Game without pawns
Sergey Rozhin
Performance and solo exhibition
04/07 - 04/21/2022
Opening 07.04, 17h.
Performance: 6 p.m.
The performance will be repeated with the participation of the author and the audience within the exhibition from 5 to 6 p.m.
/
Black and white cells like Malevich's squares - black and white represent the poetry of the game between good and evil.
The game of chess itself only makes sense when there are pawns in it. If we remove them, the balance of the game is disturbed.
Placed in this context, we can see the helplessness and insecurity of the main figures - without pawns they lose their value. And if we think about the pawns that go from the beginning to the end of the game, becoming other figures, then even now they are helpless, because they will no longer be able to become pawns.
/
The history of the creation of the work "Without Pawns"

For the performance in this game I needed a special chess set, which I found in an antique shop in Plovdiv.
I wanted to find a chess set that has a history, because the new chess would not be so interesting to pick up, nor so symbolic. That's why I went through many antique shops, where only individual figures were available, or a separate board. And after losing all hope of finding what I wanted, I asked again if they had chessboards, to which they said, "Yes, but I'll have to look for a long time." I said I was "ready to wait." After I was warned in advance that there are no figures with the board, I replied that only the board suits me.
And then, when they found the board and opened it, it turned out that there were chess pieces inside that the salesman himself didn't know about.
So, I bought the chessboard along with the pieces and before I left the seller said that it has been "living" here for 7 years and no one buys it.
When I saw this chessboard, when they took it out, I felt that it was waiting for me.
During the conversation with the seller, I told him about my plan to play without pawns, and he gave me his advice: "Try to play without the King, then this game will definitely not make sense, given its rules."
He then said that this chessboard had appeared in the film Orchestra Without a Name in 1982. I was happy at that moment and I couldn't wait to tell you about its origins, but it turned out that there was a similar but not the same board in the film. You knew how happy I was at that moment until I checked it out.
In this Game without Pawns, I decided to focus on the number seven, as it is no accident.