Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

VADIM ZAKHAROV'S DANAE, RUSSIA, mixed media

Vadim Zakharov's presentation at La Biennale di Venezia: DANAE, was beautiful. I have recorded it in my art notebook, and this is part of that page.

He gives the mythological theme of Danaƫ a new interpretation. This Greek legend can be read in different ways. This Russian artist chose to do it like this: only women can enter on the ground floor, where you are given a transparent umbrella to cover yourself from a" rain of gold coins"! This is a reference to the seduction of Danaƫ as a symbol of human lust and greed, and the corrupting influence of money. You are instructed to pick up a bunch of "gold coins", keep one for yourself, and deposit the rest in a bucket for that purpose in another room. Zakharov demonstrates to a society that no longer believes in myths, the importance of mythological personifications. He said: "Time has come to confess our rudeness, lust, narcissism, demagoguery, falsehood, banality, greed, cynicism, robbery, speculation, wastefulness, gluttony, seduction, envy, and stupidity." I pasted my "gold" coin on my notebook, and wrote what it says on the back, in the bigger representation below the actual coin.