Lyudmila Kalinichenko
Restart your life
2022-2023
video, text, found objects
At the end of 2022, together with my family, we emigrated to the UK. This has been a new experience and a new turn in my artistic practice. For example, learning English from scratch, I've been working a lot with text lately. New places, names, words that I have to keep repeating to memorize. I write simple quotes and project them with a projector to make a connection with the city.
- video projection is made on the wall of a residential building, opposite the window of my apartment. The chosen location offers several interaction scenarios, depending on the viewer's perspective.
The text works as a quote or status in a social media news feed, when read from the windows of my own kitchen. The inscription is a personal reminder and direct call to action: "RESTART YOUR LIFE: a different country, a different job, a different culture, a different language".
Viewers from adjacent windows become chance witnesses to the transformation of a familiar place, witnessing a local event that grows in meaning through their personal interpretation and involvement.
Changing the perspective changes the perception. The view from a busy street makes the text sound like an advertising slogan. It blends in with the signs, and a passerby is likely to ignore it. Only the viewer's similar experience can make it alien and noticeable. Thus, a personal story loses its meaning when confronted with the masses but sounds loud when working pointwise and locally.
The sequence of words changes "to live without fear" becomes "fear to live".
Thanks to my family for helping me out.