Simulacra

In Simulacra, Nika Kupyrova explores the blurred boundaries between what is real and imaginary, virtual and non-virtual, organic and mechanical. The multimedia installation encompassing video, painting, sculpture and digital aesthetics was partially created in collaboration with the artist’s mother, Irina Kupyrova. By incorporating set pieces from mythology, literary modernism, pop and internet culture, the exhibition provokes feelings of euphoria and malaise that are characteristic not only of the humanistic history of technology and the internet, but also of dreamscapes. Within a pseudo-organic construction composed of sunset, corals and mycelium, Simulacra unfurls a stage for a digital, animist cosmology composed of screenshots and avatars alongside several white dogs. The latter serve as markers for the transition to a more fanciful world. The boundaries between what we perceive as real or fictional are perpetually shifting. This is a phenomenon that is currently exemplified by images generated by deep learning models – a method that the artist consciously chooses not to employ, but at best to imitate.