Traffic Papers
Series 2014 — 2018
In 2014 and 2018, the artist held a series of auto-actions in Belarus and Ukraine related to the involvement of local representatives of the artistic, cultural and activist environment.
For a duration of a week, the artist was serving as a driver for Belarusian male artists, whose work is famous, successful and demanded in the art system of the country. For different reasons none of them has a driving licence or a car. All the routes were connected to their work: workshop, purchasing supplies, meetings, lectures, discussions, etc. Hence the artist dedicated her work time to serving the professional interests of others.
For a duration of a week, the artist was serving as a driver for Belarusian male artists, whose work is famous, successful and demanded in the art system of the country. For different reasons none of them has a driving licence or a car. All the routes were connected to their work: workshop, purchasing supplies, meetings, lectures, discussions, etc. Hence the artist dedicated her work time to serving the professional interests of others.
She would become a one day personal driver for them. The results of the activity are represented through passenger’s questionnaires and drivers’ route forms, through document binders and the driver’s thermos.
A misplaced passive role of a steering-wheel guide (not “typical” to the female labor), refusal of the ability to choose the route speak of the duality and ambiguity in her work. Rather an attempt of balancing irony and enthusiasm of offering help, plays with the concepts of “high” and “low” (labor, art) as the hierarchy of professional relations. Without any words, the artist poses a question: a driver - is it who drives or the one who obeys the will of a passenger - supervisor? Who is ruled? The one who “has the right for it” or that who does not have a “driving license”?
A misplaced passive role of a steering-wheel guide (not “typical” to the female labor), refusal of the ability to choose the route speak of the duality and ambiguity in her work. Rather an attempt of balancing irony and enthusiasm of offering help, plays with the concepts of “high” and “low” (labor, art) as the hierarchy of professional relations. Without any words, the artist poses a question: a driver - is it who drives or the one who obeys the will of a passenger - supervisor? Who is ruled? The one who “has the right for it” or that who does not have a “driving license”?
Feminist Art Criticism festival
Gallery ЦЕХ, Minsk, Belarus
2014
Festival Art Prospect “Four days on the road”
Bus station "Podil", Kyiv, Ukraine
2018
Bus station "Podil", Kyiv, Ukraine
2018
The artist is interested in: studying the role of women artists, the topic of working conditions, as well as the topic of art in the context of gender imbalance in the field of contemporary art.
In Ukraine, the action was held as part of the Art Prospekt festival "Four days on the road" in 2018. Due to the active and bright position of Ukrainian women artists, their more significant role and visibility in the field of art, the angle and theme of the action was shifted towards solidarity, and not only artists, but also representatives of other professions - women who take an active role, a successful position in the field of culture in Ukraine - curators, art historians, directors, activists, etc. During the week Zhanna Gladko provided driver services as a "taxi".
In Ukraine, the action was held as part of the Art Prospekt festival "Four days on the road" in 2018. Due to the active and bright position of Ukrainian women artists, their more significant role and visibility in the field of art, the angle and theme of the action was shifted towards solidarity, and not only artists, but also representatives of other professions - women who take an active role, a successful position in the field of culture in Ukraine - curators, art historians, directors, activists, etc. During the week Zhanna Gladko provided driver services as a "taxi".
The result of the action was shown in the form of an installed car in the historical part of Kiev at the Podol bus station. Inside the car there was the documentation of the action: passenger questionnaires, road sheets, as well as video footage of trips along Kiev streets.
During the transportation, interviews were recorded with the participants, with questions about their professional experience in the context of the Ukrainian art environment, about the topic of solidarity and fragmentation, conflicts that are characteristic of different communities of the Ukrainian art field, about important centers and points of the city and about the attitude of the participants to the cultural centers and art institutions of Kiev. Thus, through the eyes of the passengers, the artist was able to form her own impression of the cultural map of the city.
During the transportation, interviews were recorded with the participants, with questions about their professional experience in the context of the Ukrainian art environment, about the topic of solidarity and fragmentation, conflicts that are characteristic of different communities of the Ukrainian art field, about important centers and points of the city and about the attitude of the participants to the cultural centers and art institutions of Kiev. Thus, through the eyes of the passengers, the artist was able to form her own impression of the cultural map of the city.