Kiev, Ukraine by Aleksandra Art

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Just Visiting

Where does nostalgia come from again?

Visiting Kiev in Ukraine always brings a set of mixed feelings. Finishing international school in Prague left me with most of my friends being scattered across the globe...and Kiev unfortunately not being part of it. So primarily I go to see my family, since parents moved from Prague after I headed off to London 8 years ago. The few days of my rare visits would pretty much consist of overdosing on home food, mandatory family and doctor visits (every eastern european kid goes home for that) and occasional explorations. My trip last month didn't lack any of those ingredients, moreover, given I stayed for a whole week (as opposed to the usual 2-3 day hello goodbye) I had a chance to give into wandering a little more. 

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This post is not about me though and what I really wanted to highlight is the market we went to. Reluctantly I'm citing @LonelyPlanet's entry, referring to it as a "vast array of junk" and "Kyiv's main receptacle of DVDs, CDs and software of questionable legitimacy.". Not far from the truth and just couple hundred yards from the specified location of Petrivka lies another maket, a relic of its own. Here the stalls are made of anything and jumping across railways is part of the casual walk of any explorer. It takes place on Saturday mornings and preferably you arrive as early as possible "not to miss on the good stuff".

Opening shot of Kiev underground station 'Arsenalna' followed by a slideshow from the street market

So what is the good stuff? Apart from large barbie doll parts and old electronics I couldn't figure out what is it that I should come early for. But then, just as any other market it clicked and I started to realise the micro level of profiteering the local dealers engage in. They don't need no Sotheby's degree to do the math, they go and get that army jacket some old man sneaked out from his local supplier and resell later on Andriivskyj market to tourists triple the price. Yet this all was still pretty bizarre. A man walking around with an ad hanging on him to buy some hair, the stylish gramps wearing rainbow outfit, the skinhead couple with their perfectly shaved poodle... so many shots that got away due to me simply freezing in awe. But there are some that I did manage to capture and I upload the slideshow below. Maybe it's not the beautiful aesthetic you're after but this one is to shed some light on the other side of things, the beautiful decay part. 

All Aboard! Journey To Outer Space Or Museum Visit? Why Not Have Both. by Aleksandra Art

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The Golden Age of VR 

Kremer Collection Presents Its New Virtual Museum

Over 70 17th Century Dutch and Flemish Old Master paintings from the Kremer Collection are being unveiled tonight at Sotheby's NYC. Yet this is no ordinary viewing, what is being presented is the new Kremer Museum. A museum that can transcend boundaries and travel wherever there is access to a VR headset. Yes you're right - the museum is an immersive virtual reality experience, developed by taking thousands of images of individual artworks (Photogrammetry).

A leap forward or as George Kremer, Founder of the Kremer Collection, puts it “Our journey as collectors has always been about finding the highest quality artworks and simultaneously finding ways to share them with as many people as possible. My wife Ilone and I believe we can make a greater contribution to the artworld by investing in technology rather than in bricks and mortar for our collection.”

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The architect behind Kremer Museum is Johan van Lierop, Founder of Architales and Principal at Studio Libeskind. I personally love his quote on the creation, he says “I think VR is to the 21st century what Dutch Realism was for the Golden Age, allowing the observer to escape into an alternative reality or mindset.". Is physical reality over and is it time for a new race towards the online territory for the art world? The beautiful truth is there is space for everyone, right? 

All Images Copyright of Kremer Collection

All Images Copyright of Kremer Collection

As the rest of us, I shall be on the lookout for the collections popup events at international locations. In 2018 a mobile application on Google Play for Daydream should be developed as well! 

Check out the Kremer Collection to learn more ;)

Lisson Gallery x The Vinyl Factory: Everything at Once by Aleksandra Art

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Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda's data manipulated installation 'Test Pattern [N°12]' presented alongside 'Everything at Once'

 

Exploring the group show for Lisson Gallery's 50th anniversary titled 'Everything at Once'. In partnership with The Vinyl Factory the gallery presents 25 contemporary artists with 45 works including Ai Wei Wei, Marina Abramovic, Lee Ufan, Anish Kapoor across three floors on 180 The Strand. In the video below first are the observers of artist Laure Prouvost 'Lick in the Past' 2016 film and the second part is digital artist's Cory Arcangel piece 'MIG 29 Soviet Fighter Plane and clouds' 2005. 

Susan Hiller 'Channels'

To be continued..

#artlookingatpeople by Aleksandra Art

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Art was everywhere including the outfits of the attendees and if this week you had a mandatory daily outing to Frieze at some point I'm sure you shifted your focus towards the devil in the detail. After all, we did spot a Putin sweater on his bday.