Description
Synopsis:
Volga Song is the second part of the Dubna series by Nikita Spiridonov. The video was inspired by a trip to the Moscow Canal museum situated at Dedenevo village (Gateway No. 4) and a conversation with its founder and director Galina Aleksandrovna Gerke. Assembled from found materials, it “overturns” the propaganda rhetoric of Soviet film production of the Great Terror era. The description of the grand opening day of the Canal on May 1, 1937 made by Sergei Golitsyn, the former civilian builder of Dmitlag (concentration camp that curated the Сanal construction) is confronted by fragments of film Volga-Volga, which was shot in the midst of repressions right at the locations of the newly constructed Canal – the grandeur project of the second Soviet five-year plan.
About the director:
Nikita Spiridonov — artist, composer, curator, member of u/n multitude. Studied at BAZA Institute. Being a member of u/n multitude he has written the manifesto declaring ‘Political Scores’ as a new art genre. This manifesto was published at the group’s first exhibition at the START project at Winzavod CCA. u/n multitude defines the score as a sequence of actions that interconnects an artist himself, his work and political context in one single statement. The seventh statement by u/n multitude was Palace of Culture — an action that took place during the VI Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art.