The media creates reality from a stream of images captured by journalists, videographers, and photographers. But is this reality, resembling a vivid, nightmarish dream, truly real? To find an answer to this question, video journalist Myroslav Chernov from the Associated Press and photographer Ihor Chekachkov decided to explore it in their joint exhibition "Producing Dreams or What the Modern Media Machine Offers."
The starting point of the exhibition is the debut novel "Dream Times" by international journalist Myroslav Chernov from the Associated Press. The book lays the groundwork for reflections and serves as a leading metaphor for discussions about constructed mass media realities. Dreams become a form of allegory, allowing for the interpretation of the surrounding reality.
Dreams represent perhaps the most evident form of interaction with the first half of the exhibition. The video installation "Media Machina" is a room within a room, a black cube onto which fragments from hundreds of videos filmed by Myroslav Chernov over the past five years in more than 40 different countries are projected, including Syria, Iraq, Turkey, France, Belgium, Ukraine, and others.
Another part of the exhibition is NA4JOPM8, a series of photographs by Ihor Chekachkov, whose images have been published by Forbes, National Geographic, The Guardian, Le Monde, and other international media. This series unites images of fragments of reality from various spheres, ranging from protest events on Maidan in Kharkiv to intimate scenes from private life. However, their artistic representation was completed by chance. A hard drive with the serial number NA4JOPM8, on which the photographs were stored, failed, resulting in the loss of the archive. Some photos were partially recovered, but each image now contains defects. The machine intervened in the photographer's art. Destruction and deconstruction occurred in such a way that allowed for the combination of diverse photographs into a single series.
The connection between the projects of the two artists is evident. "Media Machine," as an installation, serves as both a form and a metaphor for constructed reality, while the series NA4JOPM8 reflects on a reality that is disintegrating and deconstructing.
The media creates reality from a stream of images captured by journalists, videographers, and photographers. But is this reality, resembling a vivid, nightmarish dream, truly real? To find an answer to this question, video journalist Myroslav Chernov from the Associated Press and photographer Ihor Chekachkov decided to explore it in their joint exhibition "Producing Dreams or What the Modern Media Machine Offers."
The starting point of the exhibition is the debut novel "Dream Times" by international journalist Myroslav Chernov from the Associated Press. The book lays the groundwork for reflections and serves as a leading metaphor for discussions about constructed mass media realities. Dreams become a form of allegory, allowing for the interpretation of the surrounding reality.
Dreams represent perhaps the most evident form of interaction with the first half of the exhibition. The video installation "Media Machina" is a room within a room, a black cube onto which fragments from hundreds of videos filmed by Myroslav Chernov over the past five years in more than 40 different countries are projected, including Syria, Iraq, Turkey, France, Belgium, Ukraine, and others.
Another part of the exhibition is NA4JOPM8, a series of photographs by Ihor Chekachkov, whose images have been published by Forbes, National Geographic, The Guardian, Le Monde, and other international media. This series unites images of fragments of reality from various spheres, ranging from protest events on Maidan in Kharkiv to intimate scenes from private life. However, their artistic representation was completed by chance. A hard drive with the serial number NA4JOPM8, on which the photographs were stored, failed, resulting in the loss of the archive. Some photos were partially recovered, but each image now contains defects. The machine intervened in the photographer's art. Destruction and deconstruction occurred in such a way that allowed for the combination of diverse photographs into a single series.
The connection between the projects of the two artists is evident. "Media Machine," as an installation, serves as both a form and a metaphor for constructed reality, while the series NA4JOPM8 reflects on a reality that is disintegrating and deconstructing.
UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.
UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.
UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
