makarevich & elagina at the louvre
October 14 2010 - January 30 2011
Igor Makarevich and Elena Elagina were in Paris for the grand opening at the Louvre Museum of "Contrepoint russe," an exhibition of 19 contemporary Russian artists. Makarevich and Elagina presented their installation Irrational Forces of the Unknown in the medieval section of the museum and their sculpture Iron Mushroom.
The installation consists of four ladders placed against the medieval walls with three neon letters spelling "ray" (paradise in Russian) and fifty or so pairs of shoes strewn across the floor. The idea of the installation is based on the writings of Konstantin Tsiolkovski (early 20th century rocket scientist and pioneer of astronautic theory) and project of Nikolai Fedorov (utopian philosopher of the late 19th century) whereby ressurected souls create a new interplanetary spaceship freeing the land of overpopuation. Themes of utopia often underlie the artists' works and question whether they translate as miracles or tragedies.
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