In Vain & A Place to Hide by Anastasia Tailakova
In Vain Every new day gives us hundreds of opportunities. Gigabytes of new information, armfuls of exciting events, kilometres of unexplored places, chances of adventitious meetings – all this is waiting for us with the beginning of each 24-hour time span, which we are to use as effectively and rationally as possible, acting profitably and getting a satisfactory result. It could seem that realization of this fact is sure to inspire us. The problem is that the variety of alternatives and the great number of possibilities result in a deep fear of losing something really essential, missing some unique events or relevant information. Consequently, the fear leads to an inner catatony, a moment of floating in the air, which paralyzes our will and puts us into inexplicable panic. The endless variety of choices that we have to make doesn't let us decide on anything. Instead of taking up new challenges, we stay at home in our cosy and safe little world which is ready to keep us away from the stream of this impetuous life beyond it.
A Place to Hide Sentenced to the cursed, though only apparent, freedom, overloaded with a stream of everyday news, suspended between the reality of marketing and the world of the media, tainted with intensive work – we are running away. But are we really trying to escape it all, and if so – where are we running? Personal and natural surroundings appear to be compressed into an absurd picture. Everything we see appears to be alive, but is it? Is what we see true or do we perceive the world as we want it to be? What are the limits of the ‘inside’ and where does the ‘outside’ begin? Where are the boundaries which separate ‘within’ and ‘out of’? How do we, skilfully or not, consciously or not, try to cross them? Or maybe escape, by creating virtual worlds? We seem unable to see beyond the artificial environment which we have created and in which we are trapped. It has successfully replaced nature. Don’t we live in nature anymore? Do we live beyond it? Nature may have become the source to sustain this artificial or ‘new’ world alive.
Anastasia Tailakova is a Saint Petersburg, Russia based artist.
To view more of Anastasia's work, please visit her website.
