With his installation “Russische Landschaft V (Russian Landscape V),” Simon Ostaschenko powerfully reflects on Russia’s past and present and contemplates possible future scenarios. At the same time, he examines the role of the media and the workings of propaganda, and explores the fragility of collective identity.
A living room serves as the artist’s space for critical reflection. Hanging on the wall is an image of a Persian rug, displayed as is customary in Eastern Europe. Its patterns, however, are trickling onto the floor—like blood.
A surreal video collage plays on the screen; it is the centerpiece of the installation.
Through it, the artist blurs the line between entertainment, news, and propaganda.
For the film С Новым годом, всем пиздец (Happy New Year, You’re All Fucked, 2025), Ostaschenko edited found footage from video platforms into a collage that traces developments in Russia- from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the war against Ukraine. Scenes from Soviet animated films,
Putin’s first New Year’s address, folk dances, current news, and images of the war blend with the music of punk musician Yegor Letov, who died in 2008.
The channel-surfing intensifies, creating an experience reminiscent of feverish dreams:
church bells mingle with the sounds of war, and voices are swapped in an absurd reversal of roles.
Nothing seems reliable. What remains is a sense of unease that can even be felt physically.
In this installation, Simon Ostaschenko explores his Russian heritage while also addressing feelings such as powerlessness and shame in the face of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. From the perspective of the diaspora, the artist critically examines cultural identity and political reality. But Ostaschenko does not focus solely on the present:
Time and again, he brings Yegor Letov into the picture, who alludes to the period following the collapse of the Soviet Union: the brief euphoria of freedom, the subsequent loss of identity, the rise of nationalism, and finally Putin’s path toward dictatorship.
Could the end of Putin’s rule actually usher in a new freedom?
Or will the history of the country and its people continue in a different, unpredictable form?
Julia Herfurth, Institut für neue soziale Plastik
