2022
Make it till you fake it
Victoria Gallery
may - june 2022
may - june 2022
Manifesto
1. This world is broken. This world is organised in a very strange way. There's always something extra here. There's always something missing. Somewhere in the process of description the meaning got lost. 2. Fake it till you make it. Amidst the chaos and anxiety of the new world, you are encouraged to fake it till you make it. You are told you will succeed. You will do it. You will fit in. No. 3. We suggest to act the other way around. We turn to art to unleash the strange, the repressed, the impossible. We are going to do it until we improvise. Make it till you fake it. 4. We are building a new rhizomatic network in place of broken hierarchies. We seek new forms of solidarity to replace broken connections. We open up the possibility of sharing to overcome geography and alienation. 5. We propose to reassemble, to reinvent this world from the shards of something familiar through the experience of the unknown. 6. We open for use: Routes. Drifts. Games. Recipes. Strange objects. Dances. Manifestos. Partitas. Practices. Techniques. 7. Just follow the instructions.
The project "Make it till you fake it" is dedicated to the art of instruction or instruction in art. The authors of the project set out to find the spiritual heirs of the Fluxus movement, the French Situationists and the Collective Actions group, who, given the fragility of the modern world, turn to the theme of instruction as a way to confront hierarchies, regulations and normativity, and through their practices build new types of communication based on open knowledge, freedom and play.
The exhibition at Victoria gallery was structured according to five imperatives, each offering a specific frame and way of interaction with the artworks.
1_TAKE A WALK AND COME BACK
The projects in this section (the first if you are looking directly from the entrance, or the last if on the way back) address the urban space and invite the viewer, following the artist, to take an action in it. This action may be strange, absurd, dangerous, ridiculous - but each of them forces the viewer to rethink and reinvent the urban fabric and familiar practices.
2_BREAK IT, REBUILD IT
This section presents projects that work with the construction and deconstruction of technology, as well as the theme of the shell and the substitution/reversal of its content.
3_FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION
The artists featured in this section refer to instructions on how to create or use various objects, as well as to "models for assembly," open to the participation of other artists and viewers. Within the practices suggested by the artists, an object or process can turn 180 degrees, transforming the familiar into the unfamiliar and the possible into the impossible. And vice versa.
4_IMAGINE THAT
The large space under the light dome is dedicated to works that involve movement and imagination. Here the viewer can imagine and construct the works and themselves in the space, following suggestions and cues from the artists. Seats located in the hall act as a kind of resting place and a two-way auditorium.
5_ DON'T GO OUT, DON'T COMMIT
The last section of the exhibition consists of four compact spaces connected by a common passage. Metaphorically, these dark rooms refer to the main spaces of the apartment, and offer four kinds of immersion into individual works.
The exhibition at Victoria gallery was structured according to five imperatives, each offering a specific frame and way of interaction with the artworks.
1_TAKE A WALK AND COME BACK
The projects in this section (the first if you are looking directly from the entrance, or the last if on the way back) address the urban space and invite the viewer, following the artist, to take an action in it. This action may be strange, absurd, dangerous, ridiculous - but each of them forces the viewer to rethink and reinvent the urban fabric and familiar practices.
2_BREAK IT, REBUILD IT
This section presents projects that work with the construction and deconstruction of technology, as well as the theme of the shell and the substitution/reversal of its content.
3_FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION
The artists featured in this section refer to instructions on how to create or use various objects, as well as to "models for assembly," open to the participation of other artists and viewers. Within the practices suggested by the artists, an object or process can turn 180 degrees, transforming the familiar into the unfamiliar and the possible into the impossible. And vice versa.
4_IMAGINE THAT
The large space under the light dome is dedicated to works that involve movement and imagination. Here the viewer can imagine and construct the works and themselves in the space, following suggestions and cues from the artists. Seats located in the hall act as a kind of resting place and a two-way auditorium.
