(11/22/2013 – 2/2/2014)
Dittrichova 9/337, Prague 2, http://www.tranzitdisplay.cz
tranzitdisplay is an independent art space where it is always worth to stop by. It usually takes a couple of doorbell rings before someone comes up to open the door for you, but don’t despair and keep ringing, as said, it’s worth it. What sets tranzitdisplay apart from other spaces is their emphasis on research and social context – they often organize talks and lectures; transit is also a publisher of books about contemporary theory and practice in the arts.
Coming to Avdej Ter-Oganyan’s show, I remembered how I saw him at tranzitdisplay a few years ago when he was giving a talk. At that time I found him to be a funny and friendly guy, and I think this show lined up with that impression.
The show was in a way so bad that it was good, and I think that was the intention, as all of Avdej Ter-Oganyan’s work is about that – disrespecting norms, ‘shocking’ the audience. Now, however, the question is how an audience in the 21st century can be shocked by ‘avant-garde’ methods like exhibiting shit, the artist’s penis, or other images of genitals. We have seen it all, done it all, and rather than being shocked, these attempts come across as funny in their futility, something like an early comedy movie starring Charlie Chaplin. To give a complete picture, besides images of genitals and excrement, the show featured also more serious references to modernism and the avant-garde, for example in the form of a blown-up Picasso nude painting reproduction, a re-painted black square on white background (Malevich) or a functioning urinal (including working flushing – ready to use) referencing Duchamp. There were also works of other artists – unusual for a retrospective, but probably very appropriate for the projects executed by Avdej Ter-Oganzan during the 1990’s in Russia before he emigrated for political reasons. Accompanying the show there was a leaflet with an interview between Ivars Gavlejs (the curator, even though one could almost call him a collaborator in this show) and Avdej Ter-Oganyan. In the interview Avdej Ter-Oganyan mentioned how depressed and isolated he felt in his self-imposed exile in Czech Republic: No-one understood his neo-avant-garde approach. If in Russia, probably his show would be still perceived as ‘shocking’, but in Czech Republic, no one will give a **** about an icon cut into pieces displayed next to a photograph of the artist’s shit. So, by moving to Czech Republic Avdej Ter-Oganyan both won, and lost. He won, because now he gained his freedom of expression, but he lost, because he lost the “unwanted” attention afforded to him in Russia. He stayed true to his ideals, and keeps on ‘fighting’ but there is no enemy anymore. Where to go from there? I completely understand his despair. But even in this despair, he did put together this show, and I find the futility of his endeavor which failed even before he started as the most inspiring moment of this show. Same as in the talk Avdej Ter-Oganian gave a few years ago, I admire him for how ‘real’ he stays even when faced with the omnipresent postmodern relativism and an obvious failure of all the ideals he keeps fighting for or against.