Linda Zagidulina

I think of my works as estranged reflections of archival finds and collections both historic and private that help me construct new narratives. I’m interested in the mobility of self-sustained systems I create in my works. In doing this, I’m really keen on exploring materials that can interact with time-based frames. I find my practice, and what I communicate with my works, often intimate and vulnerable in its nature. Looking into the anthropology of systems and social ordering, I’m interested in reflecting on future events on a macro scale, which includes models for social globalisation.

For these works, I was looking into the poetry of song verses and meanings that various culture models typically introduce to globalisation, let's call it cultural wisdom. I was particularly excited about Russian Tatar songs from the 80s – a very successful era for such. The records of these songs are rare in their nature and it takes an effort to trace them today. This led to a close study of TV concerts from the 80s of these songs being performed, particularly their choreography. 

The translation or position of certain languages in a social system sometimes creates a spy code that, just like with radio, exists on certain frequencies in that system. The Collection pushed me to think of words we use on a daily basis (such as goodbye) and their transformation into a traumatic experience, of what language may transmit with sound.