FECHIN
multimedia installation
Fechin
about project
"FECHIN" is a multimedia installation on the walls of the Kazan Gallery of Modern Art. It is dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the birth of the artist Niсolai Feсhin.
Niсolai Feсhin (1881 – 1955) – Russian-American artist, born in Kazan. He enters the context of the Art Nouveau style, which is characterized by a mixture of trends: his work is based on the Russian academic school, the realism of the Itinerants and the techniques of impressionism.
Feсhin's life is divided between Russia and the United States of America. Our project describes exactly the Russian period of Fechin's life. How did he become an artist? How did emigration to the U.S. happen?
The entire multimedia essay is based on the memoirs of the artist himself, told in the first person. To illustrate them, digital copies of the paintings were used. Through multimedia, the features of Feсhin's technique are accentuated – the contrast of textures of his free impasto painting, the effect of etude unfinishedness, mannerisms in his work with portraits. The narrative is constructed in the form of the development of the artist's internal dialogue. Archival photographs and letters were also used in addition to paintings, but most of the installation consists of scenes with paints.
Feсhin's life is divided between Russia and the United States of America. Our project describes exactly the Russian period of Fechin's life. How did he become an artist? How did emigration to the U.S. happen?
The entire multimedia essay is based on the memoirs of the artist himself, told in the first person. To illustrate them, digital copies of the paintings were used. Through multimedia, the features of Feсhin's technique are accentuated – the contrast of textures of his free impasto painting, the effect of etude unfinishedness, mannerisms in his work with portraits. The narrative is constructed in the form of the development of the artist's internal dialogue. Archival photographs and letters were also used in addition to paintings, but most of the installation consists of scenes with paints.
Fechin is best known as a master of psychological portraiture, but he also created multi-figure genre compositions, landscapes, still lifes, and nudes. The purpose of our installation is to tell about the Kazan period of Fechin's life through a multimedia story made from the artist's digitized works.
What we had to work with: digitized paintings and graphic drawings, archival photographs, fragments of Fechin's own memoirs. From this we developed a multimedia story, which was projected onto 3 gallery walls. It helped that the art critic Peter Dulsky preserved information about Fechin's painting technique in his article. It lists the main working colors and their combinations. Based on this information, we built our visual content.
What we had to work with: digitized paintings and graphic drawings, archival photographs, fragments of Fechin's own memoirs. From this we developed a multimedia story, which was projected onto 3 gallery walls. It helped that the art critic Peter Dulsky preserved information about Fechin's painting technique in his article. It lists the main working colors and their combinations. Based on this information, we built our visual content.
Most of the installation consists of painting scenes. In them, we focused on Feсhin's characteristic free impasto painting with contrasting textures. The dynamic kneadings of paints mainly consist of the tones characteristic of the Kazan period of Fechin – pearl gray and ocher brown. To understand the historical era (Russia, the first half of the 20th century) we drew the Fechin locations using archival photographs. That’s how we showed the workshops and the buildings of the art school.
It was not an easy task to work with portraits – we wanted to emphasize the mannerism of the artist in his work with faces. For this, morphing was used. The transformation and transition of faces from one to another demonstrates the difference in the characters of the artist's models and how accurately he reads them and conveys them in portraits. It is easy to see that Feсhin's main model is his daughter Iya, whom he adores.
We wanted to convey the whole story in the first person, because we had Fechin's letters on our hands. Such an opportunity could not be neglected. So the script is built entirely on the quotes of the artist himself. We did not change any words. To voice the quotes, we invited a great admirer of Fechin – the chief artistic director of G. Kamal Tatar Academic Theatre Farid Bikchantaev.
