Ruins in Reverse

video, 24:55, 2020

Bricks, garages, models, ruins. The work documents the formation process of a sculptural installation in public space being built from reused bricks of the former Soviet „Khrushchyovka“.
Shot in the steppe-like landscape of southern Ukraine, the film essay follows the transformation process of a residential building the standardized floor plans of which are dissolving brick by brick. Wall by wall, the construction is being dismantled by individuals, who create new architectures from the extracted modules. Here, the vacant house serves not only as a shared resource but also as a material reminder. As its remnants continue to circulate in the community and in the landscape, the inscribed traces of private biographies and vestiges of past ideologies continue to shape the relationships and constructions of the future.

Olena Newkryta (AT)

Olena Newkryta, born in Ukraine, is a Ukrainian-Austrian visual artist based in Vienna, whose interdisciplinary work includes photography, moving image and installations. Her artistic practice and research examines social fabrics, the production of cultural identity and space with regard to historical and political narratives. She studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna as well as at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. She is member of the Golden Pixel Cooperative – association for moving images and media art.