this trap is named viscosity

mixed media installation: wood, silicone, organic elements, plastic, rope

The last exhibit in the «Museum of Artificial History» is an altar «This trap is named viscosity » made by Sofya Skidan. It is surrounded by installations of Darwin Museum depicting forest landscapes in which animals are hiding in the grass and trying to escape from predators. There are some installations in this section showing a balance of nature: it means that species composition in such a system stays the same. However, in Skidan’s installation, one can find alive silicone clots with the plants covered with plastic.

The Sofya Skidan’s sculpture shows the scenario of potential ecological misbalance which may be caused by the appearance of a new virus in an ecosystem. In this case, life forms can choose one of the two possible ways. The first one is to accept help from outside (to get vaccinated, for instance) and maintain an old order. The second one is to mutate alongside the virus in order to liberate our environment from natural and artificial disasters. Hence, skins of future life forms can be covered with clots of plastic or silicone. Their colour can be changed to unusually light and acid colours. Structurally such ecosystems change, too. All vertical hierarchies disappear. Hence, such terms like «predator» or «victim», «animal» or «plant» lose their sense. Such changes can’t be treated as negative at the same time. Despite all the changes, such ecosystems tend to maintain biological balance.

this trap is named viscosity

this trap is named viscosity

The exhibition was organized as part of the Master’s program Curatorial Practices in Contemporary Art by Garage Museum of Contemporary Art and the Higher School of Economic
Darwin museum, Moscow, 2021