The outwardly striking appearance of the work does not interest me. The fact that it appears crafted according to all the rules of past technology is merely superficial and serves an elevator function. I choose for the content in my works to take the form of a literary narrative (and more specifically, in its characteristic form of a screenplay). I reject the presence of a main character so that I can imbue the content with non-human functions, thus prohibiting the access of any "moral values".
In the plots of my works, everyone has the right to express themselves, regardless of whether they are a philanthropist or a misanthrope, and regardless of which social group or political formation they belong to. The most important thing in this specific case is not to violate the rights of individuals and the national dignity of peoples. Nothing too serious and everything a priori. Just as you can be a solipsist, you can also be a conformist, a manipulator, an epigone, an innovator, or an enemy. The list of attachments and dependencies is endless. Finally, I find it impractical to describe the plots of my works literally, because my actions are purely subconscious and a continuation of the great game from my childhood.
Space is the vessel in which the meal is served. It is the only extension according to which the specific appearance of the work, its dimensions, the permissible volume, and the specifications set by authors, private individuals, and institutions hold primary significance. And most importantly, the formalization of the duration of the conceptual presentation by all direct participants and interested parties.
The idea is paramount. It is important where it will come to life. The choice of appropriate time, place, and action that delivers the necessary effective, representational ideologeme, through which a specific model is persistently suggested and imposed by the author, is merely a matter of provided opportunity… as long as it is permissible for the idea and the work to exist together.
Space is simply the most crucial segment of the event, providing a continuous and symbolic opportunity for a certain period for audience access in both regulated and unregulated spaces.
The text is an important component for objectifying a specific idea at a precisely defined time and place of appearance, applied by me in both classical visual arts and unconventional forms. I find it appropriate that its function in the artwork does not develop as a continuously increasing magnitude. The idea is decisive. However, only the idea determines when it is necessary to include text, no matter how excessive the impulses and ambitions of the author may be. I perceive both the image and the text as sensory and intellectual forms, which I handle not as a supplement to the idea or as a deep verbal background, starting point, and especially as a non-standard application culminating in the "happy ending of the artwork".
I find it of utmost importance to emphasize the role of the title of the artwork. There is still a debate whether it is possible without the title, which is the author's recorded explanation, even if marked as a counterpoint "Untitled", as well as "...". Sometimes it is an intentional authorial decision not to label it. The titles of the artworks are superscripts that set the correct direction for an adequate perception of the idea and carry the power of a fully formulated speech as expressed in dictionaries.
I apply the image, text, and title of the artwork as a triad of mutual negation in three directions to keep awake the doubts and checks of recipients, to whom the authors also belong. Space is the fourth direction.
I believe that the morphological and syntactic structure of language, related to the image, is of great importance, whether constructed on canvas or presented in three-dimensional form such as sculpture, stage design, installation, digital resource, object, or behavioral practice.
My choice to include text in the artwork is a decision through which to establish a regime of displacement aimed at rejecting logical construction and provoking confusion, thus forming an autonomous or symbiotic grammatical signpost, regardless of the type of format or duration.
Sometimes the inclusion of text in the artistic work aims to occupy a space where the image alone is insufficient to summarize the content of the idea. The text is not an end in itself or a means of originality, nor a claim to modernity. It is an inseparable ideological part of the experiment, provided that it is given legitimate trust. The biological environment in which the action has developed, is developing at the moment, and will develop in the future is very important. In such an experiment that I called Amateur Aviation - a brake for foreigners, I tried to study foreign languages by recording certain phrases on my paintings in English, French, and Russian. Their inclusion in my painting gave me a good opportunity to conduct a concise conversation on various topics. One such "theme" is the metaphorical study of foreign languages through the appearance of text on an image that has nothing to do with the same text. The divergence of image and word requires more careful insight and more demanding search for logical order and response, which takes place somewhere at the appearance of a second plan.
