ABOUT
Artist Denis Prasolov in co-authorship with architect and curator Anna Iliina present an installation of artefacts found in a military medical equipment warehouse in St Petersburg.
The central object of the installation are sculptures created using medical ducks — a symbol of the sickness of a society zombified by the media. The ducks float in a regular formation, as if under order. This imaginary order mocks society's obedience to the rules dictated by propaganda in newspapers and on television. The title of the installation refers to one of the versions of the origin of the expression newspaper duck. Reports by authors who did not have reliable sources were signed in some old English newspapers with the letters N.T.. — an abbreviation for Non testatum. The abbreviation is pronounced en-te, which is consonant with the German word Ente — duck. The authors of the project emphasise the problem of escapism, a conscious or subconscious escape from reality that leads to the popularisation of yellow press and entertainment media. By following the black thread in the exposition, the viewer can investigate on his own, study clippings from Soviet, Russian and European newspapers, and by following the yellow thread, learn about the project and the team of its creators. In this way, the authors play on the illusory idea of free choice in information consumption and the fact that the yellow thread is designed to draw attention to selected fragments or distract attention from really significant events.
2019
The central object of the installation are sculptures created using medical ducks — a symbol of the sickness of a society zombified by the media. The ducks float in a regular formation, as if under order. This imaginary order mocks society's obedience to the rules dictated by propaganda in newspapers and on television. The title of the installation refers to one of the versions of the origin of the expression newspaper duck. Reports by authors who did not have reliable sources were signed in some old English newspapers with the letters N.T.. — an abbreviation for Non testatum. The abbreviation is pronounced en-te, which is consonant with the German word Ente — duck. The authors of the project emphasise the problem of escapism, a conscious or subconscious escape from reality that leads to the popularisation of yellow press and entertainment media. By following the black thread in the exposition, the viewer can investigate on his own, study clippings from Soviet, Russian and European newspapers, and by following the yellow thread, learn about the project and the team of its creators. In this way, the authors play on the illusory idea of free choice in information consumption and the fact that the yellow thread is designed to draw attention to selected fragments or distract attention from really significant events.
2019