The “Alibi” exhibition project throughout comprises questions, which demand some guesses at answers. Most of the points, apparently brought to the surface by a “stream of consciousness,” are in fact bound together in some particular way. When observing any work of art whose meaning seems far from crystal clear to us, we take out our interpretive toolboxes and begin to apply their contents in order to unlock meanings. Each of us possesses different sets of tools, depending on our life experience and professional expertise.

The very meaning of the title, “Alibi,” is not obvious. It induces reflection concerning its interpretation. One possible (but not exclusive) version includes how the means of total manipulation over the social mind (at first glance, of course, the media, but also, to some extent, the forms of art for mass consumption) stealthily shape the disregard for pain, violence, and destruction. The key psychological trigger in this construct is alibi, or the absence of evidence of perpetration, the principle of: “I was not present there.”

In this particular case, the experiment is made by means of artistic statements. Austere everyday objects and technical tools are presented outside the circles of their habitual meanings, enhanced with more attractiveness and gloom, deconstructed, and re-formatted, with the result that we cannot resist the magic of first impressions and begin to access the artworks at the level of their wit, by the elegance of their elaborated details, or by their conformity to the newest artistic trends (that is, for those who believe they are well aware of such trends). No imposed pathos, no straightforward revelations; ultimately, the visitors to the exhibition have got a strong alibi: we were not present there…

author Jahangir Selimkhanov