Another essential part of the installation is music. Without it, it is impossible to immerse yourself in the multimedia space completely. The composer of the project had to translate Feсhin's artistic technique into musical language. Moreover, it was important for us that the musical accompaniment must be a kind of imprint of the musical preferences of the artist himself. Therefore, we decided to emphasize our author's variations of the music that Fechin himself loved. “Feсhin's drawing lines and forms were interpreted in the form of Bach's fugue, father's love for his daughter – in the form of Schubert's romance about spring, homesickness – in the form of Rachmaninoff.” – this is how Fechin was seen by the composer of the installation, the electronic musician Holofonote.
It was not an easy task to work with portraits – we wanted to emphasize the mannerism of the artist in his work with faces. For this, morphing was used. The transformation and transition of faces from one to another demonstrates the difference in the characters of the artist's models and how accurately he reads them and conveys them in portraits. It is easy to see that Feсhin's main model is his daughter Iya, whom he adores.
We wanted to convey the whole story in the first person, because we had Fechin's letters on our hands. Such an opportunity could not be neglected. So the script is built entirely on the quotes of the artist himself. We did not change any words. To voice the quotes, we invited a great admirer of Fechin – the chief artistic director of G. Kamal Tatar Academic Theatre Farid Bikchantaev.
Another essential part of the installation is music. Without it, it is impossible to immerse yourself in the multimedia space completely. The composer of the project had to translate Feсhin's artistic technique into musical language. Moreover, it was important for us that the musical accompaniment must be a kind of imprint of the musical preferences of the artist himself. Therefore, we decided to emphasize our author's variations of the music that Fechin himself loved. “Feсhin's drawing lines and forms were interpreted in the form of Bach's fugue, father's love for his daughter – in the form of Schubert's romance about spring, homesickness – in the form of Rachmaninoff.” – this is how Fechin was seen by the composer of the installation, the electronic musician Holofonote.
Director:
Damir Allyamov
Project curator, producer:
Aniya Faizrahmanova
Illustrators:
Maxim Loginov, Leysan Khafizova
Video designers:
Roman Kondratiev, Roman Nazaryev,
Farid Khusnutdinov
Music:
Holofonote
Voice-over:
Farid Rafkatovich Bikchantaev
Multimedia engineers:
Nail Valiulin, Ramil Vafin, Alexey Kovalev
Case videography:
Roman Ishkinin
Case video editor:
Damir Allyamov
Damir Allyamov
Project curator, producer:
Aniya Faizrahmanova
Illustrators:
Maxim Loginov, Leysan Khafizova
Video designers:
Roman Kondratiev, Roman Nazaryev,
Farid Khusnutdinov
Music:
Holofonote
Voice-over:
Farid Rafkatovich Bikchantaev
Multimedia engineers:
Nail Valiulin, Ramil Vafin, Alexey Kovalev
Case videography:
Roman Ishkinin
Case video editor:
Damir Allyamov
Niсolai Feсhin (1881 – 1955) – Russian-American artist, born in Kazan. He enters the context of the Art Nouveau style, which is characterized by a mixture of trends: his work is based on the Russian academic school, the realism of the Itinerants and the techniques of impressionism.
Feсhin's life is divided between Russia and the United States of America. Our project describes exactly the Russian period of Fechin's life. How did he become an artist? How did emigration to the U.S. happen?
The entire multimedia essay is based on the memoirs of the artist himself, told in the first person. To illustrate them, digital copies of the paintings were used. Through multimedia, the features of Feсhin's technique are accentuated – the contrast of textures of his free impasto painting, the effect of etude unfinishedness, mannerisms in his work with portraits. The narrative is constructed in the form of the development of the artist's internal dialogue. Archival photographs and letters were also used in addition to paintings, but most of the installation consists of scenes with paints.
Feсhin's life is divided between Russia and the United States of America. Our project describes exactly the Russian period of Fechin's life. How did he become an artist? How did emigration to the U.S. happen?
