“To Grow from the Grass I Love” in the Moscow Art Magazine

In the 126th issue of the Moscow Art Journal, focused on the phenomenon of autofiction, Tatyana Sokhareva’s article “How Autofiction Became Total” was published. The art critic reflects on the intricate intertwining of personhood and authorship in conceptual art and the strategies of memory studies. In this context, my project “To Grow from the Grass I Love” was also mentioned.

Similarly, artist Anastasia Bogomolova works with autobiographical material in the project “To Grow from the Grass I Love” where artist literally grew plants through “memories"— letters from grandmother recounting life at the dacha, family photographs, sketches. By reconstructing family’s experience closely tied to land cultivation, Bogomolova tracked the gradual decomposition and destruction of objects of personal memory. The “I”, family, and history dissolved into the “indifferent nature”, which will continue to shine and blind us despite our efforts to preserve “sacred clutter”. In this and similar projects, the artist enters into complex relationships with the objective picture of reality: how truthful were the memories if a burdock literally grew through them? Who becomes the true author of the work in this case? Autofictionality in this context becomes a tool of post-medial art, within which a critical position is developed at the intersection of the real “I” and the imagined “I”.

The entire publication is illustrated with the images from the project, including views of the installation from last year’s exhibition at the Yeltsin Center Art Gallery.