Modeling: Olena Martynchuk ‘Archive of Small Forms’

On March 26 at 7 PM Mala Gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal will live stream the online event Modeling: Olena Martynchuk Archive of Small Forms.

Archive_malych_form is a visual online archive of spontaneous spatial practices. It contains photo documentation of various DIY utilitarian structures, which are used mainly as signal fences or as markings for parking.

Clumsy, bizarre and even whimsical objects surround us in public spaces. They may irritate us with their absurd appearance, can be found in inappropriate places, or we may not notice or ignore their presence. However, they are part of our daily lives.

The project is an attempt to analyse and comprehend the archiving of everyday life using research and artistic methods. The exhibition consists of selected photographs, “field” notes and documentation of work with archival materials.

The archive can be found here.

Olena Martinchuk is a researcher of visual practices and curator. She studied at the Lviv National Academy of Arts and the University of Arts in Poznań. She is currently studying cultural anthropology at the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań. Furthermore, she researches vernacular photography, living archives, does artistic research, contemporary art practices and Soviet monumental art. Olena is engaged in photography, text and anthropological film. She founded an online archive Archive_malych_form and collects photos of everyday life for the research project Archive_foto_na_zgadku.

‘Modeling’ is a long-term project of the Laboratory of Contemporary Art Mala Gallery, where together with the invited artists we try to present their (un)shown projects in the virtual space of  Mala Gallery and to talk about current issues in the photographic field. ‘Modeling’ is implemented as part of the photographic direction of the Laboratory of Contemporary Art for 2020-2021 in order to study the medium of photography and the possibilities of its representation.