Untitled 2022

Curator: We're looking at a 2022 piece by Alevtyna Kakhidze, simply titled "Untitled." It’s an ink and pen drawing. The overall effect is sparse but conceptually loaded, I think. What catches your eye? Editor: The starkness, immediately. It feels like a visual diary entry, a very direct translation of thought to paper. The heavy lines and limited color make the implied narrative feel urgent, almost desperate. Curator: Indeed. Kakhidze often works in this visual diary format, chronicling personal reflections against larger geopolitical events. The text at the bottom directly addresses current events: "Who read the news about the war in Ukraine about climate change, and could not choose which tragedy to prioritize." Editor: The composition reinforces that sense of being overwhelmed. The figure on the left, so linear and somewhat detached, contrasts sharply with the frantic scene on the right, of someone falling or perhaps being pulled into some kind of abyss with a building near it. Curator: I read the figure on the left as representing the artist, an individual confronted with unquantifiable global issues. The speech bubble stating “In my mind, I have a discussion with Bruno Latour…” is rather striking. The reference places the work within the realm of philosophical discourse on ecology and interconnectedness. Do you find a link between Latour’s ideas and the imagery here? Editor: The layering of these visual elements mirrors Latour's concept of "actor-network theory" where everything is interconnected and influences each other, challenging a simplified perspective. Climate change isn't separate from war; these tragedies form a tangled, inescapable network, just as the image shows. The scale of global events versus individual action looms large, wouldn't you agree? Curator: Exactly. The work embodies that tension between personal agency and systemic crisis. We're each grappling with our own relationship to events unfolding far away. Editor: It seems like she has captured this zeitgeist of interconnected crises into a minimalistic tableau, with each sparse line adding a symbolic element. It speaks to the human condition when faced with the immensity of current events, I feel. Curator: Yes, it’s deceptively simple. An articulation of the anxieties that arise in the face of global complexities. Editor: Leaving us to wonder how to reconcile our individual existence with an environment that seems on the brink.