Island
Mixed-media installation, 2013
A fictitious architect, a convinced modernist, once the skilled head of one of the units of a design institute who, after years of inactivity, is working on building a private villa on Trukhaniv Island, a green recreational area in the centre of Kiev. The context: it is a neglected, disordered scrap of land that is waiting for somebody who can afford to turn it into a gem. This is a real utopia which is possible in the here and now. The restless, unenlightened general public is like a passer-by that looks into a hospital window and gives advice to the surgeon. And your personal opinion is an error which does not affect the result. A trifle, easily disregarded, in order to make this fragile utopia come true in our harsh, chaotic world.
Artists' Bio:
Ivan Melnychuk and Oleksandr Burlaka were both born 1982 in Kiev, Ukraine, where they currently live and work. They are both architects and members of the group Grupa Predmetiv who specialize in documenting and studying urban transformations. Their practice is a critical reflection on how the architectural heritage and the urban context of the post-Soviet space are transformed in, and sometimes erased from, our collective memory.