Bog Science:
A Collaborative Study by Artists and Scientists

The Pushkin Museum and Tomsk State University open the exhibition "Bolotovedenie. Joint research of artists and scientists" in Nizhny Novgorod

Organizers: A.S. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, National Research Tomsk State University

• Co-organizer : Volga-Vyatka branch of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Dreamlaser company
• Time of the event : November 19 - December 15, 2024
• Venue : Multimedia art space TSEKH* (Nizhny Novgorod, Varvarskaya, 32)
• Artist author of the project : Vasily Kononov-Gredin
• Curator : Daria Kolpashnikova
• Architecture : MISH studio (Misha Maslov, Victoria Shupilova)
• Project website : bolotovedenie.pushkinmuseum.art

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and Tomsk State University, with the support of SIBUR, present the final stage of the project "Bolotovedenie. Joint research of artists and scientists". From November 19, 2024, an exhibition will open in the TSEKH* Multimedia Art Space in Nizhny Novgorod, which will display the results of a two-year study of the largest ecosystem in Siberia by leading TSU scientists, the Pushkin Museum team, and artist Vasily Kononov-Gredin. At the center of the exposition is an installation inspired by the Russian avant-garde and the Vasyugan swamps.

The project "Bolotovedenie. Joint research of artists and scientists" was initiated by the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and Tomsk State University in 2023 and became a continuation of the long-term partnership between the two institutions. The first experience of the Pushkin Museum in the field of science art continues the consistent work of the museum branches with contemporary artists from various regions of Russia, who in their work comprehend the cultural, natural, local features of our country. The project, which combines contemporary art and scientific knowledge, helps to highlight complex topics and demonstrate new approaches to working with material within the area of expertise of bog scientists, ecologists and biologists.

The interdisciplinary research is based on the desire to understand the Vasyugan swamps, which are the largest ecosystem in Siberia, a source of minerals, and a giant natural archive storing information about the centuries-old history of the Earth. This fall, two installations by Vasily Kononov-Gredin were opened on the territory of the Siberian Botanical Garden of TSU and the TSU Research Station "Kaibasovo". The artist focused not only on the fragile and complex ecosystem of the swamp, but also on the connections that interaction with it generates: the relationships between the inhabitants and researchers of these territories, the contradiction between the folklore, pop-cultural image of the swamp and the phenomenal potential of this natural phenomenon. The exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod will be the final stage of the project.

"Installation 3" is the central object of the exhibition in the Multimedia art space TSEKH*, which, thanks to the Nizhny Novgorod architectural bureau MISH studio, will be transformed into a futuristic laboratory of a scientist, reminiscent of a pure outer space for an experiment, contrasting with the "earthly" essence of the swamps. Vasily Kononov-Gredin created a structure, which he positions as an exoskeleton for a cubic meter of the Vasyugan swamp, covered with sphagnum moss. This technological structure ensures the functioning of a fragment of the swamp outside its usual environment. The experiment is aimed at studying an unobvious feature of the swamp: during the exhibition period, it will change due to carbon dioxide emitted by the breath of visitors, effectively preserving on its surface the imprint of each of them, or the memory of them. Thus, the object will metaphorically demonstrate the idea that each of our actions, even the most insignificant, affects nature.

The fragments of Installation 3 that were not included in the central object will form the basis of a special sculpture, also presented in the exhibition. It refers to another project by Vasily Kononov-Gredin, Antiforms, for which the artist reassembled everyday objects, revealing their potential alternative structures.

The exhibition will feature the artist’s travel diary, assembled from memorabilia he found during expeditions to the Vasyugan swamps and during his work in the Tomsk region. The documentary by director Sergei Yuferov will tell about the various stages of the project’s preparation in Vasily Kononov-Gredin’s studio, on the territory of the Kaibasovo Research Base and in the Siberian Botanical Garden of TSU. Visitors will hear the stories of the people who made this large-scale project possible and will get acquainted with the beauty of Russia’s largest swamp.

Technical support for the exhibition is provided by Dreamlaser.

The project "Bolotovedenie. Joint research of artists and scientists", connecting art, science and natural resources of Siberia, will be accompanied by an educational program. Lectures, public talks, excursions and other events will take place in the Volga-Vyatka branch of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Arsenal), in the exhibition space, as well as in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.