Mane Hovhannisyan

Fabula

ARMENIA

FABULA

The main idea of “Fabula'' is to present different kinds of interaction between humans, their homes and the objects around them. I've engaged with this issue from different points of view. First, there are changeable roles between the couple and the objects. I have tried to catch and intensify the moments when people become totems and the objects seem enlivened. Then, there is the transition from one place to another. I've shot the same couple in two different apartments – in Germany and in Armenia. The story was shot between 2017 and 2019.

The first shoot was done in Germany, at the couple’s home, in just one day. The next shoots were done with the same couple in Armenia, where they lived for a while in a rented apartment. I took the challenge to document the subtle changes of their body language in their homeland of choice, Germany, where they had no family connections, and then in Armenia, when they had short vacations full of interactions with family members and with familiar surroundings. I've focused on the state of being in-between and on the capacity of my protagonists to live in two different worlds at once. The order of photos allows the observer to “read” the story in both directions from the beginning and from the end. The middle part of the cycle is the connecting point between two beginnings.

Main characters: Leopoldo Siano and Shushan Hyusnunts.

Inside the subjects. This photograph shows the correlation and relationship between objects and mankind.

Cinemography. This is something between cinematography and photography. It's "Cinemography". Here, I have tried to present theatrical movements. These movements are an important part of their lives.

Home walk by invisible traces. A situation where human and objects are in unordinary positions. This creates a situation where everything appears and looks unusual.

Dada-Dinner. The casual-ritual dinner surrounded by totems.

Time Distortion. As a result of the collage, in one photo we see two parallels in time. The painting above her head shows her thoughts. In the background image she reflects on it.

Multiple Consciousness. The photons of consciousness. Fusing into the whole.

Parallel Minds. This photograph illustrates episodes from two houses. The painting above his head shows his thoughts. The shadow standing character in the background sees his own parallel mind.

The Mystery of Illusions. Photography conveys my idea, where she is depicted as a totemic object. At the same time, the man is reading a book and trying to keep the secret of the alternative world.

Mode of life. Just playing the game. The game between humans, house and objects, where everything and everyone have equal rights.

Dissolution of reality and imagination.

Opening mind-doors The doors into a new house, a new imaginary world, which was always in their consciousness.

Transformation. Their reflections in the mirror are like a painting, which hangs on the wall as an object.

She plays the game of hide-and-seek with herself.

The puppeteer from the future. Тhese two photos within one collage depict consciousness. We can see the intermediate level, which connects two houses. The person, who is in focus, is conscious and sees an alternative life. The puppeteer just plays with the first one coming from the future.

Life as a magic spiral. Either she is looking through the shell or the shell is looking through her. In all likelihood, both are objects and not able to see anything.

Hidden faces, hidden corners, hidden rooms... The photography illustrates a reflection of the imaginary world in place of his real face. Here we can see the photograph which combines two time parallels.

Polyphony. Here you can see the distance and convergence between characters as a simulation of voices in a fugue.

Analogue Kitchen. The kitchen in this apartment is a kind of assemblage which brings together the shadows of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Vladimir Mayakovsky, Alexander Rodchenko and Alfred Hitchcock, the Soviet-style dish with oriental glittering towels.

The Rope of Realities. The corridor where they sit as a connecting point between rooms, a rope in their hands as a connecting link between realities.

Magic Reverence. Dada-style laundry hanging in the name of its Majestic Invisibility!