Collective Red 1998

Editor: Arsen Savadov's "Collective Red," created in 1998, employs mixed media including performance and photography. It's quite disturbing... a nude figure in a cow mask amidst what looks like a slaughterhouse. What sort of narrative is being conveyed here? Curator: Let’s examine the materiality. The setting appears to be an actual, or staged, abattoir. Note the presence of animal carcasses. Consider the labor involved in this setting and its socio-economic implications. The performance aspect—the costuming, the setting—adds another layer. It's all deliberately constructed. How do the combined elements challenge our notions of value? Editor: You’re saying the value isn’t just in the finished art object but also in what went into it: the location, the performance, even the slaughter itself. Curator: Precisely. Think about what it means to present this level of brutal honesty, foregrounding materials like flesh and blood. Savadov pushes the boundary of "art" by implicating labor usually hidden from privileged consumption. This implicates everyone. Does the staged aspect change how you perceive it? Editor: I suppose I'm now wondering where the performance ends and the "real" slaughterhouse begins, and what that tension does to the overall impact. It's definitely making me question the relationship between art, labor, and the origins of what we consume. Curator: Yes, and perhaps question art as an elite commodity disconnected from base and material human functions. How is value assigned and by whom? Savadov turns art production into material production itself. Editor: So it's not just what it depicts, but how its very construction challenges traditional notions of what we deem valuable in art and society. I never thought about art so directly engaging with industrial processes. Curator: Exactly. Considering production can profoundly shift your understanding of artistic intention and impact.