Valery Korchagin’s artistic method can be described as research based. He works with cultural memory, archetypes, and mythology, using a wide range of materials and techniques. His works, whether drawings, objects or installations, are often reminiscent of archeological finds where layers of visual elements form complex structures full of hidden meanings. The artist’s book occupies a key place in Korchagin’s oeuvre, and he extends it beyond the traditional format. For example, Book Bomb (2014) includes not only illustrations and text but real wires with a light bulb and a wobble toy, transforming the book into an interactive object. Korchagin avoids direct statements, preferring to create works that exist as personal testimony, combining handmadeness and elements of readymades.
The History of Geological Exploration Expedition 67/67, 1948–1949 is a striking example of the transformation of the documentary form into artistic expression. The book is reminiscent of a technical report, full of figures and terms. The illustrations, which include portraits of expedition participants, maps of locations, drawings of plants and precious stones, and depictions of measuring instruments such as the circumferentor or dynamometer, create an illusion of scientific accuracy that is gradually destroyed.
The Syumkev Massif becomes the location of a tragicomic drama: a group of geologists finds the corpse of an unknown person, depicted using a single detail‑a pair of boots‑after which the expedition participants begin to go crazy and die. Korchagin creates a philosophical reflection on the nature of reality, time, and human experience in which the documentary approach becomes an absurd mystification and the scientific report a parable of the futility of seeking meaning in chaos.
- / Author