Stepan Myannik
In his practice, Stepan pays special attention to the material, what functions it carries, and how the depth and meaning of the work change, since information about the material makes you read the work differently. As object and material complement each other, creating both contrast and harmony in their joint practice, the artist works with different media: painting, installation, sculpture and video. For example, he uses the tai-dye technique (characteristic of the hippie movement) along with bleach in an attempt to convey the desire for purification. The artist is also interested in the interaction of modern technologies and their impact on the visual arts.
In a series of neural network portraits inspired by Thispersondoesnotexist.com, the artist depicts visually distorted portraits of people, thereby highlighting the imperfections of modern technology in an attempt to copy a real live image. The neural network creates an almost indistinguishable human portrait based on the uploaded photos. She analyzes and already creates photographs of people who smile and laugh and are indistinguishable from real people. The program generates errors that are interesting for their imperfection, but after refreshing the page, a new portrait appears in the program, which was not there yet.
One of the last series of works by Stepan "Bust" takes inspiration from the events connected with protests in the United States and Europe, during which monuments to historical figures were attacked: damaged, destroyed or beheaded. The topic of the destruction of the symbolism of a particular regime is relevant for Russia, which leads to a split in society.
