Kyiv. Ya Gallery

Human/Over/Human

Rostyslav Koterlin

14.09.2022 – 15.10.2022

Rostyslav Koterlin

There is a brutal war going on right here, right now. But this war is an old bitch — Ukrainians have been fighting it for centuries now. It wasn't only the orcs that have cherished the chthonic russism, the eVil we are facing. It is a collective creation of many people of different nationalities that has crept out on the surface of the Ukrainian land. Something important has gone wrong a long time ago. The war in Ukraine, a threatening world nuclear crisis, existentialist uncertainty on numerous continents, political madness and populism as well as climatic catastrophes — all these things are closely related to human wicked intentions and global egoism.


Exhibition Kyiv Ya Gallery

There is a brutal war going on right here, right now. But this war is an old bitch — Ukrainians have been fighting it for centuries now. It wasn't only the orcs that have cherished the chthonic russism, the eVil we are facing. It is a collective creation of many people of different nationalities that has crept out on the surface of the Ukrainian land. Something important has gone wrong a long time ago. The war in Ukraine, a threatening world nuclear crisis, existentialist uncertainty on numerous continents, political madness and populism as well as climatic catastrophes — all these things are closely related to human wicked intentions and global egoism.


It has been over half a century that Nietzsche came up with his übermensch, an overhuman. Historians say that this idea is as old as Adam. Ancient mythic human gods in different religions and world cultures are superior humans. But when declaring his overhuman, Nietzsche probably felt that something was wrong — irreversible civilization changes were closing in on Europe and the world. Soon after his death, after a series of bloody revolutions and wars, “overhumans" came on the scene for real. British historian Niall Ferguson made an interesting observation about their presence through the example of two competing halls of the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris. In his book, Civilization, Ferguson writes, “Having examined the muscular figures of the giants standing on two totalitarian towers, one could distinguish only two major differences between them: communist overhumans were a married couple modestly dressed in coarse overalls, and Aryan overhumans were two naked men. The only thing that surprised me more than bigoted socialist realism was that nude Aryans were missing sexual characters."

The history has passed a tough sentence on “sexless Aryans," but unfortunately this didn't happen to communist “overhumans in overalls." That's why, today, somewhere behind the Kremlin walls, there is a little evil man from the past who considers himself an “overhuman," a conqueror. This guy sees himself as a ruler of human destinies, deciding who is to live and who is to die. Today, he has decided that Ukrainians must die, and who is it going to be tomorrow?.. The war in Ukraine has got to show Europe and the world how important the truth is in the “post-truth" time and how important it is not to flirt with any “fakes," however innocent they may seem at first sight. Because this Kremlin “overhuman," this cannibal, is an absolute fake nourished by the russist propaganda over the many years. The civilized world has had consideration for this character for a long time, quite a few Ukrainians have been looking up to him and viewed him as a hero, and so today we have found ourselves in a situation where anyone at any point can just stop being human. Existentialist questions give rise to existentialist responses. And probably those who stay human in terrible inhuman conditions are true overhumans. And in sex, if it is consensual of course, it is natural and great when a human is over another human.

How did Nietzsche view an overhuman anyway? What kind of an overhuman does Yuval Noah Harari design when analyzing the scientific achievements that were made possible by the modern technologies? These are the questions about the future which is at threat now. Italian landscape architect Pietro Porcinai (1910-1986) formulated an excellent answer, “Our survival is connected with landscape. We must do everything possible to let the new landscapes form again like it was in ancient Florence, Venice and Siena. As a matter of fact, landscape always reflects the quality of social order, and the community that doesn't respect the earthy nature doesn't respect the human nature either."

What can we do if a lot of people in the world don't respect the human nature? They have no respect for the earthy nature as well. What can artists and their art do? Art is an ability to move, it is a project, “a stone thrown" at the perspective. It points out to the events and things that have already happened, that are happening here and now, and how they can influence our tomorrow. Art can be a bridge of respect between the past and the future.

We have got to be sure in the future because it is our survival strategy. Even despite the dramatic and tragic nature of our time, even if there is yet another figure of an overhuman. By the irony of history, this “overhuman" doesn't wear overalls and is sexless, it is not a man of flesh and blood. It is a powerful, cold and rational likeness of a human. It is an artificial, technological reflection of human intelligence and our inability to turn death into life. Who will teach it to distinguish between good and evil, the truth and the lie? Free art is our only hope…
Rostylslav Koterlin


Author

Born in 1966. Lives and works in Ivano-Frankivsk.

1998 graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, department of journalism.

Koterlin is a researcher and an analyst of processes that take place in contemporary art; he is also an author of essays and articles about artists of Ivano-Frankivsk. Since 1990 he's an organizer and a participant of almost all contemporary art programs and projects in his city.

Since 1999 he edits and publishes an almanac of contemporary visual art "Kinez Kinzem".

16.01.2019 – 11.02.2019
Exhibition Kyiv Ya Gallery
19.10.2016 – 12.11.2016
Exhibition Kyiv Ya Gallery Art Center
01.07.2015 – 03.08.2015
Exhibition Kyiv Ya Gallery Art Center
25.09.2013 – 14.10.2013
Exhibition Kyiv Ya Gallery Art Center
12.09.2012 – 11.10.2012
Exhibition Kyiv Ya Gallery Art Center
16.02.2011 – 14.03.2011
Exhibition Kyiv Ya Gallery Art Center
24.03.2010 – 12.04.2010
Exhibition Kyiv Ya Gallery Art Center