BioReconstruction (…of a future moment)

BioReconstruction (...of a future moment) explores the “inner life” of various objects of cultural, artistic or personal significance. Books, drawings, paintings or textiles, wallpapers from abandoned homes, suitcases and boxes that were once important but were subsequently partially destroyed, discarded or seem to have lost their value for some reason. The project deals with the issue of their destruction.

The first phase of the methodology consists of covering the objects with nutrient agar, used in microbiology. Pouring it onto the surface of the objects allows micro-organisms to develop – the life that grows in the nutrient environment is found (quite literally) within the objects themselves. The natural processes that destroy them (bacteria, fungus, and mold) are being embraced.

During this process the objects are being recontextualized – not only their vision, but their meaning is being changed; they are no longer victims of the time, place, and the person who created them, but are beginning to live new lives as “proud” bearers of their trauma.

In the final phase of the project, the entire process is being stopped, with the objects sealed within a layer of ‘epoxy-like amber’. Through the confluence of microbiology and art, BioReconstruction explores the subject of memory and the ephemerality of time, where the distortion of the outer form and its destruction are seen as complex processes that are not necessarily categorized as finite. They create new logic and give new meanings. How can we fast forward time before we freeze it forever?

The project BioReconstruction is part of the 2019 “Striving for the Stars” Scholarship in Visual Art from the “Cultural Perspectives” Foundation and is kindly supported by the Sofia Municipality; realized with tutoring from Nedko Solakov.

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Aksiniya Peicheva (b. 1990 in Kyustendil, Bulgaria) lives and works in Sofia. She holds a PhD from the National Art Academy in Sofia (2019). She completed the educational program for young artists “Close Encounters - Visual Dialogues / School4artists” of the ICA-Sofia (2017). She holds MA (2015) and BA (2013) in Mural Painting from the National Art Academy, Sofia.
Among her solo exhibitions are: “Trauma Mapping” at ICA-Gallery, Sofia (2018, curated by Luchezar Boyadjiev) and “LUCUS” at “Vladimir Dimitrov - the Master” Gallery, Kyustendil (2017), and in Karlsruhe, Germany (2018). Among her participations in group exhibitions are: Ars Electronica Festival / “Out of the Box”, Linz, Austria (2019); “School4artists”, ICA-Gallery, Sofia (2017, curated by Iara Boubnova, Krassimir Terziev, and Luchezar Boyadjiev); “Water Tower Artfest”, Sofia (2016, curated by Nia Poushkarova); LUMMIX-Light Art Fest, Ancient Bath, Plovdiv (2016, curated by Emil Mirazchiev); “Sense of the Universe”, Earth and People National Museum, Sofia (2014, organized by Art and Science Research Foundation „Re:”).