Footwear installation, mixed media, 2023.
The voice of a loner is not heard. The chorus of voices sounds brighter and louder. Shoes have become the metaphysical and semantic base of Rustam Adyukov’s art objects, since he had to fled his country due to the war.
Comitatus means accompanying. Lots of creative people today are stunned, forced to shut up by the aggressor. Every voice is an action aimed at fighting, confrontation, comprehension of what is happening. This installation is a step towards peace and democracy. Uniting individual artists within the framework of a common, anti-war project creates a new creative community, that talks about the world in the language of art.
Adyukov: ‘This installation became the artist’s reflection on the tragedy modernity, which is reflected in each of us. At the heart of the composition is a frame shoe structure, the base that connects a person to the earth. The design is pierced with a thin weave of blood-red threads, symbolizing severity and consequences of the steps taken. Stagnation, apathy the achilles heel of our time, tendon rupture, preventing movement forward. Society steps on the same rake: passions, emotions, instincts take precedence over reason – this is our weak point – the ‘Achilles heel’ of our time. A tragedy that affects millions and caused catastrophic events of the last year. The familiar world, hopes are blown up. Impersonal human masses become a burden of the past, which does not allow next step.’
