Slinko

Visual description: The video opens with a black screen that cuts to disused appliances within a black void, then cuts to a birds-eye view shot of a train passing through an industrial landscape, right beside there is a flea market. Footage of hands picking things up and sifting through goods laid out on bright colored cloths on the dusty ground. The sun is shining bright and now and then the frame cuts to the visual of a train passing. The artist speaks to people of various ages dressed casually, mostly in sportswear. The colors are vibrant. There are English subtitles to translate the Russian and Ukrainian responses. 

Wall Text: In this video work, the artist visits flea markets in Ukraine recording locals’ observations. Since the Maidan uprising in 2013, the Ukrainian government has developed mechanics to erase the remnants of its Soviet past, taking down monuments and replacing street names. But, at the flea markets, Russia is felt strongly as there are Soviet-era tchotchkes, appliances, textiles, and equipment for sale. When the Soviet Union fell, many people lost their jobs and started selling wares in flea markets—since then Ukrainians have lived under the threat of Russian imperialism which escalated into war in 2014. The video’s title, Everything Must Go, borrows its meaning from a term used by U.S. stores that are going out of business and need all inventory to be cleared. “Serving as a metaphor for the structural and societal clearing out in Post-Soviet Ukraine, Everything Must Go explores historic memory, nationhood, and social relations affected by newly unleashed free market forces,” Slinko comments.

About

Born in Ukraine, Slinko is a multidisciplinary artist living in the US. While her practice is informed by scholarship on labor, agency, and politics, her inspiration comes from interactions with ordinary people, localized contexts, and material culture. Slinko’s sees her practice as an ongoing fieldwork that centers on the anecdotal within larger historical narratives. Growing up in Donbas during the final years of the Soviet Union made Slinko keenly aware of precarious dimensions of state power. By examining its cultural, economic, and ideological effects on individuals and society, Slinko aims to put the spotlight on resilience, dissent, and humor to give graspable forms to personal agency. Slinko earned her MFA in Sculpture and Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University, and has been awarded the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship. She has been an artist resident at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Bemis Contemporary Art Center, BANFF Centre, and Santa Fe Art Institute among others.