Stanislava Pinchuk (Miso): Site Curator

Artwork Focus: ‘The Red Carpet’ (2020)

Suitable for: Years 9-10 Visual Arts, Design and/or Photography

‘The Red Carpet’ (2020) Image

Overview

‘The Red Carpet’ is a photograph of the Sydney Opera House (SOH), digitally imposed with a Ukrainian Bessarabian rug wrapping the iconic Monumental Steps. Pinchuk, a Ukrainian-Australian artist, constructed the design by incorporating a topographic map of Kyiv’s damaged Maiden Square, a site that held protests in 2014 which led to the persistent annexation attempts of Ukraine. The artist has visually documented changes within the landscape caused by conflict, making an audience question if places can be scarred and hold memory. By incorporating this data into the design of a woven rug, the work references how centuries of women have documented personal experiences, such as conflict, through textiles. As the SOH was intended to be the equivalent of a town square, similar to the site damaged in Kyiv, the work is symbolic of solidarity between the artist’s two home countries.

Outcomes/Indicators

ACAVAM128 – Plan and design the installation of an artwork in a site-specific location with consideration of material properties and conceptual significance.
ACAVAR130 – Reflect how exhibition, audience interaction and world contexts are significant in the development of an artwork.
ACAVAR – Explore the practice of various installation artists and how their work may be recontextualised within another place and time.

Activity

Step 1: Using Stanislava Pinchuk’s imposed installation at the Sydney Opera House and her preparatory sketches as influence, students will act as curators in the design of a site-specific installation of an iconic world site. Teachers can choose for students to produce either a hand or digital drawing, an imposed digital image, or a construction of a model as a practical component of this task. Students will also research a site and investigate the practice of an installation-based artist.

Step 2: Students are introduced to the work of ‘The Red Carpet’ by Stanislava Pinchuk. Discuss the relevance of the Opera House as a chosen site.

Step 3: Introduce students to a range of site-specific or installation artists, including Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Ian Strange, Anish Kapoor, Katharine Grosse, Megan Geckler, Jenny Holzer, Antony Gormley, Andy Goldsworthy, Jeff Koons, and Robert Smithson. Students create an overview of the practice of a focus artist.

Step 4: Students choose a pre-existing artwork by the artist and consider where the work could be installed. Students must analyse the size, the site, the conceptual significance of artwork, and place and audience interaction. Students may present this as a slide show presentation.

Step 5: tudents produce a visual example of the work in a site-specific location through drawing, photo manipulation or model.

Materials & Equipment

PA106 A4 Ream Cartridge Paper 130gsm
ER150 Zart Eraze 30pk
PN165 Assorted Blacklead Pencils 72pk
PN006-BK Technical Drawing Pens 5pk

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