Project "Metamorphosis" Arthur Van Balen

As part of the Parallel Program of the VII Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art.

On October 25, the exhibition “Metamorphosis” by artist Arthur Van Balen will open at the Factory. The project is dedicated to socio-political and historical "metamorphoses" and their interpretations in art and philosophy. The central object of the exhibition will be a 15-meter inflatable caterpillar, inspired by the Soviet anti-fascist sculpture, which soared in the air during a parade in honor of the victory of the October Revolution on Red Square in 1934. On October 28, the caterpillar will be released "in the wild" in urban space with the goal of asking passers-by the question of what will be its next stage of development.

As a means of attracting the attention of the masses, inflatable sculptures began to be used in the 30s of the 20th century - first in the USA, then in the USSR. In America, the “airy” Mickey Mouse and Dumbo elephants with their good-natured smiles stimulated New Year’s sales at the Macy’s Day Parade in New York, while at the Soviet May Day demonstrations and the anniversary of the October Revolution, Stalin’s inflatable drills and flying portraits were designed to raise patriotism and labor enthusiasm of the masses. With the help of this seemingly harmless instrument, both powers tried to immerse their citizens in the “worlds of dreams”, make them forget about pressing problems and believe that capitalism on the one hand and socialism on the other will bring them a bright future.

Founded in 2012 by Arthur Van Balen, the Tools for Action group has found diametrically opposite uses for inflatable sculptures in modern demonstrations. A 12-meter silver hammer (Cancun, 2012), a saw on Bolotnaya Square (Moscow, 2013) or a barricade built of dozens of “air” bricks (Dortmund, 2016) - the “social sculptures” created by the group become a symbolic key to understanding the problems of modern society. With their unexpected appearance, they undermine the usual course of actions, change the arrangement of the roles of their participants and the relationship between them, creating a “performance” of a completely different kind.

The exhibition will feature documentation of street performances and interventions conducted by Tools for Action together with local communities in Berlin, Budapest, Paris, Dortmund, Mexico City, New York and other cities of the world, as well as Van Balen’s archival study on the use of inflatable sculptures in parades in the 30s. Through a series of scientific articles, the authors of the project will try to outline the vectors of the “metamorphosis” of modern society, as well as to trace the evolution of the phenomenon of inflatable sculptures - from the means of advertising, propaganda and manipulation to the DIY-activism tool.

Exhibition curator: Veronika Komarova
Dates of the exhibition: 10.26.17 - 11.30.17, Tue-Sun 12.00 - 20.00
Venue: Center for Creative Industries "Factory", Hall "Olivier", pp. 1st floor
The project was implemented with the support of the Goethe Institute in Moscow