Breath Space

O.F.Petrova
(The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg)
E.A.Trofimova
(Institute of Adult Education RW, St. Petersburg)

Oleg Vysotski: Breath Space

“I do not surf, do not rinse, but the gold within the cosmos involves a boat.”

“Cosmic Spheres and sphere of human
belong to the law of breathing space. ”
(From the books of Living Ethics)
.
Passing through the entire culture of the world the idea of ​​deep connectedness of man and the cosmos was a kind of refraction in the art and aesthetics Russian cosmism. This is a philosophical direction, not only stands on the basis of natural science of his time, but is rooted in the mythological strata of national culture: The body, and spirit of a man’s conscience stores not only the history of the Earth, but the whole structure of the universe … tsvetomuzykalny
At the heart of cosmism on the idea of ​​living organic connectedness of the world, imbued with the divine energy of colour-music and eidetics filled with personal, unique experience of a kind experience, pulsing “the universal sense.”

Today Russia has formed a number of artists with a new look at the relationship between creative person and the Cosmos: All of it becomes more vivid understanding as a living environment, as the unity of man and nature in the universal spiritual space. Nowadays, we all clearly understand that the cosmos with its energy corresponds to our ideas of beauty, of art. His infinite spiritual worlds are perceived by us as an integral and harmonious home.
Infinite Worlds of the Universe as a great event became a source of inspiration for artists cosmists XX-XXI centuries.
Among them is the work of Oleg Vysotski. For him, space art – a poem, which obeys the invisible visible, the images are produced on the shaky face waking, dream and fantasy, where the perpetual motion of subtle matter, clothed in poetic form, witnesses of the invisible worlds of the universe, with its breath, sounds, colours. As one of the main intuitions of Russian cosmism is the intuition of unity, integrity, representatives of this trend moving in search of a single key approach to the mysteries, the mysteries of existence. Especially tense their interest in the proto-symbol to the proto-language, to the proto-earth and the cradle of humanity, to the proto – the music, which would have sounded a special tone of the universe or the sacred syllable.

The basic, fundamental idea is the idea of ​​living cosmists spiritualized Cosmos. “Living Space” as a Russian thought and Russian art – the ubiquitous, constantly generating its manifestations, mysterious, alluring, escapes understanding. Bestower of wisdom and joy of the contemplation of Beauty, desperately resembles in its boundlessness of the horror of nothingness and joy of salvation, giving rise to other worlds, calling for the expansion of consciousness and the conciliar unity. Visible and invisible. Manifested and unmanifested. The object Curses and bows. Submitted to the ball, circle, sphere …

E. Roerich wrote: “You’re right, that the planetary chain, with all its globes or spheres, or principles, (call them what you want) is one … of course the whole planet is a living being, because in space no one atom is not deprived of life, or consciousness or spirit, and in the ancient philosophical writings can be found comparing the Earth with a large animal that has its own special life and, therefore, his consciousness, or a manifestation of the spirit.

In Space, strictly speaking, there is a passive beginning, everything is vzaimopronikaniem and interaction of spatial energy emanating from the countless billions of foci and centers, constantly filling it and forming it. Everything moves, everything changes, therefore, all living.

At first glance, the word “Space Art” as it leads into the background theme of human personality. However, in reality this does not happen. Russian philosopher NA Berdyaev in “Philosophy of Creativity” wisely observed that “very bold statement of the problem to know the universe is possible only for someone who himself is the universe, who is able to resist the universe as an equal, as able to include it in yourself.” Creative artists – cosmists not only gives us a meeting with an unearthly beauty, but also enriches our knowledge of the unlimited possibilities of human raging in the vast universe. Peering into the depths of the galaxy power sharpens the search for meaning in life, the moral field, moral choice is expanding the scope of the human responsible behavior gets the whole cosmos.

Artists cosmists beginning of the second millennium in their own way continue the traditions of Russian national culture of the twentieth century, based on the search for semantic values ​​of symbolic art, new plastic expressive possibilities of the artistic language. In this quest for the special role played by art works of famous Russian artist and thinker, traveller, social activist, NK Lev. The phenomenon of Roerich – artist and thinker associated with the idea of ​​Synthesis and the phenomenon of “Mother of the World,” one of the leading sverhsimvolov his art, the embodiment of universal compassion, beauty and space Soloviev’s “love in the starlight.” NK Roerich wrote: “The awareness of beauty will save the world.”

