VYACHESLAV AKHUNOV with SERGEY TICHINA Uzbekistan
Auckland Art Gallery - NEW Gallery

Corner 2004 – The aim of the video is to show how human beings strive to gain individuality, mental space and authenticity in the epoch of the individual's 'effacement' in favour of the public body. It is as if the corners endured by the human being underline the correlation between the spiritual quest and existence in a reality determined by the sharp edges of corners of misunderstanding. In other words, this is the problem of being in demand and simultaneously paying attention.

Ascent 2004 – This film narrates the eternal negotiation of difficulties, and the ascent of each person to perfection in unity with the Absolute, if such an Absolute exists at all. At some point, one reaches a certain peak determined by one's destiny, so that the grounds for further spiritual or physical ascent disappear for subjective or objective reasons. Nevertheless, one keeps ascending, repeating the path already travelled, and analysing failures by reliving them, albeit now in a virtual form.

Background

Vyacheslav Akhunov was born in Osh, Kyrgyzstan in 1948. His collaborator, Sergey Tichina, was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 1958. They both currently live and work in Tashkent. The two artists have collaborated on video works since 2000, with Tichina the performer and Akhunov the camera operator. In addition to Corner and Ascent, their works include the installations Money – Sand – Money, Adam, Eve, and And Others..., all 2004. Their works came to prominence in the West when they were shown in the Central Asian Pavilion, 51st Venice Biennale, 2005. Their collaborative work is included in Nafas: Contemporary Art from the Islamic World, ifa touring exhibition, Germany, 2006-7. Akhunov has a long history of group and solo exhibitions dating back to his student days in the late 1970s. Recent exhibitions include In the Shadow of Heroes: Central Asian Biennial, Bishek, 2005; and belief: Singapore Biennale, 2006. Tichina has an independent practice as an artist and designer, including designing the Uzbekistan national pavilions for the World Expos, in Hanover, Germany, in 2000 and Aichi, Japan, in 2005.