2019 – 222.3

222.3  is a constructivist cone standing precipitously on thin metal legs. Drawing on the artist’s fascination with Cosmist philosophy, the cone is the centerpiece of a sculptural tableau telling the story of a weary cosmonaut who dreams of a solar-powered portal that will transport her away. Like the protagonist of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s The Man who Flew into Space from his Apartment (1988), Velická’s character seeks escape from the pressures of contemporary life through the fantasy of space-travel.

The work turns a feminist lens on a Cosmist tradition dominated by men. How would the social role and status of women change if the achievement of mortality also removed the need for reproduction? Would the demise of motherhood entail female emancipation, or undermine the values of care on which society depends? Could there be love without death?

text: Ben Eastham 2023, photo: Daniela Junášková, Rudolf Skopec, Vladimír Turner 2019