Igor Sacharow-Ross

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Igor Sacharow-Ross was born 1947 in Chabarovsk, East Siberia, his parents’ place of exile close to the Chinese border. In the 1970s he was a member of the nonconformist art scene and was politically persecuted. In 1975 he staged his first actions and performances in the then USSR and was expatriated for good in 1978. His early engagement with the concept of nature was molded by his early experiences as a youth in the Siberian taiga landscape. Sacharow-Ross understands nature to be a field of activity for elemental forces that can be either beneficial or destructive. Since the 1980s, Sacharow-Ross has worked with molecular structures such as cancer cells and leaf forms. At that time he had already sought to fuse the knowledge of the natural sciences with that of the humanities. Thus there evolved an active participation of his viewers, from an extreme physical commitment to an open collaboration-in-progress, yet without requiring any tangible result. In Kunstraum Dornbirn, Sacharow-Ross will engage the public in a quite subversive way; they will become part of a scent- and tactile-intensive experience. Three different herbs are placed each in its own tub of water that simmers softly away. The steam that arises envelops the entire hall and its visitors in an unusual odorous atmosphere, opening up a new spatial dimension of experience. The steam purifies the visitors, while the black fabric hanging in the hall absorbs all the negative energy. A pipe links the indoors with the outdoors and thus connects the air purged by the herbs with the fresh air outside the Kunstraum.

Curator: Anna Karina Hofbauer, M.A.