“Examples of Yellowism can look like works of art but are not works of art” - this is a sentence from Manifesto of Yellowism. Could you describe this independent territory where objects and actions look like works of art but are not works of art?
This autonomous territory is called "Yellowism". Yellowism is not art, it is not a form of creativity. We resigned from art, but not like Marcel Duchamp. Unlike him, after resignation we defined a new context, both mental and physical, and it was our last creative move. We didn't reduce our activity to the domain of reality. Now, after this decision to give up any kind of artistic practice, after the "Manifesto of Yellowism", it is better to say "we arrange pieces of Yellowism" or even "we produce" rather than "we create" Yellowism piece number one, Yellowism piece number two... These are just examples of yellowistic expansion. There is no evolution of Yellowism; we do not develop any idea. No new messages. The final message is done, context has been defined. Examples of Yellowism can look like works of art, but are not works of art. I can go even further and say: “sometimes examples of Yellowism look exactly the same like works of art but are not works of art". Why are they not works of art? The answer is very simple: because these pieces exist only in the hermetic context of Yellowism which we defined in the Manifesto of Yellowism. And... even if someone doesn't approve of this new context, it clearly exists.
This autonomous territory is called "Yellowism". Yellowism is not art, it is not a form of creativity. We resigned from art, but not like Marcel Duchamp. Unlike him, after resignation we defined a new context, both mental and physical, and it was our last creative move. We didn't reduce our activity to the domain of reality. Now, after this decision to give up any kind of artistic practice, after the "Manifesto of Yellowism", it is better to say "we arrange pieces of Yellowism" or even "we produce" rather than "we create" Yellowism piece number one, Yellowism piece number two... These are just examples of yellowistic expansion. There is no evolution of Yellowism; we do not develop any idea. No new messages. The final message is done, context has been defined. Examples of Yellowism can look like works of art, but are not works of art. I can go even further and say: “sometimes examples of Yellowism look exactly the same like works of art but are not works of art". Why are they not works of art? The answer is very simple: because these pieces exist only in the hermetic context of Yellowism which we defined in the Manifesto of Yellowism. And... even if someone doesn't approve of this new context, it clearly exists.
Is Yellowism a next, important move after Duchamp?
Duchamp was playing with two contexts: reality and art. Yellowism is a third context. Duchamp resigned from art...but in the end we have "Etant donnes" in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We resigned from art and at the same moment, with Vladimir Umanets, we defined a new territory for our practices. Yellowism is out of art and can not exist or be presented in a museum. Duchamp didn't define a new context, he chose chess. In dialog with Pierre Cabanne, Duchamp said that chess may be an ideal work of art. Anyway, people have known chess since the 6th century.
Is Yellowism a kind of anti-art?
No, definitely not! Yellowism is not against art. Yellowism is a result of the experiences that we gained by engaging in art. Through art we have reached Yellowism. Art was for us a bit like a uterus, like a mother, but we did not want to kill her (laugh). Now, Yellowism is Yellowism, art is art - that's it.
Can Yellowism as a whole be considered as a big work of art?
We defined the right context for our works, which were in a wrong context before. The right one is called “Yellowism”, the wrong one is called “art”. We were “writing” the Manifesto of Yellowism in the period of transition, somewhere “in between” – between the territory of art, which we wanted to abandon (and we did it!) and a new territory called Yellowism. It was the act of moving from one state to another, but the latter we were forming simultaneously. This decision should not be considered as a part of artistic process. It is not right to call Yellowism as a whole a work of art. I think that we are not positioned within a big work of art titled “Yellowism”.
Is Yellowism a meta-art?
No, it is not, because Yellowism is not about art, it is about yellow. Yellowism is maybe "meta-yellow" (laugh).
Can I perceive Yellowism as a mirror for art?
It looks exactly the same like me, but it is not me. What is it then? I think it could be, for example, my mirror reflection (laugh). My reflection doesn't feel like me, doesn't think like me, is flat, is... lifeless. Yellowism looks like art but is not art... Yes, Yellowism can be a yellow mirror for art - you literally enter this mirror when you cross the gap of the yellowistic chamber. You are like Alice. Everyone should notice that Yellowism is not an illusion. It is real.
