Art is one of the ways people communicate with one another. Every work of art brings the viewer to into a special kind of relationship, both with whoever has created or is creating the art and also with everyone else who—together with him, or before or afterwards—is subject to that
artistic impression.
—Leo Tolstoy
It would be a mistake to ascribe this creative power
to an inborn talent.
In art, the genius creator is not just a gifted being, but a person who has succeeded in arranging for their appointed end, a complex of activities, of which the work is the outcome, requiring an effort.
—Henri Matisse
Art is so varied that to reduce it to any single purpose, be it even the salvation of mankind, is an abomination before the Lord.
—Nikolai Gumilev
Conception, my boy, fundamental brain work,
is what makes all the difference in art.
—Dante Gabriel Rosetti
Art is art.
Everything else is everything else.
—Ad Reinhardt
It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance…
and I know of no substitute whatever
for the force and beauty of its process.
—Henry James
It's not what you look at that matters,
it's what you see.
—Henry David Thoreau
Histories Brands & Illusions
The Performance Art of D. Strakovsky
"Histories, Brands and Other Illusions”: the Performance Art of Dmitry Strakovsky, the inaugural event of Actual Performance!, a new series of evenings of performance art.
Mr. Strakovsky and the Actual Performance! program were introduced by renowned artist Vitaly Komar and «CAUSA ARTIUM» director John William Narins.
Dmitry Strakovsky's performances employ a fluid combination of extended vocal techniques with experimental sound processing. They target a diverse range of themes, from packaging and branding structures to Russian avant-garde literature of the 1910s and 1920s. Playfully shifting modal gears, Strakovsky takes the audience on an acoustic journey, testing our perceptions of our contemporary media environment.
The performances were followed by a fascinating, in-depth discussion between the artist and John Narins, drawing the audience into active participation in an enthralling question and answer session.
Spanning many production modalities (performance, robotics, video, photography, sculpture, graphics), Strakovsky’s work investigates numerous relevant issues, such as the information packaging and branding structures created by economic, political and social forces in the contemporary global marketplace.
His work has been seen at Mediations Biennial (Poznan, Poland), Country Club Projects (Cincinnati), Grunt Gallery (Vancouver, Canada), Moscow Biennale for Young Art (Russia) and MASC Foundation.
