Opening on Wednesday, 3 December, 6 p.m.
When You Look at the Stars You See the Past is the fruit of a profound multidisciplinary research in which Aksiniya Peycheva goes beyond the traditional synthesis of architecture and monumental art. In the course of her long-term and comprehensive scientific interest, she discovers the inevitable interconnectedness between all spheres of human knowledge and perception, draws on fundamental pillars in sciences such as history, microbiology and star cartography, and reveals the original commensurability between micro and macrocosm.
The project is a site-specific installation for the architectural space and the multi-faceted history of Hall 19 in Kvadrat 500. But before getting to the earliest uncovered archaeological layer, let us first pay attention to some moments from the more recent history of the topos. After the former State Printing House, designed in the late 19th century by Viennese architect Friedrich Schwanberger, was partially destroyed in the air raids on Sofia during World War II, for the needs of the newly established National Gallery of Foreign Art in the 1980s the responsibility for the complete reconstruction of the building fell on the shoulders of architect Nikola Nikolov. He was faced with the difficult task of choosing either to preserve the original beam system, which was already morally and functionally obsolete, or to preserve only the original neoclassical spirit of the façade, but to embody in it a modern reinforced concrete structure that would be able to bear the weight of the time to come. Arch. Nikolov ventured into doing the latter and fate smiled not only on him, but on generations after this decision. The new building required deeper foundations and the construction activities revealed a vaulted tomb, dated to ca. 4th century AD, part of the main necropolis of the ancient city of Serdica. The approximate location of the archaeological site is exactly in the centre of the newly designed hall and in order to preserve the main exhibition area, the facility was dismantled and moved south of the original location. Again with respect to tradition, arch. Nikolov symbolically marked the position of the tomb with a humble decorative colonnade and floor decoration.
It is namely in this space that Aksiniya sows the seed of her intention, places the viewer at the centre of events and invites them to a shared contemplation session. On her artistic approach and the inspiration she draws, she shares:
“In essence, the project is a kind of cross-section of a moment in space. The methodology for achieving it begins with taking a sample of the air of the hall, which combines layers of history within itself. The microorganisms found in this environment are imprinted on microbiological agar. Placed in appropriate conditions, after a few days they begin to grow and create their own drawing, an almost abstract composition that contains visual information reflecting life in the air at that particular moment.
The newly obtained image resembles a spacescape, and the organisation of the constellations is a subject of human imagination, cultural and historical context and there are no specific scientific prerequisites for the connection between the individual objects. On the other hand, the organisation of the starry night sky can be explained by various methods of computer geometry, which, according to certain rules, connect a random group of points. While conducting a study, participants in it are instructed to connect dots on a monitor to create a group that they perceive, having the right to connect each dot to any other and make as many connections as seems necessary, on the only condition that the final structure contain all the units in the stimulus.
The result of the study shows a great similarity to Delaunay’s triangulation. Using the logic of the study, the method is applied to the microbiological picture to transform the colonies of organisms that have grown in the nutrient medium into a star chart composed of different groups of constellations. The idea of self-similarity in the organisation of matter at micro and macro levels is found in many places. An important consequence of Plato’s views is that the universe can be considered alive and therefore has a soul or mind. Truths about the nature of the cosmos can be deduced from truths about human nature and vice versa. In this way, the project attempts to search for hidden information, to dissect a moment in time-space.”
From this point of view, Aksiniya Peycheva’s non-figurative work touches upon that inner musical impact that modernists like Le Corbusier and Kandinsky so eagerly sought. It dares transcend the boundaries of conventional understandings of science and reveals itself as an emanation of the primordial soup, seasoned with ancient hermetic traditions.
Theodossiy Gueorguiev, curator of the exhibition
