RUSENG

The City Suite (2004-2016)

The City Suite (2004-2016)

The project deals with a play of light inside structures built by humans, erasing the borders of internal and external in the architecture. Mirrored facades create a celebration of reflections and glow.
The project was exhibited as a solo show at PhotoVisa Festival in Krasnodar (2013) and in Month Of Photography Festival in Bratislava (2013); It was also exhibited in Moscow in 2014, in Houston (2011) and in Tel Aviv (2011). One of the works is in permanent collection of Museum of Fine Arts (Houston).

All works are available to acquire as limited edition prints.

In video presentation of this project I explore visual parallels of polyphony. Architecture is often called "still music", while music is a most abstract form of harmony. Therefore, for this project, I use some of my most abstract photographs of light playing in human-built structures and align them with music. Jazz adaptations of classical pieces use shifting, syncopation and alterations to transform regular musical meters, similar to how random play of reflected light shifts, bends and molds rectangular patterns of city structures, creating playful variations.

First movement of the suite is the Air of Bach, in jazz variation by Jacques Loussier's trio. It introduces the viewer to the city atmosphere and presents acting characters: walls, buildings and reflecting surfaces.

Second movement is slow and emotional, just like in a classical concerto. It is a prelude of Chopin in jazz adaptation performed by Chris Botti. Here it guides the viewer into the labyrinth of urban crystals and creates sentimental and touching sense.

Finally, a fragment of Bach's Dorian Toccata for organ celebrates the drive and the power of polyphony with expressive chords of light. We see multiple shifted repetitions of rhythms of buildings and lines, both real and reflected. This is similar to how a counterpoint (contrapunctus) repeats and shifts musical voices in a polyphonic composition.