GUM-RED-LINE PROJECT COMMON CAUSE PHILOSOPHY

GUM-Red-Line presents the Common Cause Philosophy project as part of Cosmoscow.

Author of concept: Gosha Ostretsov.

Participants: Olga Bozhko, Xenia Dranysh, Vladimir Dubossarsky, EliKuka, Konstantin Zvezdochetov, Alisa Yoffe, Ludmila Konstantinova, Irina Korina, Oleg Kotelnikov, Olga Kroitor, Darya Krotova, Georgiy Litichevsky, Misha Most, Gosha Ostretsov, Sergey Pakhomov (Pakhom), Pavel Pepperstein, Alexander Petrelli, Tanya Peniker, Inal Savchenkov, Nikolay Filatov, Valery Chtak.

This project is exploring the subject of space. The action demonstrates the importance of understanding the Universe with the help of philosophical and artistic thought. The project will become a creative experiment, a metaphor for outer space as a system of universal interaction. Its name refers to the philosophical work of the Russian thinker Nikolai Fedorov. According to his writings, a person is inseparable from nature, and each individual is part of a great whole, the cosmos. Following these ideas, Gosha Ostretsov calls gathers his colleagues for a “common cause." He suggests to represent symbolically the unity fabric of the Universe as a joint work of artists in one public space. Each author, using an arsenal of their recognizable techniques, will work on creating a common piece. This will create a network of creative intersections, and the paradigm of universal interconnection will be recreated. Mutual intersection or intertextuality is the basic artistic principle of the project. In its subject, there is a reference to the name of the Cosmoscow fair, which also has an allusion to space.

The artists united by the principle of dialogue will paint a 140-meter canvas stretched over a two-meter-high architectural structure that has the outline of a spiral with two sleeves. The design was invented by Gosha Ostretsov as a symbolic model of the Galaxy. Just as in the Galaxy star clusters spiral around the core, artists working in a spiral space are under the influence of a single centrifugal force, art that provides each with a unique trajectory.

During the first two days of the Cosmoscow - during the VIP Preview and a Vernissage on September 5, and on the first open day on September 6, visitors will be able to observe the work of artists in real-time: on the plasma screens and on the GUM-Red-Line website. On September 7 and 8, the final result will be shown.

After the end of Cosmoscow, a painted 140-meter canvas divided into semantic fragments will be exhibited for several weeks at the GUM-Red-Line on Red Square. Simultaneously with the exposition, the gallery will present individual works: they will be displayed on mobile stands in the form of a symbolic archive of contemporary Russian art.

The project will be concluded with a charity auction benefiting the Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art to be held on September 24, 2019.