DREAM SPACE
States Of Freedom
a project by
Elena
Panayotova
2000-04
Freedom as obligation
It
is a natural duty of each artist to observe and register the processes that
occur around him. And to react, even not always in a rational way, to what
happens. In such stormy period as in the last decade, full of political changes
and social shocks, of turning pints in public spirit, challenges and victories,
people react differently and learn to develop their own characters. In this
sense artists have even higher responsibilities.
Parallel to research works socially adequate artists observe and analyze all
events trying to give the facts more abstract or deeply emotional
interpretations than the pure science can. Contemporary visual arts “act”
already not only in gallery’ spaces & museums for a long time and have stepped
beyond the narrow frames of commonly accepted aesthetics and simple beauty. Even
the notion “work of art” has lost its elite sense long ago and now sounds
pretentious and hollow.
Art
attempts to answer questions that appear important for more and more people,
outside the constant target art audience. Arts rather inspire and provoke new
points of view, ideas, sentiments, ways of observation, of analysis and
synthesis.
Nowadays' audience doesn’t respect any more the idiocrathic system’ rules that
exclude any varieties and differences. Contemporary art’ consumers are not only
passive viewers, but take a role in the whole process of creating and building
up the work: often intentionally provoked by the artist or sometimes
spontaneously reaching the author’s idea. As a matter of fact artworks today
should be aimless and senseless without close relation between artist and
audience. Of much greater importance is the mutual exchange of ideas, views,
opinions and information, that help to build contacts or to break them, to turn
the art piece into a visual proof of the moment, or into a process of common
knowledge.
I am searching this equivalent contact with the audience
through three various projects united under the title “States Of Freedom”. I
also try to provoke reactions on different levels and to shatter the accumulated
prejudices. I expect one closer look at the life changes, we are used to be with
every day and can not notice and realize clear enough.
The
project “States Of Freedom” consists of 3 parts:
1. We’re All Equal
2. Don’t Look Back With Anger
3. We’re All Bulgarians
In all three parts of the “States Of
Freedom” project no one photographed person / face is repeated. I have attempted
to include maximal number of personalities, with their different characters and
outlook. To my opinion even after the partly successful experiments with
cloning, science can barely reach the capacities of Nature to create the
unbelievable harmonious variety of species and human characters.
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