23/24: V. Nilin - W C

Vikenty Nilin (1971) - photographer. He studied in the Faculty of Direction at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography from 1990 to 1995.

Starting in 1988 he has been involved most of all with his own projects in the sphere of modern art. He is a regular participant in various kinds of group exhibitions, fairs and so on. His works are in the Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, and in numerous private collections.

1999 – personal exhibition at the Aidan Gallery. 2001 – personal exhibition at photographer.ru

“The reflex staring beneath oneself when attending to the wants of nature is a characteristic of everyone from earliest childhood. Apart from curiosity, we are haunted by fears: in the open air we afraid that someone will see us; in the street, that we will be arrested, in a cattle shed, that we will be butted; in a rural backwater – the horror of the cesspool, in an American toilet – the whirlpool of the flushing water, in a train – the mesmerising glimpses of the sleepers, in an aeroplane – the hissing of the vacuum-sucked air, on a boat – the chasm of the bottomless sea, in prison – obviously, the very word slop bucket. Overall, it is an alarming activity. The artist Florenskaya, on looking through the wooden hole of an ordinary privy in a little Svan village, discovered beneath her an eagle soaring in celestial silence.… It is said that this extraordinary object, which unites the forces of nature with a mediaeval architectural structure, is or was located at the Georgian Union of Architects’ holiday home. Of course, an architect working in urban conditions on the design of clubs and restaurants has no need to deal with natural elements, for there simply aren’t any. His clients don’t have to fear the heights, the depths, or rats leaping from a lavatory bowl. It’s a different matter for the photographer taking pictures of fashionable low dives, and imitating the rocking of a boat with two dozen galjoens in such a way that you start to worry both for the architects with limited resources, and for yourself, experiencing childhood fears where they cannot exist.” (Yu. Avvakumov)