Vitto Valentinov

Do you believe in the invisible?
People have always sought a connection with the invisible. The belief in gods, spirits, forces and energies invariably refers to its enigmatic presence. Science, too, ventures into the unseen—deeper into matter and farther into the dark cosmos. In order to achieve a connection with the invisible, sometimes a whole religion, mythology, or pseudo-science is created, and even a new industry with promises of exclusive access. Entering the unseen implies the availability of tools and instructions. From rituals in ancient Egypt, through religious temples in the Middle Ages, to the placebo effect in medicine – the invisible often needs material mediating facilities.

Interaction Zones
My installations with audience participation are kinds of designated areas for interactions. Visitors engage in experiments that often require minimal physical activity but full concentration of body and mind. In them, I invite the participants to perform simple gestures. In this way, they become part of creative events - artistic rituals. The body of the participant becomes a material and at the same time an object of research. I am interested in creating conditions where people can experiment with themselves.

Art is in the Mind
In my new project PORTALS, I invite visitors to participate in several site-specific minimalist installations. For each of them, they follow short instructions and perform a physical action: one installation - one task - one action. In this experiment, I seek to establish the connection between physical action and the invisible. In my previous works, there were direct physical results of a causal nature from the actions of the participants. In this project, it is a challenge for me to motivate visitors to participate without seeing the effect of their actions, but to experience or visualize it through their imagination. These mini-constructions with instructions are sort of portals to the unseen.

PORTALS
In the exhibition space there are several minimalist facilities with instructions. They invite participants to "use" them to realize set goals. One of the objects, with a thin П-shape, warns that if you walk through it your life could "take a new direction". Another sign installation, as long as a path, invites you to run across it as fast as you can — promising that in doing so you may "pass" into another dimension. A flat line on the floor invites you to jump over it to "move" into the future. A column in the space, with simple architectural additions, invites you to circle around it in a counter-clockwise direction to reverse the passage of time. An unusual circular object called a Teleport Terminal informs you to stand statically in front of it to welcome an expected teleported passenger "at any moment". Thus, in the space there are several objects - activators that invite you to perform movements to cause given consequences.