Polina Davydenko

photographer & visual artist [email protected]

[polidavydenko]

If you come to see my works, this is my new updated portfolio.

works • Polina Davydenko

Polina Davydenko is a visual artist working in the field of photography overlapping with the media of video, audio and text.

[polidavydenko]

Public Tinnitus, 2020

Song sang by Toyota Vangelis

[polidavydenko]

Willy Nilly, video and installation

Galerie XY, Olomouc 2021

Camera: Monika Rygalová, Anna Tesařová, Polina Davydenko

Music: Jim Krutor

Staring: Magdalena Straková, Polina Davydenko

Voice over: Barbora Trnková

[polidavydenko]

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word

Galerie Monomach 10.9.–2.10. 2020

On the way to work, she met a bee on the sidewalk, which was crawling in a circle along the edge of the pavement. A sense of guilt swept over her. Should she move it into the grass or let it be? What if someone else steps on it? Crowds of people passed by. While she couldn’t answer the questions correctly, she was five steps away from the bee.

Can the „sorry“ gesture be comprehensible to bees? Or is it only a certain kind of social conduct broadly accepted as good manners? Do we romanticize the perception of nonhuman realities and entities when we imagine the possible apology?

The installation of figure, the main character – beekeeper made of rye’s spikes and beehives made from the rest of the rye. The beekeeper is humming John Elton‘s lovesong Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word to the buzzing hives. Throaty humming mixes with the buzz of the hives in the gallery space and evokes a feeling of ongoing communication. Soft singing forces the viewer to take the same position as the observed character to hear it clearly. Even though the communication is non-verbal, the song can relates to the depiction of the beekeeper, who would like to apologize. 

[polidavydenko]

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word

Galerie Monomach 10.9.–2.10. 2020

[polidavydenko]

Tento projekt vznikl za podpory výzvy Black box Galerie TIC. 2. část projektu Černá skříňka, který proběhl v srpnu 2020. Projekt tentokrát nenarušoval karanténu, ale naopak vytrhával umělce z denního režimu.

Umění se stalo přítomné pouze v prostoru sociálních sítí. Strach, že v online prostoru něco promeškám, vyvažují náhodná osobní setkání s přáteli ve veřejném prostoru, v přírodě, v bytech nebo ateliérech. Stáváme se tak společnými spolupachateli. V rámci našeho společného bezčasí bez placených zaměstnání jsem proto oslovovala přátele umělce k vytvoření díla do soukromé sbírky založené na mých nehtech. Finanční podporu z výzvy Black box chci rozdělit mezi všechny vystavující.

Levá noha od palce k malíčku: Petr Nápravník, Lucie Králíková, Jan Staniczek, Kristýna Kulíková, Tomáš Plachký

Pravé noha od palce k malíčku: Barbora Trnková, Lukáš Dobeš, Hana Kubešová, Tomáš Moravanský, Tereza Sikorová

Foto: Eva Rybářová, Polina Davydenko

[polidavydenko]

Tento projekt vznikl za podpory výzvy Black box Galerie TIC. Umění se stalo přítomné pouze v prostoru sociálních sítí. Strach, že v online prostoru něco promeškám, vyvažují náhodná osobní setkání s přáteli ve veřejném prostoru, v přírodě, v bytech nebo ateliérech. Stáváme se tak společnými spolupachateli. V rámci našeho společného bezčasí bez placených zaměstnání jsem proto oslovovala přátele umělce k vytvoření díla do soukromé sbírky založené na mých nehtech. Finanční podporu z výzvy Black box chci rozdělit mezi všechny vystavující.

Levá ruka od palce k malíčku: Anna Tesařová, Tadeáš Polák, Monika Rygalová, Kateřina Rafaelová, Štěpán Brož

Pravá ruka od palce k malíčku: Kristýna Hejlová, Šimon Kadlčák, Lazaro Rincon, Bára Bažantová, Hana Matyášová

[polidavydenko]

For Toyota Vangelis

[polidavydenko]

That Rings a Bell in City Surfer Office

[polidavydenko]

Diary II. 2020

[polidavydenko]

Diary 2017-2020

[polidavydenko]

Serie Offline (2017) exhibited in Fotograf Gallery, Prague in the end of 2019

Curated by Jiří Ptáček

The work documents childhood of my younger brother Mirek, who is extremely influenced by consumerism, commercials and Youtube videos. Every new hobby ends with boredom that constantly surrounds him. Therefore, from an early childhood he is overwhelmed by displays that lock him into his disconnected world wherever he is, even offline. What one might call a waste of time is his daily routine. The moments of joy caused by the entertainment industry still do not last long and are replaced by complete lethargy.

[polidavydenko]

Public Tinnitus, 2020

Group show Another try for explanation (but not today) in GAMU, Prague

Video 6 min

Huge thanks to Toyota Vangelis (voice)

Hlavním vyprávěčem je kousek uhlí, který zpívá baladu o městě Dobropolje, hlušinách a ptá se proč jsou některé zvyky natolik nepřekročitelné. Uhlík přirovnává celý mechanismus hornického města k včelímu úlu, kdy se med včelám odebere a nahradí cukrem. Podobně vnimám hornické město, které je udržované jen na výměně uhlí za peníze a ty za produkty. Všudypřítomná těžba uhlí, která udržuje naživu celé město je slyšet a vidět, ale nikdo tomu nevěnuje pozornost. Podobně jako tinnitus pískání v uších, které mizí a objevuje se v závislosti na tom jakou pozornost mu věnujeme. Je to civilizační nemoc způsobená technologiemi, kterými se obklopujeme.

[polidavydenko]

Picks from bachelor graduation series  Based on true story, 2019

I was set to prevent my usual strategies and the habits that I use as a photographer documenting pre-selected groups or phenomena. Intentionally I wanted to create the broadest possible serie of visually eye-catching images that are not easy to decode and assemble into a one specific scenario. Is it “performance for the camera” or found situation? Chaotic set of pictures from which it is possible to read more meanings, because of absence of narration and introducing text, captures the route that although is not articulated or marked in the geographic map or in mind map.

Text sprayed on the gallery ground I rewrote from apropriated names of other contemporary photographic series. I translated and assembled them into poetic text of trendy themes and buzzwords.

[polidavydenko]

Picks from bachelor graduation series Based on true story, 2019

I was set to prevent my usual strategies and the habits that I use as a photographer documenting pre-selected groups or phenomena. Intentionally I wanted to create the broadest possible serie of visually eye-catching images that are not easy to decode and assemble into a one specific scenario. Is it “performance for the camera” or found situation? Chaotic set of pictures from which it is possible to read more meanings, because of absence of narration and introducing text, captures the route that although is not articulated or marked in the geographic map or in mind map.

Text sprayed on the gallery ground I rewrote from apropriated names of other contemporary photographic series. I translated and assembled them into poetic text of trendy themes and buzzwords.

[polidavydenko]

Picks from bachelor graduation series Based on true story, 2019

I was set to prevent my usual strategies and the habits that I use as a photographer documenting pre-selected groups or phenomena. Intentionally I wanted to create the broadest possible serie of visually eye-catching images that are not easy to decode and assemble into a one specific scenario. Is it “performance for the camera” or found situation? Chaotic set of pictures from which it is possible to read more meanings, because of absence of narration and introducing text, captures the route that although is not articulated or marked in the geographic map or in mind map.

Text sprayed on the gallery ground I rewrote from apropriated names of other contemporary photographic series. I translated and assembled them into poetic text of trendy themes and buzzwords.

[polidavydenko]

Only the worlds’ smartest camera can tell this story part II., 2018

Installation view