Russian Silver Age philosophers – P.A.Florensky, VS Soloviev, Berdyaev – developed the same idea about the transforming power of beauty, understood in two ways – the intelligible and the indescribable. Lines from poems Soloviev could be heading for the paintings of artists – cosmists, the motto of their spiritual – moral quest. “The triumph of harmony” of the Russian cosmism evolved from the “inexhaustible Dream” from “a desire boundless” and “joy updates.” It is in the philosophical and artistic culture of the Russian cosmism hear “thrill of life of the world” and “a combination of the Earth soul with heavenly light.”

Philosophy of unity with its idea of ​​Sophia asked a powerful impetus to the entire religious-philosophical renaissance in Russia, especially its symbolic and Sophiological branch. The idea and the image of Sophia-Wisdom repeatedly recreated in Russian culture of the Silver Age, crowning a sophisticated intimate personal integrity, and mythological and philosophical vision of the world. The material is a beautiful space, understood as the Sophian striving upward, as the “smile of Sofia,” her longing materialized. Sophian as a phenomenon of the World Soul is the aspiration of the material world to the joy of enlightenment and contemplation of divine light. A series of works by Oleg Vysotski, which he called “The Soul of the World” is imbued with this sense of purpose.
The resulting natural philosophical outlook peculiar vision of the world responded to the visual practices of Russian cosmism. The very philosophy of unity optics is understood by us as a kind of universal synopsis, clearly manifested in the work of artists, among them – N. and S. Roerich, AL Chizhevsky, the group “Amaravella” and others, and poets – cosmists, who are impossible to list in one short article. It is in their artistic heritage, we find that the implementation of the principles of unity of micro – and macro, as well as the principle of “Multum In Parvo”.

