Rhizome (French: rhizome) is a concept of postmodern philosophy that captures a fundamentally nonlinear way of organising integrity.
It illustrates the phenomenon of Ukrainian society, which has proved capable of instant self-organisation and creating an effective structure without a centre that should determine its development and activity algorithms. Perhaps this principle of the rhizome is a new phenomenon of self-organisation of the highest form of society that needs to be studied and imitated.
The concept of the project-installation appeals to two aspects of the concept of “Rhizome” - biological (a rhizome is a specific form of rhizome that does not have a clearly defined central underground stem) and philosophical, which was formulated by Deleuze and Guattari to denote a radical alternative to closed and static linear structures that imply a rigid axial orientation.
The history of the project format:
“As a result of long experiments and attempts, I managed to grow the roots in a given shape. Thanks to this, the roots reproduced in the wheat germination pattern. I was looking for a story to reflect Ukraine's history and traditions.
One day, I accidentally learned about the historical research of the history of Kyiv by a well-known guide, historian, archaeologist, researcher of the history of Kyiv, Serhiy Mironov. In particular, he was gathering a collection of ancient tiles, which he often found in abandoned historic buildings in Kyiv.
I was looking for new forms, and when I saw a fascinating ancient artefact, I asked him to give it to me for a while so that I could try to grow a new sample on it. When Serhii found out about my work, he gave it to me. And when he saw the result, he offered to make a series of works that would be grown on tiles. He wanted everyone to be able to take a piece of Kyiv with them, to remember the history, the beauty that was being destroyed and gradually disappearing every day: Ukrainian land, Ukrainian grain, Ukrainian tiles, and Ukrainians who came together to create it. Unfortunately, we were not destined to present it to the world together. The war takes the best, and it took Serhiy on 18 November 2022 in one of the hottest spots - Bakhmut. The world lost a unique person who put his soul into his work and lived it. Unfortunately, today hundreds of talented people are dying in the war, and with each death, a scar remains in each of us that will never let us forget about this war. No matter how hard it is for me to experience the loss of my friend, I understand that I have to tell about him and our project and make his dream come true, even with tears. To finish what we started, even without him. This project will be a memorial to a unique man, Sergei Mironov, whose memory will live on in our hearts for a long time. And of many others, of those who gave their lives saving us all from this terrible war,” comments Diana Bilichenko.
Diana Bilichenko is an artist, textile designer, and researcher who works in a unique author's bioart technique, using wheat roots to create art objects.
Diana's parents have been farming for more than 20 years, and since childhood, the artist has watched the process from wheat preparation to sowing to harvesting. It was this that provoked her research interest, which manifested itself in the author's technique during her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Faculty of Textiles.
It was then that Diana came up with the idea of using wheat roots as a textile material - after all, it is essentially the same fibre as flax or hemp.
Also, growing wheat as a crop is a symbol of Ukraine, bread in the literal and figurative sense.
His first work in this technique was his bachelor's project Shadows of Chernobyl, dedicated to the Chernobyl accident. While studying for her master's degree, the artist tried to get rid of the earth in her finished works and tried to combine roots with textiles. After many attempts, she managed to achieve the goal, improve her methodology and apply it in her diploma work "Forgotten Connection". This project was dedicated to symbolism in Ukrainian folk costumes.
The most important project was the collaboration with Kyiv historian Serhii Myronov. For our joint project on the disappearing Kyiv, he gave me authentic tiles from the time.
"My goal is to preserve the memory of our culture and the people who created our culture. To tell the whole world about it with the help of wheat, which symbolises Ukraine, which is a fertile land for wheat grains and for creative people. I want to show you that the environmental component of our lives can be not only useful but also beautiful. I create beautiful objects from roots. There are no chemicals or pesticides. Only water, sun, seeds and time. Each thing becomes unique as nature itself creates a pattern." Diana Bilichenko