EXHIBITION "WHO AM I?"
Guided, interactive exhibition 2017, Kazan
Guided, interactive exhibition 2017, Kazan
"Who Am I?" is an interactive thought-provoking art exhibition that challenges visitors to reflect on their identity and social roles. Through various exercises, such as choosing qualities and roles from a list and reflecting on oneself in a mirror, visitors are encouraged to see themselves and others in a new light. The exhibition also explores how people perceive themselves in terms of color, sound, size, shape, animal, and material, and invites visitors to contemplate the taste and aroma they want others to associate with them.
The main idea was to let visitors take a fresh look at themselves and their closest family members and friends.
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SPACE INCIDE, 2019
oil, acrylic, canvas \\ 36 x 48 inch
oil, acrylic, canvas \\ 36 x 48 inch
the unlimited space inside oneself and others.
People have too concrete, too stable, but not enough realistic self-image as well as the lack perception of other people around them. Everyone automatically creates projections in their mind about themselves and other people. There were a few exercises in the exhibition where people could see the unlimited space inside oneself and others.
In the beginning, I asked people to take a few deep breaths to relax the body and the mind. The first object was the wooden board with attached sheets of paper. Different roles and qualities which people usually play and associate themselves with were written there. There were roles and qualities like human, son, daughter, specialist, women, men, highbrow, worker, player, addict, winner, loser, student, big, small, beautiful, ugly, sexy, etc. The viewer was asked to choose and take at least five prominent words from the board that appeal to them in the most realistic way. (It was also possible to add their existing roles, not only to choose from the list). People associate themselves with those chosen roles. People were asked to imagine the list of all their social functions in their lives. Why do they prefer these roles, and how do they generally communicate with themselves and others? People were asked to imagine themselfs without some important roles and reflect. Is it still you if you are not playing some vital role anymore? What if all roles have disappeared? Which roles would remain? Who are you - only a role or something more?
In the beginning, I asked people to take a few deep breaths to relax the body and the mind. The first object was the wooden board with attached sheets of paper. Different roles and qualities which people usually play and associate themselves with were written there. There were roles and qualities like human, son, daughter, specialist, women, men, highbrow, worker, player, addict, winner, loser, student, big, small, beautiful, ugly, sexy, etc. The viewer was asked to choose and take at least five prominent words from the board that appeal to them in the most realistic way. (It was also possible to add their existing roles, not only to choose from the list). People associate themselves with those chosen roles. People were asked to imagine the list of all their social functions in their lives. Why do they prefer these roles, and how do they generally communicate with themselves and others? People were asked to imagine themselfs without some important roles and reflect. Is it still you if you are not playing some vital role anymore? What if all roles have disappeared? Which roles would remain? Who are you - only a role or something more?
After that, the viewers were asked to look at their reflection in the ancient mirror for at least 1 minute to connect with your inner self is one of the most important thoing a person can achive in life. A viewer could do this by asking questions like, What do you see in your reflection? Who are you?
How do you sound? While talking with another person, the voice that you think is yours is not the same voice as what other people hear. There was a microphone with headphones where the viewer could say something and hear their voice. The voice that other people recognize as yours.
There was a humanoid object named “Touchable Mr. Smith.” A plastic man with one side made of the mirror window film and another side made of different materials for people to touch. His head was soft because of cotton, his throat was cold because of a metal chain, and his heart was prickly and made of plastic material and looked like a bunch of spiky cats teeth. Here I asked the viewer to reflect on how they create images of other people and what pictures of themselves other people have in their minds.
After that, I asked thyem to write down what represents them such as a color, sound, size, shape, animal, and material.
The next object was a loaf of fresh, just-baked bread on a table. People should smell the bread and then eat a small piece of it. This exhibition was in the Maxim Gorky museum in Kazan, who was a famous writer and also worked as a baker for period if time in humbor a century ago.
People were asked to think about who they are as a smell and a taste, and what taste and aroma they want other people to experience after contact with them.
The last object was the painting “Space inside”.
How do you sound? While talking with another person, the voice that you think is yours is not the same voice as what other people hear. There was a microphone with headphones where the viewer could say something and hear their voice. The voice that other people recognize as yours.
There was a humanoid object named “Touchable Mr. Smith.” A plastic man with one side made of the mirror window film and another side made of different materials for people to touch. His head was soft because of cotton, his throat was cold because of a metal chain, and his heart was prickly and made of plastic material and looked like a bunch of spiky cats teeth. Here I asked the viewer to reflect on how they create images of other people and what pictures of themselves other people have in their minds.
After that, I asked thyem to write down what represents them such as a color, sound, size, shape, animal, and material.
The next object was a loaf of fresh, just-baked bread on a table. People should smell the bread and then eat a small piece of it. This exhibition was in the Maxim Gorky museum in Kazan, who was a famous writer and also worked as a baker for period if time in humbor a century ago.
People were asked to think about who they are as a smell and a taste, and what taste and aroma they want other people to experience after contact with them.
The last object was the painting “Space inside”.