Oleg Vysotski – artist, teacher, dreamer, a creator whose name has acquired a solid recognition in contemporary art. This artist, who with a deep understanding for classical art, refers to the cultural memory of the Silver Age. He delves into the aesthetic concepts of past and present, East and West, listens to the ideas of Russian philosophers and thinkers of the XX century Western. Oleg Vysotski is largely inspired by life-giving ideas of Living Ethics, and cryptography eastern landscape. In our opinion, the work of Oleg Vysotski actualizes the idea of ​​the teachings of the Living Ethics of the need to map the cosmic phenomena of the life of the earth: “Space is living, and the manifestations of his life will be reflected among the earthly senses.” The paintings of the artist is palpable tendency to converge the worlds, the inability to suppress the relationship between life and its highest primary source, determination and continuous flow of world events in relation to human life, continuity, infinity and the infinity of life and its cyclical and evolutionary, the absence of voids, the concentration of psychic energy. Life in the teachings of the Living Ethics is conceived in the range of the great Hierarchy. However, the individual has the freedom of the will is capable of Roads Expeditions, because “everything in the cosmos is alive and everything is possible.” Spiritual energy fills the vital manifestations, giving them meaning and value. How to be filled with this energy? As his sight invisible ? Only a talented artist is able to give an invisible visibility. Oleg Vysotski and is the artist, which manifested itself in a series of this rare gift to behold the invisible, to consider the small – great, in a random – a natural … William Blake’s lines: “In one moment to see forever, a vast world in a grain of sand in a huge handful – infinity and the sky in the cup of a flower,” for it – a kind of motto, poetic expression of a personal creative credo Artist – always a medium, mifotvorets, the mediator between the forces and energies of the world. But it is important not to dissolve, to remain himself, cultural artist, to absorb all the achievements of mankind, it finds, searching. The solution to this problem can only be found on the high road to non-stop self-education, under conditions of high and strict requirements for self-O.N.Vysotski in their outlook – Symbolist painter, because attempts to penetrate the root causes of things, but his work is always harmonious, full of faith in the victory over the world of chaos and disharmony. A figurative expression Blok, art – is the “golden sword, piercing the chaos.” The basis of the work O.Vysotskogo is light, which it attaches special significance: he creates a space or a sheet of canvas, there is building according to the internal logic of the composition – everything radiates a golden, silver, pearl light that creates a visible and invisible world of his images, the chamber lyric, the symbolic. Oleg Vysotski works in the original mixed media, repeatedly striking the paper with thin layers of oil, watercolor, tempera, acrylic, using airbrush. Scattered microscopic droplets fall from different angles, and the image is not only variable, depending on the lighting, but also on the state of mind and way of the thinking viewer. So the artist conveys complex nuances of color, gives the real and complex form of mobility, makes her living, breathing, pulse, creates a sense of movement of the universe itself. Topics, series and titles of individual works, such as “Fragrances,” “Beaches,” “Sea”, “Mira”, immerse us in a tremulous world of natural beauty. Streams of light, while moving in different directions, combine near and far, the local and the transcendental unity of harmony (the lyric, the intense, almost cosmic sound) ..The titles and series of exhibitions of his works illustrate its basic purpose, the search and aspiration. Topics, series and titles of individual works, such as “Fragrances,” “Beaches,” “Sea,” “Worlds”, “Manifestations of Nature” immerse us in a tremulous world of natural beauty. And in the episode “Metamorphosis”, harmonic components of light and color and linear solutions are shown for clarity and simplicity of mathematical formulas. Many of his paintings do not have names. After all, the name of the picture – not just a word – it’s lightning flash of insight, the fruit of spiritual work and spiritual concentration. The artist, striving for authenticity, holds the answer to higher powers, but because the name of the picture – this is a special responsibility. The picture and how it is named in eternity – two different processes are not always synchronized, but always sinergiynyh. Work O.N.Vysotskogo – pnevmatosferichny (the term of the Russian religious philosopher and scholar Fr. P.A.Florenskogo). They have evidence of spiritual energy and perfect fullness of the world. They correspond to the height of the lyric poetry of failure of the Russian Silver Age. Next to the pictures O.N.Vysotskogo want to remember our favorite poets, poems …The artist is able to communicate with nature, listen to her mysterious voice, pour them into colourful chords, harmonies and forms. In the papers, “Manifestations of Nature,” “Double Rainbow”, Game patches of color, distinctive rhythmic patterns, the spherical, then emerging from the bowels of the earth, winding lines, interlaced spirals conveys the inner expression and pulse shapes in the living space a reality. Series “Silentium” immerses the viewer in concentrated silence – a prayerful anticipation of the great mystery of the universe. According to the Russian philosopher G.Shpeta silence is the subject of our last vision, over-intellectual, over-intelligible, it has reached the upper limit of knowledge and being. There are intoxicatingly beautiful moments in the life of nature, when the world seemingly full of grace, is buried in silence, as a special revelation. Like a dropped veil separating us from the distant worlds, and the gentle touch of their light abounds, in particular a mysterious sense of familiarity and close to the pain. Only in the silence of the vibration of light, flowing cosmic fog becomes a hero of European fairy tales – travelling, and sometimes rising to the skies, White Unicorn (“Running”, “Unicorn”), but in the silence you can hear the music of the spheres, pervozvuk universe (“AUM”), the Teachers call (“The Call”), see the “silver lining” to feel celebrated in the Rig Veda (Hymn “planted a”), the great water pervotvoreniya (“Dolphin”) … its stunning nature, breathing space inevitably, illuminated by lights of unknown reminiscent of “Solaris” Tarkovsky (“Landscape”), the legendary Last Battle field, the field of Kurukshetra, where Krishna reveals himself to Arjuna the great mystery of birth plurality of worlds (“Teacher and student”).Silence, silence of the universe – concealed evidence of its power, its perpetual movement, the fight began, and complementary, forming infinite: Woven lines, balls, spheres. Clusters of stars, shimmering space. What is it – or star-like scattered jewels? Pearls of emerging worlds? (“Yin – Yang”). In the paintings by Oleg Vysotski picture appears symbols: the Tree of Life (“Tree”, “World Tree”), the cosmic egg (“Cosmic Egg”), temples, going into an infinite space (Series “Temple”).Mythopoetical O.Vysotskogo paintings bring to mind not only the intense silence in which discernible music of the spheres, but also the poems of the great Russian poets, in which most fully sung is always unique and unrepeatable state.The two most famous poems of the Russian poetry of the same name Silentium Tyutchev owned and OE Mandelstam. Tyutchev refers to the secret depths of human emotions, to the fullness of the soul-spiritual world: Only to live in himself to know how to -There is a whole world in your soul Mysterious and magical thoughts;They stun the outer noise Daytime dispersed rays -Heed their Peña – and shut up! .

