CickinDunt (Anna Cherepanova Vitalii Cherepanov)

After stripping the vomit of Baudrillard, Brener and Nietzsche from their clothes, the Cherepanovs continue their trans-disciplinary, trans-local, trans-agent expedition that began in a small town in the Urals. In their infantile way, they have deconstructed and appropriated the repressive instrument of the state: urban CCTV cameras. “If the state wants to control us, then being afraid and hiding from such cameras means playing to the score set by this government. But exposing yourself to the camera and performing actions means overcoming fear and forcing the overseer to act according to your own score and to observe your own performance” muses CickinDunt.

For artists born into a working-class family in a small town (remote from the centre of the country) in the early 90s, there was another great fear: the impossibility of moving around the planet. CCTV cameras around the world have also helped to overcome this fear. Recording video feeds from such cameras has become a way of travelling. During the pandemic and after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, CCTV cameras became an alternative source of information for the Cherepanovs that was not influenced by political propaganda. In 2023, the artists made the feature-length film “Talk”about their interactions with the cameras, as well as another project about artificial intelligence (which they see as the half-sister of CCTV cameras). Their exhibition also includes toys and graphics. Both are a way to preserve the memory of the places and situations through which the Cherepanovs’ expedition route leads. The graphics are notes on the go, and the toys are made exclusively from found materials. It is important for the artists not to buy anything to create toys; but only find or accept gifts from local residents – so each toy becomes a portrait of a particular place. This exhibition displays toys created over the past two years: from Ekaterinburg - the place the artists emigrated from – to Berlin, Kiel, Hamburg, Barcelona, Ibiza and Zurich – the city where the CID are now based.

Another element of the exhibition is the textile sculpture “paratrooper professor”, which functions as a constant element of their artistic statements. The “paratrooper professor” consists of various objects found in Vienna. The exhibition on display at Mz* Baltazar’s Lab can be seen as the Vienna terminus of their journey, linking this ongoing artistic project with all past and future exhibitions by the artist duo. All together - videos, graphics, toys and “paratrooper professors” – are then a detailed map of the Cherepanovs’ expedition. Graphics, toys and videos are mobile media - best suited for those on the move.

https://www.mzbaltazarslaboratory.org