Biography
Dimitar Solakov (b. 1987) graduated from the New Bulgarian University in Sofia from the Department of Photography. The artist is mainly using the media of photography and video, although recently he has begun to include drawings and objects in his installations. In his work he is investigating various types of connections – between nature, urbanization and the human placed in the middle; between the past and its interpretations in the present. The works could be either very personal or completely detached from the position of the distanced observer. His works have been shown in numerous international shows some of which are: “SUPERPOSITION: Art of Equilibrium and Engagement”, 21st Biennale of Sydney (Sydney, Australia), “What is Left”, (Veinna, Austria), “The Pleasures of Love” (Belgrade, Serbia), “The Power of Doubt” Times Museum (Guangzhou, China), Bienal de Cuenca XI (Cuenca, Ecuador), PHotoEspaña (Madrid, Spain), GRID Photographie Biennal (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, “Ritual Of The Habitual” (Plovdiv, Bulgaria), Sofia Contemporary (Sofia, Bulgaria), “All I Can Do Is Art” (Prague, Czech Republic), 56th October Salon (Belgrade, Serbia), “What Is Left?” (Vienna, Austria). He has had one-person shows in: Vivacom ArtHall (Sofia, Bulgaria), Incubate (Tilburg, The Netherlands), Sariev Contemporary (Plovdiv, Bulgaria), 0gms (Sofia).
Gallery
Dimitar Solakov
Diamonds in the Sky, 2016.
Object
Details
- Material: 3 neon signs, 3 celestial object trackers
- Width: 60.00 cm Height: 60.00 cm Depth: 60.00 cm
- Sizes: 60 x 60 x 60 cm (depending on the time of day) each
- Property of: Author
- Description: “Most white dwarfs are made mostly of carbon and oxygen and, at that temperature (2700° Celsius),
given the density of the white dwarf, those elements would have crystallized.”
Prof. David Kaplan, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
“People ask me how you can really tell. Because there's no way you can go and observe it. It all boils down to chemistry.
We think we're pretty certain.”
Dr Kevin Baines, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Prof. Kaplan and his colleagues have identified the coldest,
faintest white dwarf ever detected. It is an invisible
companion to a pulsar named PSR J2222-0137. Because it is practically impossible to detect this white dwarf using optical and infrared light, the researchers calculated that its temperature must be no more than 2700° Celsius, by which temperature its mostly carbon and oxygen mass would have crystallized, not unlike a diamond.
Calculations made by Dr Baines and his colleagues suggest that diamonds are likely to have formed in the atmospheres of the Solar System’s gas giants (Saturn and Jupiter), which would fall to the rocky surface like hail.
In my work I use these theories as a starting point, mimicking the promise of instant wealth typically associated with the 19th century gold rushes. The three arrow shaped neon signs – “Earth- sized Chunk of Diamond ≈8238782500000000km” (the approximate distance to PSR J2222-0137), “Diamond Hail ≈1549798272km” (the approximate distance to Saturn) and “Diamond Hail ≈777313152 km” (the approximate distance to Jupiter) - are mounted on top of celestial object trackers. When switched on, these devices begin to track the celestial objects in the sky (sometimes pointing to the ground when they are below the horizon) and point the arrows in their directions. In this way the signs always show the way to these immense treasures. That is, if the theories are correct. - References: https://www.dimitarsolakov.com/diamonds-in-the-sky
Dimitar Solakov
The Story of Art - A Concise Version, 2014.
Installation
Details
- Material: different materials
- Sizes: variable dimensions
- Description: I’ve never had a proper academic education on the history of art. Recently I decided I wouldn’t be ashamed of this anymore and even to use it as an “advantage”. Revealing my nearly total lack of knowledge about the history of art, I have dedicated a work to each chapter of “The Story of Art” by E. H. Gombrich.
- References: https://www.dimitarsolakov.com/the-story-of-art-a-concise-version
Dimitar Solakov
Creation and Disintegration, or the Responsibility of Parenthood, 2014.
Installation
Details
- Material: different materials
- Sizes: variable dimensions
- Description: When I learned that I would become a father, I started to wonder what it means to create or to disintegrate. What control do we have over these phenomena and on what universal scale can men have an impact? I started to worry about whether my son would be as reckless and heedless of his own safety as I am. Would he inherit these genes from me, his co-creator? This project is my attempt to express my admiration and bewilderment in the face of these phenomena and my insecurity about my future role as a father and the responsibilities it entails.
Now that a little over a year has passed since my son’s birth I can at least say that I’ve managed to keep him safe during this crucial period of his life. I’ve provided him with homegrown food (a luxury these days, which I protected from mole crickets and a multitude of other pests) and shielded him from hornets and other dangerous insects. But the thing that scares me the most - teaching this little man how to be a good human being - is yet to come, so all aspects of my insecurity remain intact.
Two years later my daughter was born and my insecurities were further amplified. - References: https://www.dimitarsolakov.com/creation-and-disintegration-or-the-
Dimitar Solakov
Ice Caps, 2019.
Object
Details
- Material: Neon letters
- Width: 80.00 cm Height: 18.50 cm Depth: 5.00 cm
- Description: At random intervals the "Ice" part of the sign starts to flicker and switch-off as if it's going to break soon. The piece is a commentary on the deteriorating state of the Earth’s ice caps. Their continuing shrinkage is greatly accelerating the global warming and all negative consequences stemming from it.
Dimitar Solakov
New Life for the Past, 2015.
Installation
Details
- Material: photographs, variable dimensions, drawings with attached fossils and bone fragments
- Sizes: variable dimensions
- Description: While working on one of my projects I came across the Krakra fortress in Pernik, Bulgaria. I was amazed by the poor quality of the work on the reconstructed section and the fact that the original remnants of the fortress were conserved and exhibited in an even worse manner (most of this work was financed with millions from the European Regional Development Fund). I decided to visit as many of these supposedly reconstructed cultural heritage sites as I could and photograph them. In most cases the end result and appearance of these places is not backed up by any historical evidence. In parallel with this I made a series of 28 14 x 19 cm drawings (re)constructing animals from fragments (various bones, shells, teeth and other fossils). As an amateur (I have no formal education as a painter, nor as a palaeontologist) I distorted and changed the authentic appearance and function of the fragments on the basis of my own hypothesis. The panoramas from the sites should be printed 100 x 200 cm each and the other photographs are spread in a “random” fashion around them, like the visualisation. The drawings are situated in between these clusters.
- Copyright: The Author
- References: https://www.dimitarsolakov.com/new-life-for-the-past