‘Participative Suprematism’ is a performative installation by Silviu Medeșan for Recycle Art Festival 2016, which took place at the Krasnoyarsk Naturist Youth Station (Siberia), Russia. The installation consisted of a mixed abstract composition made of two-dimensional elements painted on the park pavement and three-dimensional mobile elements on wheels. For 4 days the festival participants could intervene, moving the mobile elements and altering the initial composition. The two-dimensional part was painted with oil paint, and the three-dimensional objects were made of wood, wheels and recycled objects such as: 2 windows, a wooden drum, a pallet, PAL panels.
Formally, the composition over-dimensions a painting by Kazimir Malevici exhibited in 1915 at the 0.10 Exhibition in Petrograd (Sankt Petersburg). In this exhibition the painter also exhibited the work Black Square, patenting for the first time the term ‘suprematism’. In Malevici’s view this term is a super-abstraction of art, so that it no longer presents realities but merely ‘pure emotion’ outside of the objective world and the context. As a concept, the title of Krasnoyarsk’s work is an oxymoron, because in the current trends participation is precisely the return or art/architecture/design towards society, it is an organic binding on the context. Participation draws people near art, it ties to find its roles a catalyst in society. A role that was lost precisely because of its progressive super-abstraction.
The tension in the title is also found in the work: the painting is no longer an object exhibited vertically on a gallery wall in order to be admired; it is re-dimensioned on urban scale and positioned horizontally on the pavement, thus becoming an invitation to participate. In the new configuration new vectors can intervene in the ‚suprematist’ composition and modify it. It is no longer frozen as the artist desired, but starting from this point 0 of the composition the users (the social) can contribute and adapt it to the context.
The work received a mention at Transylvania Architecture Biennale - BATRA 2017 - ‘Microarchitecture/ Temporary Architecture/ Object Design’ Section
Credits:
Concept and design: Silviu Medesan
Production: Irina Ulanova, Pavel Denisov
Students: Grebelnikova Ekaterina, Anastasia Mityukova, Dasha Bryl, Olia
Photos: Panos Georgiou, Oleynik Victor