Thursday 17 December 2009

WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN?

This video shows the winner of "Ukraine’s Got Talent", Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II.

Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch. The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about £75,000.

She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated. It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears. She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier. This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house. In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million. Kseniya Simonova says: "I find it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is beyond me. The art, especially when the war is used as the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And there’s surely no bigger compliment."

Please take time out to see this amazing piece of art. To view cut and paste this link into google
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=vOhf3OvRXKg

13 comments:

Maggie May said...

I visited this site after my first reaction against it ..... thinking it might be too depressing, however, it was truly clever and the way the artist did it is amazing. Makes you think.
Hope OG is doing well. Thinking of you.

Nuts in May

Marian Dean said...

Oh wow! so moving. What a wonderful talent she has. A story told in such a short time and with such clarity.
Thank you for posting this.
Love Granny

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

I thought exactly the same Maggie, but curiosity got the better.... and I was very moved by it. OG not doing well at all. I'm thinking of you too. Judging by OG's chemo his first session was not too bad so hopefully you should be OK at Christmas, I think it seems to build up as you get further into it. It actually was not half as bad as we anticipated, but everyone reacts differently.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

I was so impressed with her talent weren't you Granny? There is actually a TV ad that uses this technique and I am wondering if it is her.

ADDY said...

Thanks so much for sharing this. No wonder she won - she has such amazing talent. It was such a powerful, emotional display.

jay said...

That was quite a powerful movie. She does have talent, doesn't she? Amazing the way she does all that in sand.

The Wrenns said...

That is amazing! Thank you for sharing.

RNSANE said...

I would have never seen this amazing talent had you not posted it here. Thank you so much.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

I agree Rosiero. How on earth does she do it?

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Not only the talent Jay, but also the ability to move so many people with the emotion of it. Powerful.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

I just had to share it "The Wrenns". Like Maggie, I very nearly didn't bother with it, but when I did I just had to blog it.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

You are welcome RNSANE

Mare Freeborn said...

Wow! That was amazing. Sorry to hear OG's not doin' good. Hope he gets better soon & is able to enjoy the holiday.

As always - Hugs & hope!

Mare Freeborn