TOTART: Natalia Abalakova & Anatoly Zhigalov
EXPLORATION INTO THE ESSENCE OF ART AS APPLIED TO LIFE AND ART
Photo installation
2003
Reconnaissance Art. Moscow International Forum of Art Initiatives. “Novy Manege”. Moscow
The work was done with technical support of Sergey Solovyov and Sergey Volgin.
The “discovered” photo was made by the passed away photographer Igor Danilov at TOTART exhibition “Travel to the D. Edge” in 1991.
I sent two soldiers to do reconnaissance and they reported that at different directions there were...
Kaverin. Two Captains
“Exploration into the Essence of Art as applied to Life and Art” (TOTART) project we have been indulged in for the last quarter of a century is a method of research, reconnaissance of the culture field, but not a method of creating another work of art.
The current project is an attempt to create total “hypertext” – the total presence (or absence) in the total situation of the total challenge, where the spectator together with the creators of the Project is offered to walk towards “the D. Edge” and reaching the “edge” to come out “on the other side of D.” In some kind of cultural environment, where one might find many answers, sources and meanings, but, which might be more important – questions. “Reconnaissance by battle” undertaken by TOTART is followed by the “reports” which compose our first book “TOTART: Russian Roulette” (M. Ad Marginem, 1998); the work “Exploration into the Essence of Art...” is a draft of our next book which, we hope, will be some kind of media-object.