SLOWLY WIPED OUT

Portrait of Alexei Navalny (1976–February 16, 2024)

SLOWLY WIPED OUT is a processual artwork that visualizes the systematic annihilation of human presence within a totalitarian system.

The work documents the transition from a tangible image to a charged void.

Through a destructive act—the repeated removal of fragments of the portrait with adhesive tape—the physical elimination of Alexei Navalny by the Russian regime is transposed into a universal artistic statement about the indestructibility of the human spirit.

Artistic Justification for Museum Collections:

The Aesthetics of Absence:

Where the regime strives for damnatio memoriae (erasure from history), this work creates a paradox.

The physical “nothing” on the paper functions as a negative monument.

For curators of institutions such as the MoMA, Tate Modern, and Centre Pompidou, this work is relevant because it connects the tradition of conceptual minimalism with current geopolitical urgency.

Ritual Destruction as Creation:

The act in the video—the gradual withdrawal of humanity—is a metaphor for the years of physical and mental exhaustion Navalny endured.
The residue (the white surface) is not empty, but saturated with the memory of the act.
It compels the viewer to actively remember: the mind fills in what the ruler has erased.

Neo-Spatial Dimension: The object can be rotated 360°. This interactivity symbolizes the constant movement of history and the fact that truth remains visible from every angle, even when the central subject has disappeared.

The choice of foam board emphasizes the vulnerability of the individual in the face of the brute force of the state.

Value for the Collection:
This work is an essential historical document!

It captures the precise moment in history (the funeral on March 1, 2024) when an individual was buried, but their ideal was definitively elevated into the collective memory.

For top collectors, Slowly Wiped Out represents a rare synergy between political activism and highly conceptual art.