Mandelstam strings are filled with a sense of space pervoporyadka, verb-rite, the creating the world: Yes, my mouth will gain The original muteness, As a crystalline note What is clear from his birth! In the work of Oleg Vysotski’s a great place a series of “Fragrances”, dedicated to the mysterious, alluring world of unearthly colours. It would seem that what is there to impress the viewer? Flowers – a favorite image of the poets and artists of all time, the most frequently used metaphor of beauty, life, love …In his monograph on art P.N. Filonove E.F. Kovtun quotes an excerpt from the poem “Trees” NAZ, was strongly influenced by the work, PN Filonov. In the poet’s flower – the focus of symbols and associations. It – “leaves solar power,” “pestle chandelier,” the stem Gillyflowers – the embodiment of humility, the root – the fateful beginning, he reveals the diversity of its characters, or at Filonov, “predicate”, visible and invisible. According to E.F.Kovtuna “Filonov convinced that all this variety of properties, not just color and shape, can be expressed in a plastic product. He develops the position of the “seeing eye” and the “knowing eye.” The first subject to colour and shape of the object. “Knowing Eye” based on intuition captures the hidden processes, and the artist writes their “inventing a form” that is irrelevant. The invisible becomes visible. No wonder the late Kruchenykh his poem called Filonov’s “invisible witness.” “Eyewitness invisible” can rightly be called and Oleg Vysotski, whose flowers are not confused with any other. In this series, the artist emerged as a shrewd psychologist, feeling the silent language of nature, comprehending her most intimate secrets and symbols. Its flowers – the accumulation of the harmony of the world, its joys and endless wonder of the Creator …Like Goethe’s – the naturalist of the entire mass of plants sought pervorastenie, protofenomen, the idea of ​​how expression of sensory experience as an archaeologist, Roerich-thinker among all the characters looking “pervosimvol” that exists eternally as an artist, ON Vysotsky in his cosmic art colors suddenly could bring both of these concerns, intentions. Complementary inflorescences, joyful aesthetic richness of diffuse in nature, colours taken separately or the whole flower a limitless field, bells, daisies and forget-me-not’s on the roadside or on a green meadow in the woods near the shore of the lake, bay, even in a modest ditch, swamp everywhere – the diversity of colors, burning in the sun or surrounded by green grass, pine needles, or a field of pale wood …

Flowers Oleg Nikolaevich Vysotski’s pleasing to the eye, and lit up the gloomy sky. In the painting, the artist’s birth, there is eternal life of the flower. Before us is not simply an inflourescence on a thin stalk, and a large orchestra in the world. What’s so special beauty of the animation? The artist is able to see the depth of penetration of colour (one another) and, moreover, as a combination of colours in the world, around the flower. And then there is the unusual and mysterious. Colour, flowers, painting the artist’s hand becomes a large orchestra in the world where other worlds (clouds, sky, clear dawns) are embodied in the subtle manifestations of nature. Unusual inflourescences are born, separated from a particular flower, and are converted into a scattering of beauty of the universe. Beauty is not just doubled, and flows, flashes, moves …

The will of the artist’s works on the subtle associations, makes comparisons waterfalls fall, the river – floating off into the unknown … a special condition of being born: the flowers are not destroyed, the rivers continue to carry the cool water splashing places, being transformed into an eternal life-giving principle, called the divine beauty …
Almost simultaneously with the colours in the artist’s having a series of waterfalls that you climb into the mountains, then down to them … Mountains and Water – the eternal immutable symbols of culture. Waterfalls fill the large spaces of the Earth, fields, roads. In a series of “Waterfalls” art becomes the protagonist of the light streaming out of nowhere, a light, formerly of the sun (remember the cosmic mythology of the world). The space is in perpetual motion the inexhaustible beauty of the dense and subtle matter.

