ANASTASIA SAVINOVA. "GENIUS LOCI"

Image of the place is a foundation for a series of large-scale collages which emerged from visual information and a dozen of associations triggered by various places. Architecture, texture and details form a strong feeling of the Place. Cities are closely related with the land, on which they had grown. Architecture and landscape are visual components of the integral image of the place. At the same time this image is inseparably linked with a mentality and a way of life. It is saturated with “an incorporeal something”. Ancient romans called it "genius loci". Genius loci was the protective spirit of a place. In contemporary usage, genius loci usually refers to a location's distinctive atmosphere. Every place has its own unique qualities, not only in terms of its physical makeup, but of how it is perceived. It is not merely about walls, windows , roofs and roads. Indeed, this is about the structure of life, it’s about authenticity of the place. Collages are meant to reveal the integral image and “genius loci”. A Big house on each collage is composed of many typical for a particular country buildings in their connection with the land and the spirit of the place.