The Call for an Image-Object. On Gianikian & Ricci Lucchi and Armenity

Abstract

In 2015 visual artists Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi contributed to the Armenian pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennial, which was eventually awarded the Golden Lion. Borrowing from recent literature in material culture, the lecture offers a close look to the video Return to Khodorciur: Armenian Diary (1986) and the XL-size watercolour Armenian Roll (1991) to shed light on the fascinating connections between materiality of the media and cultural identity. In particular, I contend that such interest in materiality, encapsulated as much in the medium choices as in the objects they craft, not only emerges as a key feature of the experimental pieces at stake, but becomes the centre of an ethical call from the artists, who engage in a broader reflection around sense of loss and belonging, cultural identification, admiration, re-elaboration and reformulation.