Constructed geographies in contemporary art

Constructed Geographies in Contemporary Art, my PhD by Public Works, focuses on the Eurasian region and Soviet history. I have developed a body of work as an artist,
filmmaker, and author from 2011 to 2022 and presented them publicly in form of exhibitions, screenings, lectures, and publications. My art works have examined the physical manifestations of the altered landscapes by using field observations, research, exhibitions, filmmaking, and publications, producing an outcome that combines both real and fictional experiences into a singular, synthesized one. The trilogy of works, titled Terra Corpus, explores post-Soviet geography within the context of twentieth-century mythologies and histories.

The first project, At the Back of the North Wind, investigates Hyperborea, a mythical land that serves as a source of inspiration for utopian civilizations. The second project, Walking the Sea, examines the Aral Sea region, which has shrunk due to Soviet irrigation projects in the 1960s. The third project, Blue Flame: Constructions and Initiatives, critiques the Soviet Constructivist project’s utopian aspirations through the lens of post-war and Soviet experience.

As an artist and researcher, I have focused on the geography, archives, and cultural histories of Eurasia, particularly within the contexts of post-minimalist and post-conceptual art practice. I put myself at the center of the narrative, production, and documentation processes. This allowed me to investigate the experiential
aspects of the research in which I was both a subject and an object of study. My work explores collage and montage as primary methods to synthesize research and studio methods as a strategy in knowledge construction, self-study, and interdisciplinary approaches. By combining factual and fictional elements through temporal layering, I created new narratives that expanded the understanding of these locations and histories.