3D / VR exhibition “Apocalyptic Syndrome”
(Painting, graphics, collage, painting, pyrography, soundart)

Humanity has always existed in anticipation of an impending catastrophe: the end of the world was seen in natural disasters, wars and diseases, the invasion of aliens and the revolt of the dead, the fall of cosmic bodies and environmental problems. But if earlier such sentiments covered only a small part of the world’s population, now in the era of a pandemic, thoughts about the apocalypse, one way or another, arise in everyone’s head. Fears and feelings associated with health overwhelm consciousness, and anxiety about the total uncertainty of the future, like a worm sharpening from the inside and sowing confusion in the heart. The world changed too quickly: the borders between the countries slammed shut, and self-isolation and special hygiene rules were the only way to save lives. Medicine that has reached such heights has been overloaded and cures at random: a vaccine or universal medicine has not yet been found. Everyone froze in anticipation of a miracle, the opportunity to return to normal life. The time has come for self-reflection, reassessment of values ​​and complete immersion in the abyss of the Internet.

Almost all the work that the viewer sees at this exhibition was not done in quarantine, but earlier, in the last 10 years. They were created by artists for completely different reasons: these are personal insights of artists who are not directly related to the current situation. This is a fan of allusions and ideas about death and new life, isolation and territory of distribution, freedom and its absence. The collection of works is placed in a fantastic laboratory – a place of experience and hope for a brighter future, a space of concentration of fears, where they are examined in detail, dissected and correlated.
This project is built on the principle of rhizomes, a rhizome entangled and growing in the soil, which does not imply a ready-made solution. It was important for us to create an open field for discussion around the current situation, so we invite viewers to become co-authors: supplement this exhibition with their thoughts on a topic in any social network with the hashtag # keepingzeitgest2020

Project participants: Nestor Engelke, Fedor Hiroshige, Veronika Rudyeva-Ryazantseva, Andrey Rudyev, Anna Rotayenko, Pasmur Rachuyko, Petr Papasov & Averdose, Nadezhda Kosinskaya, Evgeny Butenko, Eric Bronze, Aidar Bekchintayev, Alexander Belov, Anna Andrzhievskaya
The idea and implementation of the project: Katya Mikhatova and Dmitry Rotkin (kzgallery.com)