1185 flowers from egg cartons were hand-cut by me in a month and a half and put on putty. Boxes were given to me by friends, acquaintances, and sometimes strangers from social networks. I filmed with a hidden camera a choreography of people passing through the installation, completing the creation of a social sculpture with their actions.

“During the ‘Ecotopia: Ecology/Action’ festival, the New Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater turned into a fabulous space, and flowers bloomed on the stairs. The 'Little Effort' installation by Alena Fedorchenko consists of cardboard flowers 'planted' in waves on the staircase in the foyer between the first and second floors. in order not to offend or crush them, those who entered had to make some efforts and be attentive. The essence of the installation is the interaction of passers-by with fragile objects. How fast will the composition collapse? How will passers-by react to obstacles? Questions that Alena asked our viewers in her work. The flowers were cut out of egg cartons, the attachment methods were chosen so as not to leave any traces”

In front of the staircase stood a sign with the title “Small Efforts” and a description of my work. Viewers had to walk up and down the staircase, navigating through the fragile, winding patterns of the paper flowers several times to attend different events of the festival over the course of two days. I recorded the choreography of people passing through the installation with a hidden camera, and it was the actions and movements of the people within the environment that became the final piece — “small efforts.”

video editing Julianna @unoah

foto Nikita Ilyashenko