The Naming Practices cycle includes two projects created in 2023 in Batumi, Georgia, on the Black Sea coast. The Black Sea basin has become a focal point of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which has affected both the natural environment and the social fabric of the region. Both projects serve as a kind of testimony to the devastations of war.
The first project, The Black Sea, is a video broadcast from the Black Sea shore, conceived as a silent witness to the tragedy unfolding at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant at the time.
The second part, The Naming Practices, is a collaboration with the émigré community — people who left their countries because of the war.
Below are detailed descriptions of both parts.
The Black Sea
Black Sea, 2023
Live streaming, color determination program
The Black Sea geographically, economically, and politically connects several countries and is at the center of many regional and global events. Despite its name, the color of the sea is not static and constantly changes due to various factors, including geopolitical situations.
Since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, trade with Russia through Black Sea routes has continued despite numerous promises from politicians, thereby providing ongoing funding for the conflict.
This video installation features a real-time broadcast from a camera pointed at the sea and synchronized with a color detection program. The broadcast, shown at the Elektrozavod Gallery in Moscow, was conducted from the coast of the Black Sea near Batumi, Georgia, in June 2023. During this time, the military conflict led to the tragedy at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant; the destruction of the dam in the Kherson region of Ukraine resulted in the flooding of 28 settlements, filling the sea with drifting debris, sand, and soil from Ukrainian villages. Each color change in the seawater was recorded by the program and displayed on the screen throughout the video broadcast, essentially serving as a continuous recording and presentation of evidence of ongoing war crimes.
The exhibition view in art space tmp_space, Batumi, Georgia.
Photo: author’s archive.
Here and below are video samples of the translation. This real-time recording and presentation of the Black Sea's color changes, correlating with the ongoing conflict, created an unsettling yet powerful visual narrative. It served as an abstract yet poignant commentary on the human cost of war and the intricate geopolitics of the region.
Here and below: an exhibition which took place in Electrozavod Gallery, Moscow, 2023
Photo: Eugeniya Zubchenko
The Naming Practices. Laboratory
group researching practices, 2023
The project was developed as part of the Particles Lab Residency and took place on the grounds of a former seaside resort on the Black Sea coast in Batumi, in close proximity to the Batumi Botanical Garden.
The Naming Practices have their roots in psychology and are grounded in self-regulation techniques designed to help individuals cope with the challenges of adapting to a new environment, reduce stress levels, and, as therapists say, become grounded. The war forced many people to leave their homeland, and for many migrants from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, Georgia became a new place of residence. The country’s migration-friendly policy triggered a wave of immigration and a number of social challenges associated with it. During this period, the artist herself was living as an émigré in Georgia too, facing the typical challenges experienced by displaced individuals. She formed a group of people with similar backgrounds, and together they began creating an alternative botanical garden on the grounds of the former resort.
View from the remains of a former resort building. Batumi, Georgia 2023.
A concrete skeleton of the former building.
The concrete foundations of the building ruins had become heavily overgrown with various vegetation, creating fertile ground for the emergence of an alternative botanical garden.
The migrant, as yet another form of the Other, is often seen as a questionable and not always welcome element within society. That is why the Naming Practice group chose weeds - plants that are usually considered a problem - as the subject of their naming process. The names of many plants reveal that they, too, were once introduced to Georgia, gradually spreading and becoming full-fledged members of the local flora.
In ecology, introduced species can sometimes become so integrated that they shape entire ecosystems, blurring the line between native and foreign. This phrase also carries the connotation of a wary attitude toward foreigners, especially when their numbers are significant. They have the potential to alter the social landscape, reshaping the familiar image of the city.
Returning to the group’s practice, it is worth noting the use of special signs indicating both the scientific and colloquial names of the plants, as well as their classification within a particular taxon.
Such signs were used for plant marking during Naming Practices.
The group used plant identification apps, as well as articles and botanical manuals, to determine the exact names and taxonomic classifications of the plants. The labels were printed on a portable printer and attached to the identified plants. In this way, a small alternative botanical garden appeared next to the official Batumi Botanical Garden — a place where plants we usually overlook or even consider pests finally became visible.
Below are photos of some of the identified plants.
