Collective Red - part 2 1999

Arsen Savadov assembled “Collective Red - part 2” using photography and performance, maybe somewhere in the former Soviet Union. The reds and occasional blues of the flags and the theatrical costumes grab your attention, and the overall effect is strangely arresting. I imagine Savadov orchestrating this tableau, thinking through each element. What if we put this here? No maybe there? It’s almost as if he's building a painting, composing a complex arrangement of shapes, colors, and textures. The juxtaposition of these figures is striking, I'm so curious about what Savadov was thinking. What if Savadov had put, say, a single figure in blue right in the middle? It would change the whole dynamic of the piece, right? This image reminds me of the ways artists borrow from one another, building on past ideas while pushing into new territory. There is an ongoing conversation across time, with each artist contributing their voice to this conversation. I'm left with questions rather than answers, which, in my opinion, is always the mark of great art.