Alternative Art Installation

Press Kit

Unique Properties

The installation is located in the city of Neftekamsk, the name of which is based from two words: oil and Kama (name of the river), although the city has no oil production and no access to the river.
Supernova Art Embassy wanted to change the residents' attitude to their city through an unusual art object, to set a path for the search of modern post-industrial identity of the city and its inhabitants.

Dimensions & Packaging

Decommissioned oil pump "Vulcan" production Bucharest (Romania), height 4.5 m, width 6 m.

Tags

public art, urban art, art festival, calligraphy, installation, site-specific art, ecology, alternative

Production Technology

The installation was made as part of the city festival Iskra Urban Fest 2021, which is taking place in the city for the second year in a row and is a good example of an alternative city festivals. Detailed calligraphy has become a tool for transforming the oil pump unit into an art object.
The installation was constructed in the station square and now welcomes visitors to the city, golden letters on a black background burn with the shimmer of the sun and attract passers-by to read the intricate runes.
Materials: Gold paint MTN Liquid Gold (Spain), brushes, aerosol, sprayer.

Design Challenge

Installation appeared during the festival program together with the city administration and active residents. At a regular meeting on the improvement of the station square there was an idea to use the old oil pump as a city installation on bus station square. A slogan was created: "Neftekamsk is pumping", which means that the city is changing due to the big social program of the city infrastructure development and attraction of outside specialists in cultural and social spheres.

Project Duration

Another stage of Urban Camp as part of Iskra Urban Fest have been held in Neftekamsk (Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia) from September 13 to October 20. The installation was the final part of the past stage and one of 29 implemented art objects for the 2021 season.
Within two years of the project 30 authors from 22 Russian cities participated and 48 works were created (from small formats to large-scale mural and installation).

Operation Flow

The secondary use of a decommissioned industrial facility allowed to implement the project without any major financial costs, the object was included in the festival program, the unusual format allowed to attract the attention of the media and raised the topic of ecology, to show the importance of urban social projects and the positive social effect of the involvement of residents.
The surrounding space of the station square was designed taking into account the transit routes to the station, the installation became the key object of the station square at the intersection of pedestrian and vehicular routes.

Research

Urban communities are formed around a common idea or problem, so it is important to form urban values. The path of development from resource consumption to alternative directions is a motivation to improve the surrounding space. Destructive criticism attitude is a big problem. The administration is considered as a pest, although most cases of vandalism and deterioration of public spaces are related to the consumer attitude and the action of certain social groups of residents.

Inspiration

Manifest:
Having faith in reason, in self-development. With a concern for the environment, it is me.
Hoping that in the future, they (pumping units) will only be objects of memory of how people came to the right and clear decision.
Every road is a path of trial and error, and when we come to perfection, the mistakes will not be the same anymore. Oil is the blood of the Earth's flesh.
Sucking the blood of ourselves will make us vanish. The Earth is not only our home, it is humanity.

Image Credits

Main Image: Photographer Evgeny Demidkov, There Is An Alternative #1, 2021.
Image #1: Photographer Evgeny Demidkov, There Is An Alternative #2, 2021.
Image #2: Photographer Evgeny Demidkov, There Is An Alternative #3, 2021.
Image #3: Photographer Evgeny Demidkov, There Is An Alternative #4, 2021.
Image #4: Photographer Dmitry Kudinov, Alternative #1, 2021.

Patents

Copyrights belong to Custom Bas, Evgeny Demidkov & Dmitry Kudinov

Colors of Alternative Art Installation