“AES+f” (AES+F) — one of the most successful art groups in Russia and in the world — in spite of all the recent events showed in Beijing solo exhibition under the symbolic title “What happened.” This project is a kind of psychological analysis of the condition of mankind over the past decade. That has happened and is happening in the world in General and culture in particular, any amendments made rich a leap year in our reality, in the framework of the cycle “Amendment of Life” we are talking with members of the artistic group — Tatiana Arzamasova, Lev Evzovich, Eugene Svyatskiy and Vladimir Fridkes.
“Our art reveals the whole range of world issues”
— Actually, the fact that our interview is a conversation of a collective mind with others, makes it special. Tell me, how do you manage collective, we can say, the socialist method to achieve individual success in the global art market?
AES+F: — Do your collective mind thinks that all rock bands in the world are also working socialist method? Something we don’t remember when this method led to special success. We four people are United by our joint business and vision. Our success is not in the method, and the result: people look at our work, we created images evoke from them a response of emotions and thoughts, and the question, who are AES+F, they are often not particularly specific.
— Art your group has a shade of bright left-wing senses of the political spectrum — some critics think you’re far-left. Which side do you see yourself?
— Man with any strong political beliefs will see us as its opposite: right — left, left — right. It’s not because we are or other, but because our art is a social psychoanalysis. It exposes the whole range of world issues, and everyone is sure to see something that contradicts his worldview. This is therapy in the truest sense, and the role of the therapist — only to reveal those or other harmful beliefs. Many people have our work trigger a catharsis — an Epiphany of his own vices. We heard from some psychotherapists in the West that they even used our video to diagnose patients, i.e. for them it is a useful tool. In our work, people see a reflection of their own prejudices, but some resist therapy.
— You use semantic aesthetic provocations: the perfect teen with the perfect weapon, the mushrooms with vaginas… Some people think that you are too estetiziruetsya violence, etc. do you Have a taboo subject in art? Or, you inhibit only the universal or local moral “fences”?
— the society Itself estetizirovat violence for example, using it in computer games, movies and so on. We examine society and act as a mirror, which reflects it, highlighting all its shortcomings. Thus, provocation is not an end in itself in our work. Provoked just those who have something to hide even from themselves. As for taboo subjects in art, the universal and local moral “fences”, the art differs from design, which it crosses and extends borders, gives the viewer a new perspective on the changing world. We explore the taboo topics of society, because in them lie all human systems. And, of course, such an art has become more difficult to exist in the atmosphere of aggressive political correctness.
— Almost all of your work is a synthesis of social, public and personal, even sexual. Does your marketing move or is the nature of your creative body?
— We are not marketers and have never done anything for marketing reasons. For us is very organic to work with the basic myths of the culture. Every myth contains a synthesis of social, personal and of course sexual. This is what is still holding the whole world. For example, in the “Feast Trimalhiona”, among other myths, we turned to the ancient myth of the abduction of Europa, and used sexual fetish story as a metaphor for current geopolitical developments, including the end of Eurocentrism.
“Art reflects not only the time and place”
You constantly refer to artists, writers and philosophers of the past. Today who of the geniuses I would like to talk about the pandemic and the social processes around it? And with whom to discuss the political landscape of the new world?
— what About the pandemic and the social processes around it, there are two stereotypical judgments: first, that the world will never be the same, the second that nothing will change, and the world will remain the same. We tend rather to think, as said by Michel Houellebecq (Michel Houellebecq) that the world will be the same, only worse… it would be very interesting to sit with a glass of wine with Francisco Goya and Jonathan swift and discuss with them the political landscape of the new world. Swift would have found in the current world of giants, midgets, degraded people Iehu and horses, control them, and would show where there is a flying island inhabited by hideous ugly people with immortality.
the Story of the Mare Mediterraneum (“Mediterranean”) is built around a fragile racial issue — it is no coincidence that as the material selected porcelain. There is a great white rescued from the dark waters of poor black immigrants. In the context of events in America you are reviewing this topic for yourself?
