5.11.2022
Guide: Rinat Mustafin about his Zenith exhibition
GROUND FLOOR
GROUND FLOOR
Airships, 2013
This is one of the very first works in the series. Unfortunately, I hadn't written down what these places were yet. Some very high mountains with airships hovering over them. Airships are a symbol of such an impossible dream: ideal celestial vessels in which people could travel cool and environmentally friendly. But unfortunately, this shipping has not been developed for a number of reasons. But that's what I like about this unreality. In this picture, you are soaring even higher above these airships. There is a feeling that you are somewhere in orbit, you don't hear any sounds or any evidence of events from the surface of the Earth.
A field of wheat symbolizes agriculture and farming for me.
The transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture means a lot to me, it is such a foundation of our civilization. There are paintings around the field that depict the latest farming technologies: irrigation systems that make deserts fertile. The names of the paintings are the coordinates of the locations, they are located in Saudi Arabia.
The fields are watered in a circle with devices similar to needles on vinyl records. There are holes in the center of each circle on the canvas: I made them to apply paint, but they actually exist — usually a well is dug there, which penetrates the ground to groundwater. This allows the fields to exist and produce crops. It turns out such a synthesis of ancient and modern.
Around the large canvases are small works with other fields: on them you can see how people do the same thing in different ways - they grow bread and harvest it. The theme of harvesting is very important for this exhibition. It is from the satellite that the human struggle and his adaptability to life on Earth are visible.
Entropy is a measure of chaos, lack of order. Representing the process of disintegration and irreversible dispersion, it also represents an inexplicable force, because chaos presupposes the absence of rules and narratives — abstraction. A person strives to find harmony, to build a single algorithm, contrasting himself with the disorder inherent in nature. The duality of the above-mentioned categories touches upon the ambiguity of the nature of phenomena in themselves, exploring the possibilities of searching for a new angle of perception independent of the conditions.
The figure above the field is a symbol of a person trapped in certain conditions of existence. He hovers over the field, wants to escape from the maze of conditions into the ideal world of ideas. But he won't break out — this is his eternal dream.
The transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture means a lot to me, it is such a foundation of our civilization. There are paintings around the field that depict the latest farming technologies: irrigation systems that make deserts fertile. The names of the paintings are the coordinates of the locations, they are located in Saudi Arabia.
The fields are watered in a circle with devices similar to needles on vinyl records. There are holes in the center of each circle on the canvas: I made them to apply paint, but they actually exist — usually a well is dug there, which penetrates the ground to groundwater. This allows the fields to exist and produce crops. It turns out such a synthesis of ancient and modern.
Around the large canvases are small works with other fields: on them you can see how people do the same thing in different ways - they grow bread and harvest it. The theme of harvesting is very important for this exhibition. It is from the satellite that the human struggle and his adaptability to life on Earth are visible.
Entropy is a measure of chaos, lack of order. Representing the process of disintegration and irreversible dispersion, it also represents an inexplicable force, because chaos presupposes the absence of rules and narratives — abstraction. A person strives to find harmony, to build a single algorithm, contrasting himself with the disorder inherent in nature. The duality of the above-mentioned categories touches upon the ambiguity of the nature of phenomena in themselves, exploring the possibilities of searching for a new angle of perception independent of the conditions.
The figure above the field is a symbol of a person trapped in certain conditions of existence. He hovers over the field, wants to escape from the maze of conditions into the ideal world of ideas. But he won't break out — this is his eternal dream.
Untitled, 2020
This painting is a bit out of the whole series, it goes more into abstraction. The glossy black structure represents to me the bowels of the earth, oil. This work summarizes everything that is shown in this room: the fertility of the earth, how a person eats it and depends on it, has always depended.
Windmills, 2022
This is a work about trying to subdue the wind. The eternal human desire to master the forces of nature. The whole hall is dedicated to this attempt. The picture is a funny mise en scene that is revealed to us precisely from the zenith. This is the port in Amsterdam, we look at it like a table where you lay out some kind of construction kit in front of you. And these are actually three huge windmills laid out. And it's amazing that a person lays out even such huge objects in the same way as he would lay out similar things on a table.
