The Ark 2013

Curator: My initial feeling is serenity. A calm, almost otherworldly landscape. Editor: We're looking at Stepan Ryabchenko's "The Ark," a 3D digital graphic created in 2013. It immediately situates itself within the Post-Internet art movement, grappling with the impact of digital culture on our collective psyche. Curator: The imagery feels familiar yet dreamlike—those plant-like structures reaching skyward, the reflective water. It’s tapping into a primal memory of life's origins, almost Edenic. The ark itself, softly colored, speaks of protection, doesn’t it? What sort of ark is this supposed to be? Editor: That’s where it gets interesting. An ark suggests salvation, doesn't it? A vessel for surviving some cataclysm. In our contemporary landscape of ecological disasters and sociopolitical upheavals, what are we saving? And for whom? The piece evokes questions of digital utopias versus digital dystopias. What symbolic value do you think this carries when associated with abstraction? Curator: Well, traditionally, geometric abstraction in art aims for universality, speaking across cultures and time periods. It strips away the specific to reveal underlying structures. In "The Ark," Ryabchenko merges recognizable forms like boats, or flora with abstraction— the feeling is otherworldly. It makes me question what a 'universal' symbol would look like in our age, inundated as we are with digitally produced images. Is Ryabchenko hinting at the new subconscious landscape of the digital world, perhaps? Editor: Absolutely. The softness of the forms, the pastel palette—it almost sanitizes the potential for ecological critique, softening what could be seen as dystopian environmental degradation through its inviting aesthetic, creating an accessible, navigable reality. It’s visually pleasing and palatable, therefore consumable. I think this abstraction serves the exact intention as any form or medium selected by an artist, as everything is, indeed, inherently political. This raises questions about accessibility in times of chaos and the potential escapism such artwork enables. Curator: It certainly offers a space for reflection. To meditate on where we find ourselves, and where we’re heading, using recognizable and familiar iconography in very contemporary formats. Editor: A powerful invitation to ponder our digital future, and what we choose to carry forward.