Andréa Stanislav

Red Star (after Vladimir Komarov),

2021

Taxidermy mount peacock, mirror glass, vinyl lettering, wood, hand cut digital print with chrome red vinyl and black glitter collage elements  

72" x 12" x 60"  

Collection of the Artist

The title refers to Alexander Bogdanov's 1908 science fiction novel, Red Star, about a communist society on Mars. Red star is a symbol often associated with communist ideology. The collage image is positioned on the adjacent 90° wall, where it can be seen directly behind the vinyl "STAR" text, in sculpture's angled mirror reflection — continuing the collage action in space. The hand-cut and collaged photo image depicts Soviet Government Officials viewing Cosmonaut  Vladimir Komarov's charred remains in an open casket. Komarov’s Soyuz capsule crashed full speed into earth after a parachutes failure in 1967. The image of Komarov's remains has been collaged over with a reflective chrome red vinyl element — making the image of Komarov's remains disappear. This collage act of disappearing is meant to echo disappearances of Soviet citizens throughout the 20th century, both edited from Stalinist era photographs (before photoshop), and physically disappearing during ‘purges’ authored by Stalin’s NKVD and other forces unknown up to the present. The white peacock serves as a mystical omen of divine resurrection and recovery of Cosmist thought in the present.