Alexander Dymnikov. Structures Automatic translate

Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art presents an exhibition by Alexander Dymnikov, revealing the secrets of the perception of beauty

• Amazing observations of a photographer and traveler who combined creativity with scientific knowledge
• An impressive collection of images based on ideas about human perception of beauty on a subconscious level
• Rhythmic harmony for aesthetic pleasure

The phrase “the author explores” is often found in catalogs and comments on artists’ works. Sometimes this involves a visit to a library or archive, or a survey, but most often it is about an attempt to record one’s own emotional response to a particular phenomenon. Alexander Dymnikov’s project “Structures and study of visual overtones” addresses the peculiarities of human perception and claims to be a completely scientific dive into this problem.

In literary criticism, there is a direction called “receptive aesthetics,” which studies the aesthetic evolution of the reader’s experience—differences in the perception of a text by readers who are separated from each other by decades or even centuries. But a person experiences aesthetic pleasure not only from literary works and other examples of “high culture” - be it music or a harmonious combination of color spots on a canvas - he finds a special charm in certain patterns: in repeated dance movements and primitive ornaments. Dymnikov asks the questions: what is the aesthetic value of a work of art and how does the perception of “beauty” work on a physiological level?

For more than ten years, photographer and traveler Alexander Dymnikov has been peering into the world around him in search of rhythms that, if successfully arranged in the form of black and white photography, can evoke an aesthetic response in the viewer. This visual exploration has the widest geography: natural structures coexist here with ancient brickwork, since it is man who creates aesthetic value - first the artist, and ultimately the viewer. The author has collected an impressive collection of images that are perceived like rhythmic music.

Based on modern research into the human brain, Alexander Dymnikov puts forward the hypothesis that our brain has a mechanism for recognizing rhythmic harmony. It is this mechanism that allows the viewer to resonate with a work of art and receive aesthetic pleasure. According to the author, the mechanism for reading beauty is universal: everyone has it, regardless of their level of education or viewing experience. The exhibition "Structures" is an inspiring reminder that this gift of nature should be used as often as possible.

about the author

Alexander Alexandrovich Dymnikov was born in 1961 in Leningrad. Member of the Russian Union of Photographers since 2006; in 2015 he was elected chairman of the Union of Photographers of St. Petersburg.

In 1984 he graduated from the Faculty of Physics of Leningrad State University and until 1992 worked as a researcher at the State Optical Institute named after. S.I. Vavilova, where he studied fundamental issues of the structure of the glassy state. From 1992 to 2015 he worked in the real estate sector and was director of investment projects.

In the 1980s, he became interested in mountain tourism and made more than 40 mountain and ski trips. Among Alexander’s recent routes are crossing the Himalayas by bicycle, cycling and mountain trekking in polar Sweden, Norway and Iceland, kayaking in Ladoga and the White Sea, rock climbing in the Dolomites, trekking and climbing in Nepal, a trans-Tibetan expedition, a ski trip to the Northern pole. He also took part in expeditions whose purpose was to search for traces of the technologies of ancient civilizations in Peru, Bolivia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Turkey, Greece and Israel.