Flight, escape, freedom—despite the impossibility of these conditions—are major themes of the Russian artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, and are evident in this most improbable yet hopeful installation, How to Meet an Angel. The Kabakovs are renowned for their immersive installations featuring drawing, architecture, painting, objects, books, models, and this particular outdoor installation features an assemblage of scaffolding supporting a ladder reaching into the sky, with a sculptural figure of a man with his arms reaching upwards. It is immensely strange and thought provoking: What is this about? What’s the story behind it?
Storytelling is a fundamental element of the Kabakov’s work as Emilia Kabakov has noted: “Storytelling makes people think and contemplate and it becomes not only about an image but about the content of the painting or installation. But narrative is what makes art work interactive. In a way, it is this interactive work that we are trying to implement into every artwork we create.” What seems to have inspired the creation of the work is the belief in angelic encounters, as the Kabakovs have stated: “An encounter with your angel in real life appears to be virtually impossible. But that is far from the truth. All that is necessary is to recall that this encounter can take place in extreme circumstances, and especially at critical moments in a person’s life. And, it is within our powers to create the situation for such an encounter.” In this story, the imagined extreme scenario is the ladder providing a testing situation that a person must ascend and be prepared to stay for two days: “However, once he is near the top he finds himself high above the clouds, alone within conditions of wind and inclement weather; he thus creates—it will absolutely arise—that crisis moment when, upon the request for urgent help, the appearance of an angel will turn out to be inevitable.”
Hope, imagination, fantasy, spirituality, possibility…all these elements underpin what is certainly an extraordinary creation, whatever you choose to believe. Central to this work is the human experience in such a story. As Emilia Kabakov summarized: “Our work is always about human conditions, fears, hopes and, most importantly, dreams. We try to create an utopia, ideas of paradise, imaginary cities, angels and that is why it is universally accepted and understood. Of course, it is important that all of our works are using the universal language of art.”
