ART Habens Art Review ART Habens Art Review - Special Issue #97 | Page 182

ART Habens Maksim Kuznetcov Art is a very flexible and fine language; a tool that can be applied to many areas, starting at self-analysis through to public propaganda or benign meditation, or simply relaxation and joy. We can tell stories with art, such as in my work of Carabosse and Lilac Fairy - the classic good versus evil dichotomy. Art can produce symbols or feelings that are destructive or malicious. The relationship of art to public space is of a similar potential to that of literature and the spoken word. Art should participate in the war of ideas, just as literature, philosophy and science do. These art fairs were very interesting experiences indeed. For instance, I have discovered that many people of the general public have difficulty in recognising abstracted figures (Empty Virgins was a particular challenge). I noticed a high contrast of responses from young people compared to adults (20+). Kids read my artistic language much easier than most of the older people, that seem to be far less sensitive to it. The development of most of my works has not been guided by any expectations of the reception that they would receive by the audience. I did consider to make a few experiments, to simplify the images and make it easier for the audience to interpret, but so far I have been choosing to work with the language that helps me better convey my ideas rather than for simplicity. Let’s see what future brings, it’s a journey for me with the future unknown. The challenge here is that the language of art is so diverse that it requires some practice or openness from audience to be able to understand the message. I think our society needs to develop its abilities in this area quite bit before its efficiency in art communication is comparable to that of a written language or a spoken word. There are so many great artists, if I had to nominate them all, it would be a very long list, but just to give you an idea of the artists whose works inspire me, I would say these key names: Wassily Kandinsky, Francis Bacon, Hieronymus Bosch, Vadim Sidur, Pavel Filonov, Henry Moore, and many more. Conversation between people seems to be the only efficient way we can exchange and collectively develop ideas, knowledge and contribute to the development of our society. I am planning to work on a series of sculptures that discusses the psychological challenges and successes between people. Stay tuned. ;) An interview by and Special Issue 23 4 05 , curator curator