Demikhov Dog, 2017
video installation; length 7' 18"
Demikhov Dog is a video installation based on the experiments of Russian scientist Vladimir Demikhov. A pioneer in organ transplants, the surgeon conducted controversial tests in order to create two-headed dogs. Demikhov, termed a ‘mad scientist’ by some, was nevertheless awarded an order of merit as well as a USSR state prize. Sosunova uses the figure of Demikhov in order to reflect on cultural differences between countries of close proximity. The installation was originally presented at the Ignalina Culture and Sports Center, close to the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, where it interacted with the site and in particular with a Soviet-era mural that depicts local animals in an exotic African savannah setting.
Sosunova works with sculpture, video, and images to reflect on notions of the ‘alien’ that occupy space in our everyday lives. Personal narratives and collected evidence showcase language as a symbol of identity as well as of miscommunication. Sosunova’s own experience of growing up in a Russian family in Ignalina, on the periphery of Lithuania, speaks to the multiplicity of identities in the Baltic region and to the possibility of growing up a foreigner in your own home country. Images similarly warp and define locations, becoming wormholes in alien contexts. Using words, images, objects, and symbols, Sosunova reflects on the Outlander that lives amongst us and the underlying rifts that still define our era. “I speak Lithuanian with stylistic mistakes, and my mother tongue, Russian, with a slight accent and poor vocabulary. I forget words. Language seems to be a sophisticated tool that is too hard to master and fraught with technical subtleties.” Excerpt from the text “Cosplay at the Family Dinner,” written by Anastasia Sosunova for an exhibition at The Sunroom in Richmond, VA.
Artist’s website: anastasiasosunova.com