Irina Nakhova
12 SELECTED INSTALLATIONS 1994–2004
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WHAT I SAW
1997
Bear sculpture, burlap, hay, approx. 75 x 200 x 130 cm;
foam telephone sculpture, approx. 50 x 60 x 60 cm;
parachute silk/inflatable, approx. 40 x 60 x 45 cm;
electronics, video, gouache on paper, 12 x 8 cm
Simultaneous exhibitions by Irina Nakhova and John Tormey, held in Moscow at XL and ICA respectively, are devoted to the theme of communication... The Russian side/site shows a bear sleeping in its lair, deeply oblivious, dreaming of past and future. The beast inflates its ectoplasmatic soul, which hangs from the ceiling of its winter shelter. The American side/site shows a herd of multiple creatures, totems of various tribes that inhabit the «Home of the Brave». They try to talk to the outer world without communicating with each other. The conceptual trick consists in the fact that on closer inspection, the creatures inhabiting the two sites/sides turn out to be empty. The bear is a dummy packed with hay, his soul an air-filled silk bubble. The American totems, too, are nothing but empty skins. They are neurotic and suffer from being so close to each other. Their only filler, their only escape from the empty void, could be the other’s body or soul. But the “filler” might feel like a raving patient in a psychiatric hospital, if not a serial killer with a muzzle.
Nikita Alexeev (Excerpts of the essay «Discommunication», first published in: «What I saw»/«Haul Ass Dude», XL Gallery, Moscow, 1997)