IDEAL MEDIA -2009
Commissioned by the 11th International Istanbul Biennial

 

Using painting, sculpture and installation. Lado Darakhvelidze traces power relations rooted in different hierarchical structures, such as public places and governmental, political or economic systems. Observing the social and cultural changes in Georgia, he reflects on post-communist Europe and its endless ‘renewal1’ of history through erasing and rewriting.
The Installation Ideal Media (2009) documents Darakhvelidze's research into media coverage of two events that started around the same time in August 2008: the Olympic games in Beijing, and the Georgian-Russian war. By monitoring these subjects through different media for a year, and creating an archive, he illustrates and reveals the ways in which events become 'news', and how subjects fade in and out of public attention through different media strategies. It reveals the constant presence of war, and the impossibility of demarcating its exact temporal boundaries in contemporary society.