5_ DON'T GO OUT, DON'T COMMIT
The last section of the exhibition consists of four compact spaces connected by a common passage. Metaphorically, these dark rooms refer to the main spaces of the apartment, and offer four kinds of immersion into individual works.
About the project
The project was co-created by curators from different cities: Anastasia Albokrinova (Victoria Gallery, Samara) and Alisa Zhikhareva (Klopovnik Center, Chelyabinsk). Originally it was conceived as a creative exchange between artists of the two cities, but eventually grew into a trans-geographical project, in which participants can be artists from any place in the world.
The project is based on a large-scale opencall held in April 2022. Among more than 100 applications from artists from Russia and other countries, part was selected to participate in an offline exhibition at the Victoria Gallery. Some of the artists were specially invited by the curator of the exhibition in Samara.
The rest of the applications, corresponding to the concept of the project, should become part of an online library*. This library, in turn, will be accessible to curators who want to make an exhibition in their city. And some of the works will be open to viewers and other artists.
Thus, "Make it till you fake it" is not reduced conceptually to one exhibition, one city, or one group of participants. This is a constructor project, capable of adapting to changing contexts and provoking co-creation and exchange.
* Currently this stage of project is paused due to limited capacity of its organisers.
The project was co-created by curators from different cities: Anastasia Albokrinova (Victoria Gallery, Samara) and Alisa Zhikhareva (Klopovnik Center, Chelyabinsk). Originally it was conceived as a creative exchange between artists of the two cities, but eventually grew into a trans-geographical project, in which participants can be artists from any place in the world.
The project is based on a large-scale opencall held in April 2022. Among more than 100 applications from artists from Russia and other countries, part was selected to participate in an offline exhibition at the Victoria Gallery. Some of the artists were specially invited by the curator of the exhibition in Samara.
The rest of the applications, corresponding to the concept of the project, should become part of an online library*. This library, in turn, will be accessible to curators who want to make an exhibition in their city. And some of the works will be open to viewers and other artists.
Thus, "Make it till you fake it" is not reduced conceptually to one exhibition, one city, or one group of participants. This is a constructor project, capable of adapting to changing contexts and provoking co-creation and exchange.
* Currently this stage of project is paused due to limited capacity of its organisers.
Make it till you fake it
Curator: Anastasia Albokrinova
Authors of the project: Alice Zhikhareva, Anastasia Albokrinova
Artists:
Alyona Matveeva, Alexandra Sorokina, Alisa Sorokina, Andrey Chugunov, Alfiya Shamsutdinova, Artemy Kolesnikov, Denis Esakov, Dmitry Ptitsyn, Helicalin, Ivan Khryashchikov, Igor Tereshkov, Ilya Kachaev, Ilya Martynov, Ilya Frolov, Julia Arsen, Ksenia Ryabova, Mark Silinio, Matiush First, Masha Sha, Maxim Erikaykin, Natalia Monakhova, Nastya Egorova, "No Excuses" group, OMM (Union of Soft Multitudes), Oleg Khristolyubsky, Olga Fomina, Tina Shibalova, Papa Srapa, "Perekop" group
Authors of the project: Alice Zhikhareva, Anastasia Albokrinova
Artists:
Alyona Matveeva, Alexandra Sorokina, Alisa Sorokina, Andrey Chugunov, Alfiya Shamsutdinova, Artemy Kolesnikov, Denis Esakov, Dmitry Ptitsyn, Helicalin, Ivan Khryashchikov, Igor Tereshkov, Ilya Kachaev, Ilya Martynov, Ilya Frolov, Julia Arsen, Ksenia Ryabova, Mark Silinio, Matiush First, Masha Sha, Maxim Erikaykin, Natalia Monakhova, Nastya Egorova, "No Excuses" group, OMM (Union of Soft Multitudes), Oleg Khristolyubsky, Olga Fomina, Tina Shibalova, Papa Srapa, "Perekop" group
