FIRE EMBODIED

Shooting period – 2012
Serial number of the collection – 02
The location of the shooting – Ukraine
The total number of photos included in this collection – 44

Limited edition of examples
#1–20; #23–44
30x30 cm – 9 pcs
60x60 cm – 7 pcs + 2 AP
80x80 cm – 5 pcs + 1 AP
100x100 cm – 1 pcs + 1 AP

#21; 22
30x40 cm – 9 pcs
60x80 cm – 7 pcs + 2 AP
80x107 cm – 5 pcs + 1 AP
100x133 cm – 1 pcs + 1 AP

The photographic project FIRE EMBODIED by Ukrainian author VarrIng reactivates the legacy of Anton Giulio Bragaglia’s photodynamism within the context of twenty-first-century fine art photography, combining long-exposure experimentation, performance, and the mythopoetics of Slavic culture. Similar to the photodynamic experiments of the 1910s, the author works with prolonged exposure and the fusion of phases of movement; however, instead of an urban modernist setting, we see a reconstructed environment of Ancient Rus’ and a fire show staged as a contemporary ritual. In these images, the trajectories of the flames and the trajectories of the performers’ movements together form a coherent concept of dynamic motion: light traces unfold into sign-like and mystical figures that evoke an embodied divine ruler of the fiery element. The Baltic and Eastern Slavs (ancestors of Ukrainians and part of today’s Europe), who inhabited the territories of Ancient Rus’ in the first millennium CE, called this deity Svarozhich. The author’s concept focuses on the symbolism of the images, above all on the motif of the victory of good over evil. To reinforce this idea, all works are presented as diptychs in which one frame conceptually continues and deepens the other.

VarrIng demonstrates how Ukrainian authorial photography of the early twenty-first century can rethink the heritage of the historical avant-garde, integrating it into the context of contemporary festival practices, fine-art printing, and the artist’s conceptual self-representation. Thus, the FIRE EMBODIED project not only visualizes the archetype of "fire embodied in the human being", but also proposes an original vector for the further development of the photodynamic tradition in contemporary world photography, articulated in a distinctly Ukrainian context.

Reference: Shooting period: August 24-26, 2012, International Festival of Culture and History "Bylyny (epic) of Ancient Kyiv of IX–XI century".
September 21-23, 2012, International Festival "Guests of Ancient Kyiv of the XV century".

Acted: artists of Kyiv fire theater troupe.

Location: "The Kievan Rus Park", the Centre of Culture and History of Ancient Rus, Ukraine, Kyiv region. In human history this is the only and unique playback and construction of one of the most famous and at the same time the most mysterious medieval town of East Europe – Ancient Kyiv of V–XIII centuries, the medieval capital of the largest empire – Kievan Rus, in the original size of its historical center, known as Detinets (Kremlin) or City of Vladimir.

Its architectural image is recreated in full scale, with the knowledge of modern science. The atmosphere of Kievan Rus is created as well. The project is recognized and supported by both national and international organizations: Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Inter-parliamentary Assembly of the participating states of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv City State Administration, Kyiv Regional State Administration, research institutes, embassies of foreign states in Ukraine, public offices of Ukraine, CIS and Europe.