Alevtina Kakhidze: Temporary Sculpture

“The image of the fabric is the confirmation – if you step back more and more those drawn shop windows with shiny goods from display shelves become stars.” Alevtina Kakhidze

The artist Alevtina Kakhidze, living and working in Kyiv, Ukraine, works with projects scrutinising ideas of commodity goods from a critical standpoint, at the same time acknowledging such consumerist items’ most seductive mechanisms. During three months, Kakhidze has been staying in Stockholm in order to prepare a temporary, site-related work that will be shown daily between 12 – 6 pm 26 – 28 May at Norrmalmstorg square in Stockholm city centre.

Former eastern European countries’ financial exclusion from neoliberal and global markets has during recent years changed into rather an aggressive inclusion - investors in and co-creators of these new and rapidly growing economical systems. In some cases, unjust social conditions still remain, partially due to this kind of new economy. Kakhidze's work may be understood from out of this perspective, as a starting point for how dreams may break towards the conditions of reality.

At the same time, having dreams becoming a surrogate reality, Kakhidze moves cunningly and with certain ambivalence around such a question formulation. The text, which is also serves as the title for the work, "Stars belong to everyone and to you...", addresses both a poetic line of thought and the assertion of the power of the image. Kakhidze portrays in order to possess, be it design items, exclusive accessories, or works from out of private art collections.

In the project, produced by Index, Kakhidze juxtaposes drawing with text which can now be seen in a textile installation at Norrmalmstorg square in Stockholm. In close connection to exclusive boutiques and department stores in the heart of Stockholm's shopping area the artist will erect a public artwork, a stylized architecture - a wall element, a protection, a secluded space. Functioning as a display for a hand printed fabric designed by the artist, it is put on view at a symbolical trading site where the possibility of financial transactions has been removed from the work.

Alevtina Kakhidze
Temporary Sculpture
Ort: Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm