10 Questions with Ekaterina Zhingel

Ekaterina Zhingel lives and works in Moscow, Russia. She studied the technique and history of photography while studying at the Faculty of Journalism of the Moscow State University. Then she studied at the School of Contemporary Art "Free Workshops" of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art. Now Ekaterina has a part in Russian and international exhibitions. Since 2019, she has been curating a series of one-day exhibitions of contemporary art, "The date."

ekaterina-zhingel.tilda.ws | @ezhingel

Take a picture of me here | DESCRIPTION

Ekaterina is inspired by articles on scientific hypotheses and discoveries in physics and neurobiology. The last series is devoted to the nonlinearity of time. What would happen if time did not go from the past to the future and all events could occur simultaneously. Photography itself is a time fixer. By editing Ekaterina shows several time segments at once. One frame overlaps, intervenes in another, as one moment is superimposed on another.

In the series "Take a picture of me here," Ekaterina was photographed against the background of the street and kept this moment for herself. She left no more trace. This photo is the only proof of her short presence at this place.

The author thinks how much an individual person has an impact on what is happening around him. Whether our presence is noticeable in principle or not. Maybe photography is the only proof of our life in general?

INTERVIEW

First of all, introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a little more about your background. How did you start getting involved with art?

My name is Ekaterina. I am an artist from Moscow, Russia. I started to work with photography from my studying in the faculty of journalism of Moscow State University. So, in the beginning, I was a reporter and wrote articles. But then I understood that I like taking photos more and became a photographer. I was very interested in the language of images. My diploma work was about compositional techniques of reportage photography. And after that, I began to study at the School of contemporary art of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art. Now I am a conceptual photographer.

Your work is inspired by scientific research and discoveries in physics and neuroscience. What are your other interests apart from art, and how do they influence your artistic practice?

Yes, I am very interested in science, scientific discoveries, reed books about neuroscience and cosmos. It is my favorite topic. In the other part of my life, I work in a science museum to write about research of this kind. I very much like to use this experience in my art. I am inspired by that very much.

What is your creative process like? What is your working routine?

Usually, I find something interesting for me from a book or the Internet – a fact, an experiment, a discovery, or something else. Then I begin my research and read about that more. Sometimes I make a mind map to imagine what picture I want to take. I try to imagine all the details before shooting. It is the longest part of the whole process.  

In your series "Take a picture of me here," you work on fading images of yourself as the sole traces of your passage in these locations. What do you think will remain of all the photographs we snap with our phones? Do you think we can leave traces other than just ephemeral digital photos?

In this series, I think about personal traces that one person can leave after themself. Part of that was shot in places of my childhood, where I have not been for a long time. I have many photos from there, I have a lot of memories from there, but people do not remember me now. The place does not remember me as well. There are no differences between that place and the place where I was the first time.  

So in the series "Take a picture of me here," I reflect maybe it is normal. Maybe photography is only one proof of our existence. The question about photos with our phones is very interesting. Now we very often do not have a physical form of photography. So yes, if we don't post it on social media, for example, we could technically lose that proof too.

In "Take a picture of me here," you reflect on personal and collective memory and photography as a means to stop time and fix it. What other themes do you pursue with your art?

Yes, "Take a picture of me here" is the part of my project about the timeline. In this project, I try to imagine what would happen if time did not go from the past to the future and all events could occur simultaneously. In another series of that, I talk about inner emotions and transformations that are happening to us now due to the world's latest difficult situation. For example, I shot one of the parts during the lockdown. You know, lockdown is a good illustration of layering one moment on another, when every day is like a day before.

In my previous projects, I speak a lot about perceiving ourselves and relationship with other people. Also, I have a series about space dimensions. From this series, I began the science topic in my art. I think it is one of my favorites.

Where do you find inspiration?

I am very inspired by books and films about science, as I said before. But most of all, I am inspired by other artists.

How has your art evolved over the years?

Over the years, I am more and more interested in photography. And more and more, I want to work with that. All these years, I am trying to find my language. So I have a lot of experiments. I think if you see my early works, you do not understand that it is my picture.

At the beginning of my career, I did not let myself a lot. For example, I thought that editing photos are not my way of working. And look at me now!

What artists influence or inspire your work the most?

Lucas Blalock, Gregory Crewdson, Asger Carlsen, Cindy Sherman. I like their works so much. But very often, I am inspired by the artworks of my friends or colleges. I visit exhibitions of young artists a lot.

Let’s talk about your exhibition project “The Date.” How did you come up with this idea, and what is the main goal you wish to achieve?

«The Date» is a one-day exhibition for contemporary artworks that have not had a part in any show before. After realizing that I have many series that take part in exhibitions a lot, I did this and many series that did not take part even in one. I can not find open calls for them. So I decided to create an exhibition only for this kind of piece of art by myself. Fortunately, the idea aroused big interest from other artists. Right now, I am preparing and curating «The Date #6».

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future?

Now I am working on the next part of my project about time. I have been shooting that project for two years already. I am not sure that I will finish it soon, but I dream of making a big solo show after that.