Disposition of vision: optics of identity in contemporary art

The article contributes to the discourse, which is currently associated with visual anthropology. Taking art works of contemporary Russian artists as the main material for the analysis the author demonstrates how visual art constructs the optics of identity, putting audience into the specific disposition of vision. All artworks used as the material for this article are presented at the exhibition ''United States of Siberia'' (2012-2013, curated by V. Mizin) and illustrate the author's point on constructing the optics of Siberian identity. In the theoretical problem statement the author addresses to the works of M. MacLuhan and approach of the Frankfurt School critical theorists. The key point is that we need to emphasize not the visual or narrative representations of the art works but instead make focus on the disposition of the vision - the way the meaning and visuality are connected in the point where the viewer sees and reads the artwork. The aesthetic methodology of the analysis follows the ideas of conceptual art, arte povera, and pop-art. The author demonstrates how means of ''arte povera'' artistic expressions open new opportunities for artists to translate the triviality of ordinary things into sublime meanings. Considering the artworks presented at the ''United States of Siberia'' exhibition, the author describes the artistic power of arte povera methods (in its Russian version called ''Russian povera''): collages made of postcards and newspapers in a series ''The were fighting for the Homeland'' by Sergey Bespamiatnykh, an installation made of axes with the Olympic Games symbols by Vasily Slonov, etc. The emphasis of protesting gestures against the dominant mass culture and glamour elitism is made. The optics of contemporary art is explained as modelling of multilayer interpretations and deconstruction of visual stereotypes of the mass consumer culture. Creative expression of Siberian artists described as Siberian pop-art with its controversial substitution of the sublime by the trivial and revelation of the emptiness behind the signs and symbols of mass culture mixed with everyday life reality of the ordinary consumer. The disposition of the vision is constructed by ironical substitution of the pop-culture visual cliche: Damir Muratov finds American pop-stars living in Siberian villages (''If they were born in Siberia'' series), Nicolay Kopeikin creates epic scenes of ''The War of the Worlds'' between Russian and American cartoon heroes, Vasiliy Slonov presents advertising posters of the Olympics 2014 (Welcome to Sochi 2014). The author comes to the conclusion that contemporary Siberian artists find an original way to construct the optics of Siberian identity, which allows the viewer to transcend the limits of the stereotyped perception and imposes sensitivity to the new visions of the regional cultural marketing under the label of contemporary art.

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