URBATIKA

This exhibition is a metaphor on the situation of man in urban contemporary society. Spashilov turns to electric poles as a form of urban reality. The works move between the lyrical and gentle, a representation of a new form of urban aesthetics, and threat and anxiety, as a symbol of urban life filled with uncertainty, angst and a longing for nature. The works represent a dialogue between lyrical lines and a more solid, overpowering and aggressive patch. The interaction between the two aspires to find balance between the light, weightless, floating lines creating movement and rhythm, and the black color patches representing uncertainty and chaos.

 Spashilov draws dozens of electric poles in realistic outlines and a monochromatic color scheme, while examining them from different angles and a wife array of interesting constructions. She is fascinated by the small details the poles consist of: the branching power lines, the endless metal walls comprising the poles, and more. The bases of the poles, that reach up to the sky and their wide arms support the energy highway, are rooted in the ground. Occasionally Spashilov cuts off the top or the bottom of the pole. The pole has no beginning and no end, or maybe it exists without interruption or consideration of the boundaries of the frame. But in spite of the condensed imagery, the reduction of color and the almost obsessive need to focus on the main features, every pole gives off a completely different feel. 

 In spite of the monotonous drawings, every pole is different. No two poles are the same. Every pole represents an individual. The pole seems to be a knight in full armor standing guard. The poles suddenly seem human, stretching their arms as if attempting to take charge and define their territory. They also seem a little aggressive and intimidating, as if they have taken the place of the subject, that has been completely erased.

 The power lines (reminiscent of spider webs) are visual imagery of the sort of communication characterizing contemporary culture – virtual communication. This is a sort of communication that is no longer emotional but informative, cold and detached. The mechanism is hidden at the base. The façade is not treated and the poles are usually not attractive or well designed. They act as servants behind the scenes, but in reality they form a basic foundation of western civilization.

 The electric poles have a marked impact on the landscape – they are an inseparable part of a global urban landscape, and they have a function not to be ignored. They are everywhere – in city streets, rural fields, highways, natural forest areas and more. They comprise an apparent "wound" in an open landscape. That makes them look powerful. They have an invasive quality taking over the environment and controlling the landscape. They sometime seem like forests – iron forests evoking a science fiction sort of environment. Technology, acquiring a life of its own, functions here as a form of vegetation. Therefore technology takes over nature, and nature is preserved in special nature reserves. On the other hand, our aesthetics have changed, and growing up in a technological environment allows us to see beauty in an electric pole. These poles have become modern trees.¹

Each electric pole contains immense internal force, when a large series of poles comprises a powerful power unit. On the one hand electricity embodies power and energy, and on the other hand each pole gives off a feeling of loneliness, detachment and a marathon for survival. Technology's fast development causes uncertainty and a feeling of madness, lack of control and chaos.

 For Spashilov black soil is reminiscent of threat and anxiety, as a symbol of urban life taking over nature and space.² The anxious feeling in Spashilov's drawings is expressed through a symbol of a monster, representing urban invasion.³ Fear is also expressed in some of Spashilov's earlier works, such as her exhibition "monsters" .⁴

The dialog with the new "nature" in Spashilov's works exemplifies the relative feeling created by the massive and overpowering urbanity of the static electric poles, that are not confined to a specific time or place. Spashilov creates charged drawings seeking to focus on the connection between nature and urban reality. This is a poetic drawing at its best, precise and concise, personal and unique.

 Comments:

 1.      The use of technological symbols started at the end of the 19^th century with artists such as Sheeler, Kandinsky and Knyaer. For them, architecture and technology were symbolic of a sort of power and represented a new form of aesthetics. In their works as well, there are no people or human activity in the street or in any of the windows, although their works deal with cities.

 2.      Spashilov's use of black color patches is reminiscent of the black, frozen and heavy patch in Aviva Uri's work, which deals with a fear of an atomic bomb in many of her drawings, describing total destruction and final catastrophe. Nevertheless, in Spashilov's patch, in contrast with Uri's, there is a presence of body and shape.

 3.      The monster drawing gains additional meaning by comparing it to monster images of the 1950's, as in the works of Dubuffet and Baj, and in contemporary art in the works of Murakami and Ryden.

 4.        In this exhibition ("Ofiice in Tel Aviv" Gallery, 31/01/2003) Spashilov presented drawings in black color patches dealing with fears and anxieties.