conceptual art
200 years of F. M. Dostoevsky
presentation
Today, we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Dostoevsky, and I propose we forget all that divides us and form our world views around the core of our mutual existence.
While we ponder our own lives through the years, we are given the uncanny ability to comprehend the eternal message, burned in our souls and carried through creations of literature, music and art.
In the center of each of our worlds, emotion is paramount.
But for all artists, composers and musicians, the raw emotional sense is the primary source of inspiration, the only path to self-expression and ability to share their deepest heart of hearts with all mankind.
The year 2021 has been very challenging for our planet and ourselves. It is also the year when we celebrate the birth of Fyodor Michailovich Dostoevsky, a true pillar, ever standing.
With the cycle of my works, I want to revisit Dostoevsky's incredible literary creations and remind us all the gravity of our own deeds and decisions.
Creating a melting pot of music, literature and art, I have started in a new direction, trying to actualize the timeless importance of all Dostoevsky's characters and their startling influence over all of us in these modern times.
In Dostoevsky's novels, borders of any kind - geographical, lingual or cultural - are truly abstract and unimportant. I completely agree, for me, all divisions are moot, unnecessary and sometimes rather deadly.
Once we have entered the sphere of any artistic giant, during the course of our lives, we return to them always, with new eyes and bare souls.
A circle of knowledge and need, uninterrupted.
«Crime and Punishment»
Manifest: It has been 155 years since "Crime and punishment" was published, but the society's character traits have not changed a bit since then. Do we realize that when we humiliate and hurt others we push them into the abyss of horror and darkness?
Everything that was once central to these victims' lives becomes despised and unbearable, their lifeblood runs dry. Their ability to love and reciprocate love wanes and disappears. With my work I want to remind each and every one of us once again, that all of our acts, even the unconscious ones, can lead to tragedy and suffering.
«Demons»
Manifest: The demonized society is forever at the edge of its own destruction. Can we comprehend that? Do we understand that demons are taking over all of us? When we lose the harmony of our thoughts and feelings, we also lose the purpose of our own life. What if our souls are already diseased? All who can resist and fight against the coming Evil, are forever trying to understand what separates us from God.
I find a warning in this novel about how important it is to make the right life choices, which in turn always determine our own future path.
«Poor Folk»
Manifest: Do I deserve happiness? I am a beggar, I am embarassed of myself. What a pitiful existence! Where is the respect? There is no way out, the world around is forever cold and alien. The worst is that I cannot change anything. I am a beggar, I am poor, thus unhappy. But I still exist, I am still here! There is another me - full of kindness and pure of heart, with a soul rich with dreams and ardent senses.
I do deserve happiness!!! Going forward with courage!!! Spreading my wings, I am flying! Avoiding the inner tear, which can make my heart shallow and my soul a beggar.
«The Idiot»
Manifest:The battle of Good and Evil is legendary. We are forever trying to find our place in that eternal struggle. Perhaps everything bright, because of its lightness and goodness is doomed to fail? While we struggle to better ourselves, we are damned to eternal loneliness amongst crowds, worshipping two-faced Gods.
The cruelty of the strong does not forgive the weak. Winner takes it all. Money and riches can change almost anyone. The question is, can the person, who has decided to be "Human" and 'Good" withstand all trials?
«The Gambler»
Manifest: We play games all of our lives. From the innocence of our kids' plays, we graduate to making toys of others and our own emotions. After our first success, we are hooked to winning and are never satisfied. We always want more.
While we sink deeper and deeper, we do not notice how the seemlessly innocent, stress shedding games turn into a horrific disease. The deepening pleasure of our gambling causes us to run away and slowly escape reality. We forget that all games end the same way - with emptiness, self-loathing and a soul filled with bitterness and hatred of the world.
«Humiliated and Insulted»
Manifest: Can compassion save people? Or do you prefer a longer lasting love? You are just destroying it with your self-absorbed "feelings". Your naive selfishness has been drowned in cynicism. The only things that matter to you is your ego and money. They grant you privilege in society and allow you to play with the others' lives. While indulging your own personal gratification, you ignore all others' dreams and desires.
Look at the poor souls! They are patiently existing in hurt and humiliation, cast aside, painfully in need of help, drowning in a lawless world. Why is there such a divide between poverty and opulence? Why your own, empty words and actions? Why the empty theatre, where Evil sits and judges Good?
«The Brothers Karamazov»
Manifest: Do you want to force the Truth to kiss the Lie? Find yourself in a vortex of sensations? Not notice that you already are in the kingdom of horrid doubts? Deny your Faith, and exist in constant conflict with the world and yourself? And at the end, due to your own overall indifference be killed, lose your mind, commit suicide or get sent to prison?
The nightmare is real and unavoidable. Would you prefer to enter in the depth of your Soul and peel it layer by layer? To feel and comprehend the ambivalence of all actions? You can free the world's false values from their cages. Learn to realize and judge Degradation, thus escaping Tragedy. The choice is yours alone.
