THIS WASN’T HERE YESTERDAY/ВЧОРА ЦЬОГО НЕ БУЛО
Katya Buchatska`s project is a series of one-day interventions that emerge as reflections on the exhibition space of the Kharkiv Art Museum. The artist leaves various objects among the exhibits in the halls, purposely unrelated to the art or to each other. Some visitors may consider these objects art, others may not. A photo album, a tablet, a wallet, as if forgotten there by someone, are a kind of stimuli whose function is to destroy the stereotypical logic of viewing museum exhibits.
The viewers are accustomed to behaving in museums and at exhibitions according to a certain predictable and expected pattern, and often the main purpose of the visit, being conscious perception of works of art and interaction with them, may become automated, a superficial ritual. Instead, the out of place occurrence of everyday things in a place whose mission is also to testify to the artistic value of works of the distant past is aimed at destroying the ‘automatism’ in the perception of art, the self-evident nature of these things’ value, which is created by the context of the museum.
The artistic statement of the project depends on the reaction of the audience. This is a game the author will play: museum attendants are not to interfere with the viewer`s interaction with objects or explain that the extra items are part of an art project, — they are going to answer all questions with: “This wasn’t here yesterday’’.
Anastasiia Yevsieieva,
co-curator of 2nd National Biennale of Young Art