2022
Denis Davydov x Uta Bekaia
BAJBAJAS
The joint project “Sacred Creatures” by the Uzbek multimedia artist Denis Davydov and the Georgian-American artist Uta Bekaia studies and gives new content and visual interpretations to avatars. Active participants in current discussions about contemporary art and computer technologies, Davydov and Bekaia present their reflections on avatars as objects existing between numerous worlds. The artists pool their forces to create a virtual meta-universe – a new world where fantasy, recollections, mental projections and the possibilities of computer games combine into a single whole.
The concept of Davydov and Bekaia’s first drop is based on the hypothesis that a person’s earliest avatar in life is a children’s toy. The toy is the first valuable that belongs exclusively to the child as well as an artefact to which supernatural powers can be ascribed by the force of the imagination. The cultural horizon of both artists emerged, by their own account, as something “extremely multicultural and variegated, a paradoxical agglomeration of signs – a Molotov cocktail of images from American comics, Japanese manga, traditional toys, Western and Soviet cartoons and, last but not least, first-generation computer games.” They add, “This is why the creation of our own meta-universe is a totally natural step towards the present day.”
Each work consists of a hand-painted watercolor sketch that is transferred into virtual space with the help of unique textures, materials and mechanisms that were specially developed for the project to activate the plastic possibilities of avatars in specific ways. The project is conceived as a serial undertaking with each installment shedding new light on Davydov and Bekaia’s multi-universe.
Family of 14 unique creatures.
Shapeshifters. These creatures are the symbol of transformation and diversity. Once they notice you, they blow up into a different pattern from inside.
Shapeshifters. These creatures are the symbol of transformation and diversity. Once they notice you, they blow up into a different pattern from inside.
SHASHKA
BABUA-VERA
ANUNIKA
Svadhisthanas
Edition of 1. Computer-generated image NFT. Courtesy of Window Project & instigators. Powered by 4ARTechnologies.
TVALI
THAO
ZENIHDA
LITTLE UTA
MICHIKO
MELANCHOLIA
LAHILA
PAAN
ACHIKO
DAHLI
TSA
Family of 4 unique creatures.
These characters are very sensitive to touch and move and bounce a lot. They pass a diamond from behind, which starts to move like a satellite around head, then they catch this diamond and swallow it. These creatures represents being part of a greater divine machine.
These characters are very sensitive to touch and move and bounce a lot. They pass a diamond from behind, which starts to move like a satellite around head, then they catch this diamond and swallow it. These creatures represents being part of a greater divine machine.
ARA
SAHA
HASRA
Sahasraras
Edition of 1. Computer-generated image NFT.
Courtesy of Window Project & instigators.
Powered by 4ARTechnologies
Courtesy of Window Project & instigators.
Powered by 4ARTechnologies
ASRA
Project team
CG visualisation and animation: Anton Fedorov
Sound: Farhad Farzali
Tech support: Kirill Kudryavtsev
Art consultant: Andrey Misiano
Project coordinator: Amalia Tumasova
Sound: Farhad Farzali
Tech support: Kirill Kudryavtsev
Art consultant: Andrey Misiano
Project coordinator: Amalia Tumasova