Alexander UGAY (Almaty)

Earth & Shape, 2013-2014, single-channel video, color, sound, 16’47”

A video-collage combining disparate architectural landscapes from different cities (Astana, Karaganda, Almaty, Tashkent, St Petersburg, Seoul, Istanbul, Sophia) onto a single plane, disregarding notions of east-west and north-south to relate to a more-personal mental geography that resists shape. Giant, phantomlike figures appear, eerily resembling monuments of the past: ziggurats, towers, pyramids, and antique temples, to warn of history’s tendency to repeat.

About the artist:

Alexander Ugay is of a generation of artists who prefers to work with new technology to frame personal living experiences and memories. His primary area of interest is the development of history and its relationship to our current conditions; as well as the idea that provisional life can be cross-referenced internationally. Aside from certain specificities, the artist believes that the fundamentals of a simple provincial life are similar in all parts of the world. In this sense, his works seem to express an ironic globalism, as he strives to represent the ‘everywhere-ness’ of the world’s small towns. Alexander Ugay has participated in many biennials and group exhibitions including Sharjah Biennial 10, the Central Asia Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale, the 9th International Istanbul Biennial, and Younger than Jesus at the New Museum, New York.