While all this is happening, it should not be missed that through the means of "text painting" it is possible to study foreign languages and improve their mastery. Thus, I hoped we would be more easily understood, but alas! After a while, this experiment of mine turned out unsuccessful. No matter how hard I tried to memorize the phrases, I failed because other more important things interested me. So I remained an amateur - a "pilot" - foreigner, and the pictures that cannot be called paintings I simply define as fossils that can be shown here and there as a result of my experiment years ago.
Another experiment with text, which was the main actor, was my attempt to practice the technique of automatic writing introduced by Dr. Sigmund Freud and immortalized in world literature by surrealist poets.
Contact with the audience is the blessed feedback, regardless of whether it carries the strength of approval, operational criticism, or rejection.
I rely on surprise and on the unbiased viewer, even if they are not systematically interested or lack basic training in the field of visual arts. The confusion in the viewer is the action that awakens my curiosity, because I am fully convinced that a person only mobilizes their qualities in such a state. In other words, what is of importance to me is everything related to the entire range of hereditary factors of the individual functioning as a viewer.
From the early years of my practice, I concluded that it is just as much an art to choose someone as a viewer. Just as you have the right to a personal doctor, I see nothing wrong with having the right to a personal viewer.
For artists creating visual arts, in addition to being creators, it is sometimes necessary for them to be fully-fledged viewers, even if some of them may not want to admit it. There is nothing unacceptable about this, as long as one does not take oneself too seriously. The disturbing thing, whether you are an author or a viewer, is that once you take yourself seriously, you become a hyper-irritating offspring of pathogenesis.
I believe that the viewer is a free person and is in no way dependent on my choice. The viewer accepts or rejects, understands or does not, observes or does not, especially if they are indifferent, and in this state, I, with full awareness, make my choice. My choice of a personal viewer carries the power of behavioral practice akin to alternative theater, but without my direct involvement. Theater, conditioned in continuous action, excluding shocking endings. Without shame, I define this act on my part as a pure escape. The phenomenon that determines the artistic finale from time immemorial is a cardinal sphere of the wise interpreters of visual arts.
The viewer has little choice, unless by their own volition they assume the role of a hostage, subjected to the substantial occurrences in a direct, serene interior or exterior exhibition environment, opposed to and independent of the suggestions of an internet search engine.
It is good for the viewer not to remain under the illusion that they will encounter charming art, as well as expected and unexpected lofty goals and radical logical messages, useful in the long term, as usual.
I do not perceive contemporary art solely as a reflection of reality. It is more of a valuable factor that creates reality. And since it is a source that causes norms of behavior, contemporary art is inconceivable without a scientific research approach that drives innovation, experimentation, and adaptation to the large-scale progress of technologies that have radically changed life on the planet. With the drastic intrusion of digital technologies, the number of artistic expressive means has further expanded.
Without a research approach, all activities on the planet are doomed. The methodology of research in contemporary art is entirely dependent on the issues, interests, attention, and starting points of each individual author in the field of visual arts.
However, the dynamics of global changes, both natural and social, are insufficient if one does not pay attention to one of the most important aspects, namely the aesthetic one, without which civilization would resemble the enclosed space of a gladiatorial arena, tragically inhabited by irreparably suffering warriors, instigators, spectators, and, most importantly, direct consumers of everything.
The aesthetic idea reminds or unlocks wisdom to unsuspected fields located in every interested individual.
The "research approach" is not only a priority for technologies. Even without applications and algorithms, you can still research with the simplest tools and materials. Classical expressive means and technologies also undergo change and development.
Not to mention the sharp changes in research directions caused by natural disasters and severe, fierce information breakdowns, armed conflicts with a fatal end, as well as the dynamic processes of the global economy, scientific achievements, and many more factors, regardless of the volume of affected geographical and living spaces.
Although visual art is a solitary action, the positive role of like-minded individuals, who provide confidence, will, and psychological comfort to the author, cannot be overlooked.
The entire range of useful attributes of the research approach depends on levels of education. But we should not focus them solely in educational institutions. Self-education is just as effective as the knowledge and skills accumulated from schools. The thrill of discovery is also found in knowledge applied to current events and everyday needs.
