VLADIMIR ABIKH

TIME-PONG

(RUSSIA)

 

This project is part of a series of works made at the intersection of street art, mapping, and video games. Here, the artist explores urban space and reveals its idiosyncrasies. Material collected over the course of this research then become the basis for site-specific video projections shown on city walls. The projections are interactive and can be controlled by festival goers by means of a special game console. Thus the viewer turns from a passive observer into an active participant in the life of the city, and the city space itself is awarded the status of an artistic statement.

 

«Saint Petersburg is famous for its classical architecture and facade sculptures, but very often, these objects are in poor and dilapidated condition. Alas, I pay attention to this distraction of the city: crumbling stucco, dirty shabby walls, abandoned buildings covered with grid. However, time is the most ruthless destroyer of cultural heritage, not vandalism or graffiti. Therefore, this facade video game is about the importance of timely restoration and care of the city. The game is a kind of ping-pong: two players control facade sculptures and try to avoid their destruction».

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