Sum of Sun
music — cinema — land art — observation of the starry sky
“Sum of Sun” is a joint project created by the ArtPole Agency and the Free Apples from The Czech Republic dedicated to green areas within the expanses of Kyiv and Prague. It is an effort to accumulate warmth, the energy of live music instruments and land art on the eve of autumn, the latter inevitably drawing us into closed spaces — clubs and galleries. “Sum of Sun” was held at the end of the summer of 2015. The center of attention was the Holosiivskyi Park, the only green zone in Ukraine and one of the few in the world with the status of a National Nature Park located within the territory of a megapolis. On both sides of the park, beautiful locations can be found, such as Dovzhenko Center and the National Observatory, where the main events took place.
The exhibition ArtPole. “The Hidden Worlds” included the photos of land art objects created during twelve years on six different locations of the Sheshory-ArtPole festival. One of the thematic parts of the exhibition was the project “Twins” created at the intersection of urban and natural areas of existence. “The Hidden Worlds” was demonstrated in the hall on the last floor of Dovzhenko Center from where it was possible to get on the roof with an overview of both the surrounding multi-story buildings and … the forest. That continued the theme of “twins” whose authors explored natural environmental patterns, as well as those of the architecture of the modern city.
The theme of contrasting and coalescing sounded also in the music of “Sum of Sun”. The main feature of the band Forma (The Czech Republic) is a coexistence of electronic music and live instruments in one acoustic space. In Dovzhenko Center they made a live sound accompaniment to one of the finest works of the silent era of the Czech cinema “Eroticon”.
Another band who shared their sun with the audience was the Minsk trio Port Mone. Not accidentally, during the recording of the album Thou the musicians refused the laboratory conditions of the studio and moved the equipment to the forest where the recording was made which “… absorbed the atmosphere of this amazing plein air… the coexistence of two kinds of music — natural and human-made”.
It takes approximately two hours to walk through the forest from Dovzheko Center to the Main Astronomical Observatory of NAS of Ukraine. During “Sum of Sun”, the guides not only linked these two points, but also familiarized the attendees with the local trees and birds. In addition to excursions to the forest and the observatory, watching the documentary “The City Dark” (USA, 2011) and observation of the starry sky, the audience could also see works of artistic specially created for this territory. Zuzana Ruzickova (The Czech Republic) presented gauze prints, her author’s technique based on the imprints of wall surfaces with marks of various human and environmental interventions. Andrii Hurenko (Ukraine) also created his object Aria.
A parallel event was held by her in the Pristav 18600 park on the bank of Vltava in Prague. The Ukrainian artist Myroslav Vayda performed a series of master classes for the residents of the Karlin district who take care of the park Pristav 18600. With his help they created their own art objects for that green area in Prague which had transformed from an abandoned pier into a favorite recreation spot. Zapaska and Badian Sauna System also played there. “The Hidden Worlds” were exhibited directly in the park and at the nearby Nil House business center.
In collaboration with Dovzhenko Center, Czech Center and the Main Astronomical Observatory of NAS of Ukraine, supported by the Tandem Ukraine program.