Artist Must Think: From Action to Community
Saturday 18. April at 19:00 - 21:00
C-SPACE Berlin gGmbH
On April 18, a presentation of two new books by conceptual artist Vadim Zakharov will take place at C-SPACE Berlin. The books, Artist Must Think and Artists Must Unite, were co-authored with his wife, Maria Porudominskaya. Both publications are a major reflection on what it means to be an artist today.
Composed of dialogues recorded during the pandemic — when fundamental meanings and concepts of life were called into question — these books form an intimate and nuanced conversation between two close people about the core of the artistic process. They are not merely archival materials related to Zakharov’s artistic projects and actions, but conversations about thinking, about searching for one’s own language, about how to avoid burnout and maintain a meaningful distance from oneself and one’s art.
The third participant of the presentation will be journalist Andrey Arkhangelsky. On the one hand, the audience can expect a discussion of Moscow Conceptualism, the 1970s — a time when art experienced another wave of resistance and the search for a new visual language — of apartment exhibitions and the underground, of producing art literally “out of nothing.” On the other hand, this will be a conversation about an experience that is important to reflect on and live through today, when there is a need to create alternative spaces for the artistic process.
It is an experience that should be passed on to a generation of artists once again forced to conceal themselves and go underground — within which the reproduction of an autonomous artistic environment becomes valuable again. Something that may not directly influence politics, but helps one survive. This is a model of community and co-authorship developed within artistic circles in the 1970s — a kind of informal institution of support, creation, collaboration, and archiving — which is finding new relevance today.
When: April 18, 19:30 (doors open at 19:00)
Where: C-SPACE Berlin, Langhansstraße 86
The event will be held in Russian.
Free admission with registration.
After the presentation, you will be able to purchase the new books by Vadim Zakharov (published by Vidim Books) and have them signed by the author.
Vidim Books
in the name of goodness and peace
C-SPACE Berlin gGmbH • Langhansstraße 86, 13086 Berlin, Berlin, Germany
