Asya Marakulina

Before reconstructing the plant’s building into an office space, the artists were offered to use it for an artistic project. During a week I came there and explored former workshops and offices. The workers have just left the building and in addition to materials for the production of communications equipment, a huge number of their personal belongings remained - traces of long presence at work. Letters, vacation photos, notebooks, donor cards - all this was left at the desks. I was very sad: some once important things were soon to disappear and drown in a heap of construction waste.

For a short period of time between the long industrial past and an obscure office future, the factory became an exhibition space. I wanted to capture this state of transition - a short pause, when objects disappear and the place changes its meaning.

By means of time-lapse animation, we see how things disappear in reality and leave black holes on the projection surface. After disappearing, an object erases part of the shot leaving only a vague memory of its presence. This work is a reflection on time and on things that keep our memories.

The video installation «Trace» was created and shown in the building of the «Signal» plant in St. Petersburg exclusively for the collective site-specific project.