— the Reality always reveals new meanings. We have considered an idealized (white person) picture of the attitude of Western Europeans or all the inhabitants of Western Europe to the dark-skinned migrants, reflecting the Savior complex, which is common among the white European liberals. The American situation has added meaning, because the same complex manifested itself in white American liberals toward the colored minority. On the other hand, those who are against migrants (usually conservative people with the appropriate taste), our project is causing cognitive dissonance due to a combination of political trigger with exquisite traditional material and a love story.
Your famous project-the trilogy the Liminal Space Trilogy, which is drawn by the surrealist paintings of hell, Paradise and purgatory, reveals the absurd process of self-destruction of modern civilization. How do you assess the events of a leap year? Can we say that the society has experienced in zero and some later Dante’s “Comedy”, and now find themselves in purgatory?
— Indeed, if the project “PIR Trimalhiona”, released in 2009, reflected the decade of narcissism and prosperity of a consumer society, where he was already showing the first signs of crisis and depression, the current situation can be seen reflected in the project Allegoria Sacra, in which the action takes place at an international airport, a modern metaphor for purgatory. As during the current pandemic, the planes aren’t flying passengers from all over the world expect the resumption of flights… But actually the world is not homogeneous, all at the same time. We do not consider the event stream as a sequence of sequences. All our projects together describe humanity’s current era, and periodically each of them acquires a new urgency.
by the Way, the last Chapter of the trilogy, Allegoria Sacra, a dialogue with the eponymous painting by Giovanni Bellini, who worked at the turn of epochs, when originated the Renaissance aesthetic. This referring to the forerunner of the Renaissance — a kind of forecast of a new era in art. The amendments made in the lives of mankind all social and political events of recent months, brought it offensive? Or is it already started?
— it is Not entirely clear: a new era in which art? We generally believe that art is not measured by the eras. It just is, it is different and changes all the time; art reflects not only time but also place. The longer humanity exists, and the faster the exchange of information, the less influence on the art of the physical factors of time and place. Somewhere and for some, these events will change something, but for someone not.
“We still have to develop a new language of communication”
— Your forecast: what��rawka in the cultural process of making global immersion in the virtual world? If, in your opinion, the language of communication more difficult, or easier, richer, different codes which are read and your work?
— the Virtual world is composed of fragments and fragments of many myths and different cultures, epochs and trends in art. We have yet to develop a new language of communication, a new structure, views, hierarchy… Yet we are engaged in the destruction of old structures to make room for new, which nobody has a precise representation. All this makes communication quite chaotic and unpredictable.
What are your main deployment today?
— because of the pandemic, all four of us, probably for the first time in 20 or 25 years have been for a long time together in Moscow and work in Moscow Studio. Usually we move around the world in different part of our exhibitions and projects. Our studios are located in Moscow, Berlin and new York.
— Now you — not only art, but art producers: organized its own awards in new York AES+F Artist Residency Award, helping young Russian artists to break into the difficult American market. By the way, the quarantine time pushed the idea of the award or already have candidates? Tell us about your organizational activities.
— Our grant is not a producer’s project, but rather, a mission: trying to help our young Russian colleagues to be noticed, to acquire bonds in the international professional environment, to give them a good chance. ISCP — international programme of residencies for artists and curators in new York city — a very famous and prestigious institution in the global art environment. This 35 studios with artists from all over the world, so it’s not only about the American market, but also to the global context. The Russian artists have not seen since the late 90’s, which we believe is unfair. We managed last winter to hold a contest to determine the 10 nominees from hundreds of submissions and together with the international jury to choose the winner. Pandemic plans somewhat violated, since the time the residence was scheduled for may–July of this year. Now we solve with the guidance of the ISCP how to implement the “Residence” this fall.
— After the project “Turandot” are there any new ideas? Whether it is an anniversary project to celebrate the 25th anniversary of your group?
— Our band exists since 1987 as AES and since 1995 — as AES+F, but mark the dates and anniversaries of the issue of projects we love, we are not interested, so just work as usual. We are now working on a new big project, structurally and technologically more difficult than the previous one. It will require some time to implement.
