UNTITLED (Ventilation), 2018

The achromatic colours of “Untitled (ventilation)” are composed of the tiniest particles of earth – formless dust. Isolating matter is usually done for the purpose of truth finding by the forensic or scientific eye. And it’s not only core samples of substances, but also patterns, including wire systems laid in walls, that are often considered to be data carriers.

The abstract graphics of the original prints draw on the forensic gaze. Employing a process of documentary imaging techniques, untitled (ventilation) however reveals an imprint that opens to illusion rather than to truth finding. Each image displays an engineered pattern, providing us with a figure for an unknown fact. As an outcome of a prephotographic mode of documentation, the work visually chronicles the ambiguity of traces, thinking out loud its affinity for observation and for the voyage of the separate fragment.

Mikhail Tolmachev (1983, Russia) is a visual artist living in Leipzig. His work – audio-visual installations, photo etchings, and spatial interventions – touches on questions of memory, institutional display, and media archaeology. He studied at the Izvestia School of Documentary Photography Moscow and the ICA Moscow. He holds a diploma and a postgraduate degree in Media Arts from the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig.
His recent shows are General Rehearsal, Museum of Modern Art Moscow (2018), Space Force Construction, V-A-C Foundation, Venice (2017), 7th Biennale of Contemporary Art Moscow (2017), Sentsov’s Camera, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig (2016), The School of Kyiv, Kyiv Biennial (2015).

Mikhail Tolmachev - CV
Mikhail Tolmachev - List of works