist, recorded with the help of Doppler systems at the Institute of Physiology of the National Research Center (Italy, Pisa) and Dr. Alessandro Pingitore, is broadcast through the speakers. The hall space begins to breathe, pulsate, directly – without words and visible images – communicating with the audience.
Golitsyn Manor is a site in which at least three centuries and very different cultural spaces intersect. Built in the 18th century as a Moscow manor for heirs of an old family lineage, Golitsyn Manor was later transformed into the first public museum of curiosities and fine art – even before the existence of the Museum of Fine Arts, founded by Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetaev. Throughout the 19th century, the Manor was home to several organisations: for example, the Shanyavsky Moscow City People's University, plus classes for the Moscow Conservatory took place here. In addition, in the Soviet era, the Institute of Philosophy was also located on-site.
'House of impressions – classic and contemporary media art' invites visitors not only to the space of the old Manor, but also into the space of installations – work created by taking into account the genio loci. Among these are the works of Irina Nakhova, Tatiana Akhmetgalieva, Dina Karaman, Lena Koptyaeva, Ksenia Peretrukhina, and Dmitry Vlasik.
The logic of a space dictates the logic of not only the installation, but also the whole exhibition. Given that among the works is a classic video art, such as the work of Mona Hatoum, Bruce Nauman, Marianne Heske, the exhibition is not laid out in chronological order. Rather, we suggest to the audience routes which they may choose for themselves. The educational program will be devoted to changes in the history of mankind thanks to the technological progress of the 20th century. However, perhaps the expression 'thanks to' is not the most appropriate one. Many of the artists exhibiting consider these changes with a critical eye. However 'House of impressions' does not promise to answer all these questions, rather, we aim to ask questions and to consider the possible answers together.
Olga Shishko, curator
