Insectum: Maxim Svishev

25 January - 16 February 2014

Sound: Andrey Svibovich

Once we get into the dark hall of the gallery we are surrounded by an annoying buzz; it feels disturbing in this empty space.

Insects are swarming around regal animals, who are helpless to resist their power. A tiny buzzing speck is not dangerous until there are thousands of them everywhere. In society where one is surrounded by objects of consumption more than by other people we have to deal with a special kind of everyday interaction, not via communication with each other but via the accumulation of material benefits. Material things are constantly praised in advertising, and the media is flooded with endless sensational news items, new gadgets releases and so on. They don’t leave us in peace even at night, dictating their pace, in an unbroken succession from one series to another. Just as Mowgli becomes a wolf as a result of his living with predators, man so becomes a functional adjunct of technology.

 Marina Vinogradova