TOORLY
Video, objects, neon sign, 2021
Video, objects, neon sign, 2021
AUTHORS: Lena Koltsova & Katya Alisevich-Nikolskaya
According to the legend the lion with blue mane appeared emitting pagan deity's energy capable of melting snow earlier than it is meant to. Since he had come no one saw mermaids in the forest and people learned how to build stone houses.
Different things are told about why the lion disappeared. Some believed that he left when people began to use their power to create virtual worlds, moving away from each other and everything that breathed. Others said that the lion left people as he began joining their desire of self-destruction.
There are no longer those who exactly remember events of these years. Exploring artefacts that were kept by families of those who saw the lion, the scientists search for a correlation between lion's appearance and impending death of the blue planet.
***
Traditional Slavic imagery often features depictions of lions. Regardless of the fact that no one had ever seen a live lion in the Kievan Rus, it was frequently depicted on household items and decorative objects, which distorted its morphology and placed it into unexpected contexts. Lions served as a representation of the imaginary, which included their resemblance to deities.
The work entitled Toorly (meaning 'a backwater' in the Smolensk regional dialect) recreates an intentionally fictitious ritual of searching for an imaginary lion, succumbing to the traditions of simulation and myth-making.
According to the legend the lion with blue mane appeared emitting pagan deity's energy capable of melting snow earlier than it is meant to. Since he had come no one saw mermaids in the forest and people learned how to build stone houses.
Different things are told about why the lion disappeared. Some believed that he left when people began to use their power to create virtual worlds, moving away from each other and everything that breathed. Others said that the lion left people as he began joining their desire of self-destruction.
There are no longer those who exactly remember events of these years. Exploring artefacts that were kept by families of those who saw the lion, the scientists search for a correlation between lion's appearance and impending death of the blue planet.
***
Traditional Slavic imagery often features depictions of lions. Regardless of the fact that no one had ever seen a live lion in the Kievan Rus, it was frequently depicted on household items and decorative objects, which distorted its morphology and placed it into unexpected contexts. Lions served as a representation of the imaginary, which included their resemblance to deities.
The work entitled Toorly (meaning 'a backwater' in the Smolensk regional dialect) recreates an intentionally fictitious ritual of searching for an imaginary lion, succumbing to the traditions of simulation and myth-making.
