Storytelling is always the art of repeating stories, and this art is lost when the stories are no longer retained.

Walter Benjamin

The word “narrative” has become overused in contemporary art. It is often seen as obsolete, too indicative or obvious. An overwhelming presence of storytelling in social networks and marketing only makes it worse, resulting in bored and jaded viewers. The weaker the focus of the audience, the more interesting it is to understand why visual diaries are still so captivating.

In 1926, Walter Benjamin feared that “the art of storytelling is reaching its end because the epic side of truth, wisdom, is dying out”. In his essays The Storyteller he explored the nature of storytelling, placing emphasis on the strong bond between the narrator and the listener. Within the context of contemporary art, this link could be extended to the artist and the viewer.

A fine example of this bond is works by Dasha Kuznetsova, Georgia-based artist with Russian origin, who mainly deals with lens-based art. Her documentary series are personal and even intimate, spurring the viewers to make thoughtful connections between their own memories and what the artist shared. The artistic method of Kuznetsova is to allow viewing her works at a very short distance. Clean, airy photographs are effectively focused on important things that are familiar to the viewer and therefore evoke recollection of the past and generate nostalgic feel.

In her series Object 001, the artist examines objects that form the history of her life. Looking through the lens of everyday things is a recognition of ordinary dignity. There is nothing special about these mass production objects except for personal memories. Here, the artist grants personality to cold, neutral, unanimated beings through recollection of her past. Each photograph is followed by a short story creating the object’s provenance and thus constituting its core value. This series can be seen both as a tribute to minimalism and Duchamp’s ready-made, showcasing non-art status of the objects. Therefore, Kuznetsova again raises the question of aesthetics in contemporary art, and states that the mere choice of these ordinary objects establishes their aesthetical value that is recreated through memories.

While in Object 001 time is the main medium, in Museum of Memory Kuznetsova’s artistic method involves both time and space. This space is not yet abandoned or forgotten, but it is being gradually coated by veil of oblivion.

The series is represented by photographs made in the artist hometown before emigration. The poetry and poignancy of the project is strengthened by nostalgic feeling conveyed by the photos. The viewer shares the artist’s loving gaze on her ageing grandmother, her apartment and belongings, which also leads to the question if it is artifacts that are ageing or it is us. This work with the family archive is a reminder to the artist and the viewer to be caring and considerate even under traumatic circumstances.

The visual language of Dasha Kuznetsova is based on past experience in still life photography, constant peering into the objects and observant searching for everyday artifacts. The manner in which she enlivens ordinary things is very touching and delicate. These simple stories evoke a wide range of feelings, emotions and memories in the viewer, which means the storyteller did her job.