European Astronomy

Installation (medium: fabrique flizelinium)

In the group show “Euroremont”

Center of Contemporary Experimental Art (CCEA), September, 2005, Yerevan, Armenia.

Curator: Susanna Gyulamiryan.

The “European Astronomy” project was a part of the “Euroremont” 1 group exhibition presented in the Center of Contemporary Experimental Art (CCEA) in Yerevan, 2005. In the post-Soviet countries and particularly in Armenia the political, economic, and cultural phenomena of that time and the subsequent developments caused reflection on these problems, which found place in the art projects of that period.

The concept of “European Astronomy” emerged from a number of issues that the post-Soviet marginal intellectuals and artists (those who were ready to reflect on issues that arose during the development of post-Soviet countries) were concerned about. Examples of those issues include: “By which criteria can the post-Soviet countries appear as European ones enjoying their full rights?”, “Do those countries, forming a part of the Commonwealth of Independent States, participate in the all European process?”, and “Is it possible to speak about the new project of European modernization after the collapse of the Soviet Union?”.

“Eurodevelopment” proclaimed in post-Soviet Armenia recalls the pseudo optimism of the Soviet period, when the cliched ideology catchword of “a better future” for the Soviet state used to be popularized. Actually, the principles of Human Rights and of Western Democracy 2 and market put forward in the ideology of “Eurodevelopment” were identified with the everyday strategy notion of “Euroremont”, which was rather the latter-day style of establishing private houses and rebuilding the city and its streets (which was often a painful process for the citizens). This new style eclectically combined the western European minimal aesthetics and the use of new construction materials with local “kitsch strategies”.

“European astronomy” is basically a representation of the blue flag of the European Union where the stars (the member countries) appear as “windows towards Europe”. The flag is fixed on the windows of the exhibition hall, and the light has no way to penetrate into the hall except through the holes in the form of stars. The gesture of the artist refers to the idea of distortion or fading of the “Eurodevelopment” programme as a result of the processes occurring in Armenia that follows the path of Europe. “Euroremont” is one of these processes, and its idea contradicts to those of Human Rights and Democracy. ‘Euroremont’ is an ‘everyday strategy’, which mostly comes from political authoritarianism, economical anarchy, and an inhumane cultural reality.

By S. Gyulamiryan

www.acsl.org.am

  1. In the Armenian context the word “remont” is adopted from the Russian word (ремонт), which, besides its military meaning, means renovation. In the post-Soviet Armenian context this Russian version of the word is usually used according to the bilingualism that has come from the Soviet period. Remont – Rus. to restore to good condition, make new or as if new again, repair, renovate
  2. The Soviet ideology defined its political regime as ‘social democracy’; Soviet elections and the structure of the Soviets only formally pertained to the nature of democracy. This form of democracy used to be a repressive tool for the totalitarian regime. The epithet ‘socialist’ denoted an opposite meaning to the word ‘democracy’. Likewise, the semantics of the word ‘Euroremont’ is contrary to its substance.