Thoughts of school children on visiting MANIFESTA 10
One of out art-mediators Natasha Soboleva – made some questionnaires for some of the school children who visited MANIFESTA 10 last week. We thought we’d share with you some of our favourite answers given in response to the Biennial's works...
The following answers are all from 15-year old 9-graders from three local St. Petersburg schools: a sports school, a gymnasium and an orphanage.
Erik van Lieshout. The Basement. 2014. Mixed media installation: HD, color, sound, 17:19 min. Wood, color copies. Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Commissioned by MANIFESTA 10 St. Petersburg.
Q: In his M10 work, Erik van Lieshout aimed to “change the system”: what do YOU want to change in yourself, your country, the world around etc.?
"I’d like to help change homeless people’s lives for the better!"
(a child from an orphanage)
"I’d like Russia to join the EU."
"I’d like to live in Paris."
"I’d like to finish education as soon as possible!"
"I’d like to have lots of money and a Mercedes car."
"I’d love to live in the world without money."
"I’d like to change the eco situation in the world, from the rubbish on the streets to the situation with our forests. For example to create national parks and improve the conditions for animals in the zoos."
Vlad Mamyshev-Monroe. Tragic Love. Black and white photo, hand-coloured. Collection of Elena Selina - XL Gallery
Q: Vladik Mamyshev-Monroe as an artist had multiple personifications. Which fictional or historic character would YOU like most to impersonate?
"Van Gogh"
"Kurt Cobain"
"Elizabeth the Second"
"Putin )))" (the smiles were included)
"Chip or Dale"
"Ivan The Terrible"
"Yuri Nikulin"
"Peter The Great"
Ilya Kabakov. Red Wagon. 1991
Q: Ilya Kabakov’s Red Wagon is a metaphor of the Soviet past. If you were an artist aiming to represent contemporary Russia, how would you change the colour of the wagon and the music inside?
"It would be red/white/blue with a Russian hymn playing inside (because the authorities would hardly allow anything else)."
"It would be glamorous, decorated with rhinestones. White inside and bright silver outside."
"Sparkling squares with greyish paint splashed over. RAP would be playing!"
"Entirely black with green flashing lights and dub-step music."
Vadim Fishkin. A Speedy Day. 2003. Electronic clock, room construction, light by A.J. Vaisbard. Installation view, MANIFESTA 10, General Staff Building, State Hermitage Museum
Vadim Fishkin’s “Speedy Day” is a reflection on the relativity of time. What could be really done within two and a half minutes?
"You could cook an egg"
"You could jump out of a plane in a parachute"
"Thinking of what could be done within a few minutes' time!"
(a very conceptual response from a 7th grader)
Some more quotes from Thursday 4th September’s 7th grade school children:
Francis Alÿs. Lada “Kopeika” Project. Brussels—St. Petersburg. 2014. In collaboration with brother Frédéric, Constantin Felker, and Julien Devaux. Commissioned by MANIFESTA 10, St. Petersburg.
Francis Alÿs uses his personal story as a starting point for his project. Which of your stories would YOU like to share with people?
"I’d like to tell people how I started playing basketball and my first victories"
(12-year old girl)
Timur Novikov. Works from the Horizons series, 1980-1991. Installation view, MANIFESTA 10, General Staff Building, State Hermitage Museum
Timur Novikov and the “New Artists” made up “the last heroes” generation. Who is YOUR hero?
"Mikhail Shemyakin" (a Russian painter, stage designer, sculptor and publisher, and a controversial representative of the nonconformist art tradition of St. Petersburg.