In a series of “Waterfalls,” the artist creates a feeling of energy flowing water, unfathomable in its depth and luminous space imbued with the Cosmos. His series appear as a stream of improvisations in which the special role played by the light. Does it form a space of light, is building a composition according to the internal logic – all radiate a golden, silver, pearl light, which creates a world of images, the chamber and lyrical, is symbolic. In many paintings of the artist appears as a light shining sparks growth: so at all times people glorify the invisible world of spiritual transformation. In the paintings of the artist float among the waves of light and strange ghostly spaces, creating fantastic murals unknown, unearthly colors.

The world of the artist’s dynamic and is in the process of perpetual motion. His landscapes are real and not real, they create the impression of shaky face waking, dream and fantasy, while diverse in their artistic decisions.
As such it works as “Breathing Space”, “The Transfiguration of the world,” the special role played by the composition of the balls with both mobile and emerging space-organisms. They evoke associations with a luminous, vibrant and full of energy, among other worlds, worlds of the infinite universe.
A complex range of feelings comes when looking at the untamed, ever-agitated, surrounded by Eternity universe … How not to stand in silence at the sight of her violent and unpredictable metamorphosis of spontanaeity? When we look at our separated billion light-years across open spaces, not only to contemplate the harmony of the spheres, but also monstrous cosmic cataclysms, we can not help but think about the fate of the daring and the greatness of the thinking spirit, which then infects us with its fragile vulnerability.That brings to an understanding of my “I” these eternal spontaneous metamorphosis of matter? What is the meaning of the infinite movement of the cycle of life? To put the question is often more difficult than to answer it. Especially when it comes to the eternal and infinite, the beginning and end of life … Or maybe its “vsyudnosti”?

In the paintings by Oleg Vysotski, we feel the mysterious manifestations of the universe, they live the very breath of the cosmos. “Terra Indigo”(2003): the flow of light energy of the water flow is surrounded by blue motionless frozen ridges of the rocks. Artistic sense of the dynamics of a pulsating set of two principles: water and stone, it tells the confidence in the eternal beginning of the creative universe.

Unexplored paths of the earth, trails mountain, forest, what is waiting just around the corner? And if you are destined to meet in other worlds? As promised, this meeting?

The painting “The meeting in the other worlds” (2003), there is the image of the luminous spiral – the symbol of perpetual motion and ascent. From the depths of the universe is generated by breaking something unusual, something alive floated, born in complexity, seeking common ground with directed jets of light energy. You yourself – perpetrated a huge part of the world, you feel a sense of incertitude suit. Unusual and scary at the same time pleasing atmosphere sudbicheskoy woven emerging worlds: it is not destined to know the way designs.
In the paintings by Oleg Vysotski, flowers bloom unknown: they live and die, but give rise to new shoots, buds, extend to infinity, float in time, dissolve into space … become famous, easy-mumbling, speech, the child conceives the secret and hidden meanings … About Space O.N. Vysotski’s a glimpse at its pre-verbal given, it waits for its first-word first-moment.

Association, reminiscences, unique, unique combinations of strokes, the mists of memories, prophetic dreams, reticence, – all these rises, wakes up in the audience, recalling the broken boundaries of reality and dreams.
The key word to understanding the work of Oleg Vysotski would be the word metamorphosis. What is it – fossilized plants in the stream of time, thoughts or feelings as words failed?

Different series of singular expressiveness “White on White” – on a white sheet of paper, beautiful strokes of the artist stands for a form, which in the eyes of the viewer begins to pulsate, creating a sense of the birth of life arising out of otherness, the birth of a new world. The artist works in the original mixed media, causing the paper thin layer of oil, watercolor, tempera, acrylic, it passes the complex nuances of colour, makes visible the mobile form, makes her living, breathing, pulse, creates a sense of motion of the real manifestation of the universe itself.
In early series in the works of Oleg Vysotski picture appears arches of the temple. They rise above and wildflowers, and over the space, bathed in moonlight, and over the mysterious landscape. The artist explains the symbol: “This is not a specific image, but as a divine sign, a sign of God, whose presence is felt throughout the cosmos, as in the large and small. In addition, the sign of the arch – is the border between worlds: try to get it open and see the picture on the other side. Remember the beautiful Chinese legend of a great artist, painted by order of the emperor – a beautiful landscape? The Emperor long admired him, and then asked the artist: “And where does this path lead?”. “I do not know. I’ll go look, “- replied the artist, and disappeared behind the trees.”