Ilya Stasevich

' Born from and loosely based on Ilya’s thesis I Am a Relentless Headache And I Will Never Leave You Alone, this installation also deals with time and space egocentrically; the way one perceives it and feels towards it. Time is speedy, merciless, formidable and ruthless. It’s one of the few things we cannot get under our control and manipulate. It erases memories, lives and egos with no hesitation. In his thesis, Ilya grants its main character power over the most unruly — the pace of time —, and takes away the simplest, most comforting ability — to recognise, remember and relate to his surroundings. The reader gets to watch it unfold.

 

In this installation words and writing still play a role. But unlike the novel, Eternal Deception materialises those feelings and ideas surrounding time and its nature in relation to personhood. Simultaneously it puts the viewer in the main character position, blurring the lines between ‘the perceived’ and ‘the perceiver’.

Human-made spaces are the opposite of time — they are familiar, identifiable. Over centuries people have created spaces for all kinds of activities and learned which spatial conditions make one feel a certain way. Through creating a two-room space from scratch and being in charge of its every feature, Ilya stages and forces an environment that imposes his feelings and ideas directly onto the viewer, while tampering with traces, contrasts and symbols.