The relationship between artwork, viewer and space is one of the main lines that can be traced in the practice of Kalin Serapionov. His video installations are the result of the trinity of these elements.
Following the same logic, a work takes different forms of life and changes its impact on the viewer depending on where and how it is shown. The project REUSED / RELOOSEN explores the flexibility of the video and its transformation as it moves from its public gallery location into the intimate context of the home. Based on the original work Used / Loosen (2022) from the gallery windows of POSTA, the video installation is transported to the attic in the living room of Kathrin Singer and Kamen Zahariev, offering us a new interpretation and becoming an object that interacts with the architecture and functionality of the house. In this context, the artwork no longer communicates directly with the street and casual passers-by, but becomes an active participant that inhabits the shared space of the private home and, through the reflections it forms, blurs the boundary between outside and inside.
REUSED / RELOOSEN raises the question of the possibilities of displaying video art in conditions different from those we are familiar with. It breaks down the notion that a video work is entirely dependent on the technicalities that often limit or define it. We are accustomed to seeing painting, sculpture, drawing and photography in the context of private collections and in domestic spaces where their physical presence is constant and tangible, but the video format is still more inherent in institutional collections. This is perhaps due to the perceived disembodiedness of the medium, whose presence seems to be materialised through the body of a digital device. The project REUSED / RELOOSEN reverses this perspective, transforming the video through architecture itself into an object that actively participates in the everyday life of a personal space. This transformation becomes possible precisely because of the interrelationships between artwork, environment and viewer that Kalin Serapionov explores. REUSED / RELOOSEN invites us to follow his working process closely, showing us the steps from the installation drawings related to the specific space to the final result.
Text Marina Slavova
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