The entire multimedia essay is based on the memoirs of the artist himself, told in the first person. To illustrate them, digital copies of the paintings were used. Through multimedia, the features of Feсhin's technique are accentuated – the contrast of textures of his free impasto painting, the effect of etude unfinishedness, mannerisms in his work with portraits. The narrative is constructed in the form of the development of the artist's internal dialogue. Archival photographs and letters were also used in addition to paintings, but most of the installation consists of scenes with paints.
Niсolai Feсhin
1881–1955
task
Fechin is best known as a master of psychological portraiture, but he also created multi-figure genre compositions, landscapes, still lifes, and nudes. The purpose of our installation is to tell about the Kazan period of Fechin's life through a multimedia story made from the artist's digitized works.
What we had to work with: digitized paintings and graphic drawings, archival photographs, fragments of Fechin's own memoirs. From this we developed a multimedia story, which was projected onto 3 gallery walls. It helped that the art critic Peter Dulsky preserved information about Fechin's painting technique in his article. It lists the main working colors and their combinations. Based on this information, we built our visual content.
What we had to work with: digitized paintings and graphic drawings, archival photographs, fragments of Fechin's own memoirs. From this we developed a multimedia story, which was projected onto 3 gallery walls. It helped that the art critic Peter Dulsky preserved information about Fechin's painting technique in his article. It lists the main working colors and their combinations. Based on this information, we built our visual content.
Solution
Most of the installation consists of painting scenes. In them, we focused on Feсhin's characteristic free impasto painting with contrasting textures. The dynamic kneadings of paints mainly consist of the tones characteristic of the Kazan period of Fechin – pearl gray and ocher brown.
To understand the historical era (Russia, the first half of the 20th century) we drew the Fechin locations using archival photographs. That’s how we showed the workshops and the buildings of the art school.
To understand the historical era (Russia, the first half of the 20th century) we drew the Fechin locations using archival photographs. That’s how we showed the workshops and the buildings of the art school.
It was not an easy task to work with portraits – we wanted to emphasize the mannerism of the artist in his work with faces. For this, morphing was used. The transformation and transition of faces from one to another demonstrates the difference in the characters of the artist's models and how accurately he reads them and conveys them in portraits. It is easy to see that Feсhin's main model is his daughter Iya, whom he adores.
We wanted to convey the whole story in the first person, because we had Fechin's letters on our hands. Such an opportunity could not be neglected. So the script is built entirely on the quotes of the artist himself. We did not change any words. To voice the quotes, we invited a great admirer of Fechin – the chief artistic director of G. Kamal Tatar Academic Theatre Farid Bikchantaev.
Another essential part of the installation is music. Without it, it is impossible to immerse yourself in the multimedia space completely. The composer of the project had to translate Feсhin's artistic technique into musical language. Moreover, it was important for us that the musical accompaniment must be a kind of imprint of the musical preferences of the artist himself. Therefore, we decided to emphasize our author's variations of the music that Fechin himself loved. “Feсhin's drawing lines and forms were interpreted in the form of Bach's fugue, father's love for his daughter – in the form of Schubert's romance about spring, homesickness – in the form of Rachmaninoff.” – this is how Fechin was seen by the composer of the installation, the electronic musician Holofonote.
team
Director:
Damir Allyamov
Project curator, producer:
Aniya Faizrahmanova
Illustrators:
Maxim Loginov, Leysan Khafizova
Damir Allyamov
Project curator, producer:
Aniya Faizrahmanova
Illustrators:
Maxim Loginov, Leysan Khafizova
Video designers:
Roman Kondratiev, Roman Nazaryev,
Farid Khusnutdinov
Music:
Holofonote
Voice-over:
Farid Rafkatovich Bikchantaev
Roman Kondratiev, Roman Nazaryev,
Farid Khusnutdinov
Music:
Holofonote
Voice-over:
Farid Rafkatovich Bikchantaev
Multimedia engineers:
Nail Valiulin,
Ramil Vafin,
Alexey Kovalev
Nail Valiulin,
Ramil Vafin,
Alexey Kovalev