(De-)Construction. Reality and Fiction
The PinchukArtCentre (Kyiv, Ukraine) presents “(De-)Construction. Reality and Fiction”, an exhibition featuring three videos by Pierre Huyghe (France), Christian Marclay (US)and Diana Thater (US).These major video installations share the theme of constructing and/or deconstructing culturally defined concepts. The works establish a tension between reality and fiction, challenging the viewers’ relations towards these notions.
“The host and the cloud” (2010) by Pierre Huyghe is the result of a yearlong experiment and a series of events the artist organized at the former building of the National Museum of Folk Art in Paris. The workoffers a journey through the documented research during which Huyghe created conditions that forced the participants of his performance and invited witnesses to deal with the frictions between reality and fiction, as well as original incident and re-enactment.
“Crossfire” (2007) by Christian Marclay, first shown in the PinchukArtCentre in 2008, is a four-channel video of different people handling their guns. It is a collage of images derived from American westerns and war movies. The audio-visual composition of Crossfire de-constructs the act of shooting, allowing the viewers to rationalize their emotional and physical response, emphasizing fascination for, and fear of, violence.
“Chernobyl” (2011) by Diana Thater is a six-screen monumental video projection depicting the destroyed, still completely unrepaired situation in the nuclear disaster zone of Chernobyl. The installation constructs an all-around impression, surrounding us from each side with projections disrupted only by the viewers’ shadows.
