Taus Makhacheva x The Fries Museum in Leeuwarden
Taus Makhacheva lives and works in Moscow, Russia and is predominantly known for performance and video works that critically examine what happens when different cultures and traditions come into contact with one another. Taus's work always originates from a story told or an experience shared and expands out into wider collections of narratives and disciplines. Often humorous, her works attempt to test the resilience of images, objects and bodies in today's world.
Taus Makhacheva
- I wanted to dress up for the opening of the exhibition in black tie, but because of the lockdown, the opening never took place — and I even had to mount the exhibition remotely, via zoom. So the digital dress in the video is my ironic response to this situation. On the other hand, I was struck by the story of digital outfits, which, it would seem, work according to completely different rules than ordinary clothes. The designer, artist Panic Trees told me about digital fashion — I, by the way, adore working with her — and I thought: "Oh, my God, that's right! This avatar dress is fantastic!"
The museum offered to make a video for my exhibition and asked if there was a director or an artist who could interpret it in a new way. Then I immediately thought about the director Sasha Pustynova, with whom I also love working very much. At first, we wanted to make a website with my fantasies, materials, references, but then we came up with an even better idea that it could be an outfit in which different elements refer to different works. Sasha and Panika brainstormed and came up with a dress consisting of many elements related to my works — for example, a bodice made of organza that turns into stone refers to one of my videos (Walk, 2010). Under the dress, iron trousers are hidden, which are similar to the design of the installation "Sharivari" (Charivari, 2019), which make me super-tall, shoes remind me of "Unrestrained" - it is made up of two different pairs connected together: the bottom is from sneakers, and the top is from riding shoes, "
said Taus Makhacheva in an interview with The Blueprint
The museum offered to make a video for my exhibition and asked if there was a director or an artist who could interpret it in a new way. Then I immediately thought about the director Sasha Pustynova, with whom I also love working very much. At first, we wanted to make a website with my fantasies, materials, references, but then we came up with an even better idea that it could be an outfit in which different elements refer to different works. Sasha and Panika brainstormed and came up with a dress consisting of many elements related to my works — for example, a bodice made of organza that turns into stone refers to one of my videos (Walk, 2010). Under the dress, iron trousers are hidden, which are similar to the design of the installation "Sharivari" (Charivari, 2019), which make me super-tall, shoes remind me of "Unrestrained" - it is made up of two different pairs connected together: the bottom is from sneakers, and the top is from riding shoes, "
said Taus Makhacheva in an interview with The Blueprint
