“We choose to go to the Moon”
— John F. Kennedy September 12, 1962
“We have been experiencing, these last two decades, an intense phase of time-space compression that has had a disorienting and disruptive impact upon political-economic practices, the balance of class power, as well as upon cultural and social life”
— David Harvey, Postmodern Condition
Think back to the day President John F. Kennedy made his famed moon speech at Rice University, where he announced the planned efforts to reach Moon’s surface, and now think of today, the Journey to Mars period that we’re currently living in. Let’s ask ourselves this: In what fast paced ways has the world changed throughout these years? Or has it even been truly changing at all? Krassimir Terziev, in his solo exhibition, Future Unforgettable, reflects on the past half a century through his own lens, and asks his audience; Did we really move passed this era? What can we say about the zeitgeist that we’re in? While the works of the artist signal a message on political phenomena, authoritarian perspective, and freedom through time, they also emphasize that such concepts are realities of both the past and the present. Then, it would be fair to say that Future Unforgettable is about the floating gap between the past and present, and all discussions and analyses will be borne out of this very gap. As David Harvey states; ‘There may sometimes be changes to the qualities of space and time so revolutionary that we have to change the way we view the world, at times in a very deep manner.’ The work of Terziev may be interpreted through the aforementioned problematic of time and space, along with the idea that all events throughout the course of history are open to comparison, and are prone to subjectivity.
We are currently in an era led by images, and these images are grouped by their conceptual, documentative and experimentative traits. It is significant to analyze such images in a both academic and analytical manner, as well as developing layers of visual and vocalic critique. It would only be possible through such critical approach that the interaction between art, media and technology can truly be understood. Krassimir Terziev, by utilizing the various possibilities of expression of art in our current day, takes us through a journey in time, and the exhibition allows the spectator to comprehend the strategic approaches the artist practices regarding the relationship between the past and present. We witness the observations made by the artist on the dynamics between time-space (outer space) and humans. Terziev’s work floats through the boundaries of visual documentation, cinematographic language and the opportunities to create new narratives.
Terziev, who takes us on a journey through utopias with the images from the past and their reflections on the present, and with a paradigm of the ‘invisible’ but ‘imaginable’, reminds us once again of the grand wish of the humankind to settle life in outer space on other planets. The cosmic utopias of the artist, also referencing the journey of animals to space prior to that of the humans, makes the audience enter a mythical world. Another idea that the artist works with is the relationship between technological devices and their users. Gadgets that now carry the engraved images of their users on the surfaces of the tablet and television, which are no longer working, represent the moment when time freezes. On the other hand, the artist presents an original approach open to interpretations, to the iconic image of the Earth best known as the Blue Marble photographed by NASA, by placing an image of an exotic palm tree on the photograph. While we’re at it, the idea of an orbit is also crucial to the work of the artist. In the last part, the visual language produced in the modern age comes into prominence with the works in the show, in which the continents of the Earth are seen in chaotic manner, while in fact the cultural communication becomes the masterful visual-data. Thus, in totality, when the independence of technology is taken into consideration, image production and the changing perspectives that no longer require the human hand are questioned, because we are now all in and age of vertical perspective, instead of one that is linear.
Pieces in the show that reference the dialogue between notions of family, nation, humanity, and animals, with outer space and space, presents a new temporary reality through a translucent relationship between time and space, by using techniques of collage, lightbox, and video. Terziev masterfully visualizes various formats in which history, memory, dreams, and images can reflect the age we currently live in. As a leading artist in the Contemporary Bulgarian art arena, Krassimir Terziev touches on the mystification of the contemporary culture and national values, as well as subjects of memory and social memorylessness. What more can I say? Are you ready for the ride?