Coal carrier man, 2010
Against the background of a coal carrier, a rocket rises into space. This contrast impressed me at the time. This is still happening: we are launching rockets and satellites, NASA can correct the trajectory of the asteroid, but cheap labor remains relevant. It is still more expensive to adapt some kind of drones or copters to carry coal than to hire people who will be willing to do it for pennies. Therefore, cheap labor never loses its relevance. The logo on the sneaker is no coincidence: symbols like Nike, British Petroleum, OPEC, and NASA are sacred to me, like symbols of some of our deities.
SMALL HALL ON THE GROUND FLOOR
43,369576 42,4734352 (2015) и 34,1223916 66,1241924I (2015)
In the painting on the left, I immerse myself in symbolism. The triangle is the Earth, but it is not static, it lives — we see a bubbling volcano. Life is impossible without the Sun, and the Moon controls other important processes on Earth.
In the picture on the right, we look down at the Earth and up at the moon, and these two views overlap each other. Such a touching story of the relationship between the Earth and the Moon.
In the picture on the right, we look down at the Earth and up at the moon, and these two views overlap each other. Such a touching story of the relationship between the Earth and the Moon.
Moonlight Clock (2013)
I like to combine the symbolism of the phases of the moon with a rather prosaic picture of the industrial landscape. It's a pretty surreal combination. The plot itself and the combination of sacred symbols and prosaic landscape creates such a mood. It's as if this pipe and factory somehow interact with the phases of the moon.
SECOND FLOOR
Deconstructed Court (2022)
Here we see a tennis court, but in motion — as it passes from the usual perspective from the height of human height to the zenith. Therefore, this painting is located between the floors. It symbolizes the transition from the world of the mythological labyrinth to the world of abstraction. We see both abstraction and the court itself. I wanted to convey the maximum dynamics of this transition, a kind of turbulence.
This is a model of the first Earth satellite. Its shapes are very inspiring, and they are much less elegant in modern satellites. The satellite lies in the salt — the salt of the Earth. For me, salt is a capacious symbol, it is mystical and surrounded by various superstitions, but it is always necessary and utilitarian. All satellites sooner or later fall or fly off somewhere into space. And this satellite embodies the impermanence and transience of our technologies.
Mandala Badminton (2022)
This work embodies the mythological labyrinth in which we all find ourselves and through the prism of which we perceive reality. These are the rules of the game, and when we look at this maze from the zenith, we see these rules. And it resembles an abstraction. This is a homage to Mondrian and at the same time to mandalas, which are part of sacred geometry. These pyramids, placed for an unclear purpose, violating the geometry of the court, are an attempt to break the rules and set their own. How a person used to draw a circle around himself with chalk in the hope of escaping from demons. But a person generally lives in the world of these abstractions — take the same road markings.
Career (2022) | Track (2022) | Amusement park (2022)
For me, this triptych represents the dramatic fate of man on this earth.
There is a treadmill in the center. We very often run in circles, including on the scale of world history, stepping on the same rake. And no matter how much we lament about it, that's how the mechanics work.
On the right is how a person wants to see the world around them, wants to have fun and enjoy the benefits of civilization, without going into details about where it all comes from and how it works.
On the left is hard work: a quarry, some kind of inside of an amusement park. It's so unstructured, uneven. And here we see the flesh of the Earth, which is dissected by man.
There is a treadmill in the center. We very often run in circles, including on the scale of world history, stepping on the same rake. And no matter how much we lament about it, that's how the mechanics work.
On the right is how a person wants to see the world around them, wants to have fun and enjoy the benefits of civilization, without going into details about where it all comes from and how it works.
On the left is hard work: a quarry, some kind of inside of an amusement park. It's so unstructured, uneven. And here we see the flesh of the Earth, which is dissected by man.