Today art can absorb everything. Do you think that some artists can use a piece of Yellowism to create works of art?
Hypothetically speaking yes, some artists can do this. If they decide to take a piece of Yellowism from a yellowistic chamber and put it in an art gallery or use this piece to construct their work, then its identity changes and we are immediately in an art context. An artist or curator can even prepare an exhibition about Yellowism - everywhere except in a yellowistic chamber.
According to the Manifesto of Yellowism - a yellowistic chamber space is reserved only for pieces of Yellowism...
It is obvious that works of art can occur anywhere... for example: on the moon or inside your left leg (laugh), but white cube is the only neutral space for works of art. White walls - this is the convention. Why white? Good visibility, perhaps. A piece of Yellowism may only be presented in yellowistic chambers, not in open public spaces, not on the street, not in the desert, a bar, a hospital etc. Yellowistic chambers are the only space for pieces of Yellowism. Here, yellow walls are neutral. Yellowism has changed my perception and now white walls of art galleries seem strange to me (laugh).
Who can be a yellowist, only you and Vladimir?
Everyone can be a yellowist, everyone who understands what the Manifesto of Yellowism is about, and is aware of what contemporary art is and what Yellowism is; if one feels that Yellowism is an appropriate context for his/her activities, then one can be yellowist.
“Pieces of Yellowism are only about yellow and nothing more”. In art I can make work about yellow as well, right?
Of course you can, but you will do this in the context of art, in which you can make work about yellow and blue, red, line, surface, war, politics, religion, love, sex, the human condition, globalisation, art itself etc. You can refer to all these things separately or you can mix them as you like. In art you have a wide spectrum of themes, private mythologies, stories, metaphors, points of departure, references, interpretations, messages etc. In the context of Yellowism pieces are only about yellow and nothing more. In Yellowism everything is flattened to yellow. A huge and heavy stone fell down (smile) and now all intellectual and emotional possibilities are reduced to one- to yellow. Just the visual forms continuously change the “image" of Yellowism. Different materials in different configurations appear on one static yellow surface. It doesn't matter how the piece of Yellowism looks, I mean, it doesn't matter what kind of medium I will use to make this piece, it doesn't matter what materials I use, doesn't matter how I will arrange elements in the space, doesn't matter how I will title it. A piece of Yellowism is always about yellow and expresses exacly the same thing as other pieces. If you are planning to visit a yellowistic chamber you already know that the exhibition installed there, is about yellow and you should not expect any intelectual surprises. It is enough, if you understand what we are saying in the Manifesto of Yellowism. There is only one message to think about, universal information for every yellowistic exhibition - the Manifesto of Yellowism.
"A huge and heavy stone fell down"… so, there is no freedom in Yellowism?
Contemporary art is based on freedom – everywhere everyone can make a piece about anything. In Yellowism– there is no “everywhere” – but only yellowistic chambers, there is no “about anything” – but the subject matter is always yellow. Yellowism is closer to a totalitarian system than to art. Freedom? Freedom in mono-gamy can be more real than in poly-gamy… (laugh).
Can one say: “I can read pieces of Yellowism as pieces about anything, not about yellow, and it will be my free, personal interpretation”.
Of course one can say that, as long as a yellowistic police doesn’t exist and can’t change one's mind (smile), but it will be just that person's point of view. It is quite obvious that today, very often, the spectator has to decipher and interpretate works of art... In Yellowism there is nothing to decode, because Yellowism is not art. All pieces are about yellow- this is the axiom which we give to everyone. All pieces of Yellowism always repeat the same information- definition of yellow: "a color like that of egg yolk, ripe lemons etc.; the primary color between green and orange in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 570 and 590 nm". Let’s go back to the Manifesto of Yellowism: “Interpreting Yellowism as art (or anti-art) and being about something other than just yellow deprives Yellowism of its only purpose”.
What is this “only purpose”?
Yellow.