Still life 

Curator: Welcome. Here we have Konstantin Korobov’s painting, aptly named "Still Life." It seems undated, painted perhaps with oils. What are your first impressions? Editor: Stark. A bit… ominous, maybe? Those heavy, looping cables, the worn tools...it feels like something important has just been, or is about to be, violently disconnected. Curator: I see what you mean. Korobov employs a realism style here, presenting the objects with a clinical clarity. Notice how the rough texture of the wooden post contrasts with the smoother, almost lifeless concrete block. And how that little bird defies everything around it! Editor: Exactly! And the lines...the severe vertical of the post, counterpointed by the almost frantic curves of the cables. There's a strong tension, a visual conflict here. Are the tools an accessory, or does their placement disrupt any idea of natural calm? Curator: That visual disruption, for me, resonates on an emotional level. I mean, what's that toolbox doing there? Abandoned, like the end of a story when everyone’s already gone home. It evokes feelings of desolation but at the same time, something fragile, some form of tenderness is there too because, yes, a little bird came back for more. Editor: The earth itself looks bruised in its colors. There’s also that wire on the left, its filament showing—almost like a severed artery, suggesting something vital is leaking out. And those instruments looming. They have no redeeming characteristics. Is Korobov highlighting our capacity to not only build infrastructure but to tear it apart just as easily? The human influence… Curator: That could be the main reason, to show our double-edged gifts—we can mend, connect, sustain. And yes, disconnect, wound, let things wither away if we are not paying the required attention. Perhaps the toolbox there on the ground contains tools to either cut, mend, fix, or simply... ignore? Editor: Yes...but what intrigues me most is the formal relationship between these elements and how they build a rather complex picture of possible interpretations. There is something almost architectural about the composition, yet it is falling. Or being ripped apart. I cannot wait to discover all the possible relations with our real lived experiences, through similar infrastructure. Curator: I love how we can unravel so many questions just by looking! Korobov's arrangement isn’t just an inert presentation of things but a gateway to ask what are we building, or destroying with these objects. Thank you for revealing a world from this work! Editor: A fascinating exercise in connecting lines—and contemplating the wires we cut, both literally and figuratively. A profound use of what may seem mundane to evoke far greater considerations.