Baikonur-2 / Байконур-2
2001
Installation
Materials: Installation, computer collage, sound, text
Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. S0429_13).
Baikonur 2 is one of Maslov's emblematic projects: this installation consists a yurt (a type of tent used primarily by nomads in Central Asia) in which light traditional music plays, while a computer screen offers a slide show in which traditional Kazakhs visit the moon and are visited by aliens, thus relating to outer space. At the time of his untimely death in 2002, Maslov had just received a grant from the Soros Center to write a novel about contemporary Kazakh artists in space. He had also developed a computer slideshow about extraterrestrials and Kazakhs, to be shown inside a yurt (the traditional circular tent of the Central Asian nomads). That project, Baikonur 2 (2001) is now in the M HKA collection, acquired in connection with the exhibition series Europe at Large.
*The installation is accompanied by a traditional melody performed on a Kazakh clay flute.