Micro art group Gorod Ustinov / est. 2010, Russia

The 5th Ural Biennial Main Project features the work:
“Museum of Sand Grains”, (Sand, tweezers, 2017–ongoing)
Courtesy of the artists

The artist group from the city of Izhevsk (formerly known as Ustinov) carries a hint to its working method in its name. The artists see an entire universe with a whole hidden life in microscopic particles. The group invites viewers to pay attention to details, and in order to do that they have to adjust their optics and devote time to meditative scrutiny. The museum here acts as a metaphor for an optical device, which introduces the viewer into a particular framework. The fictional microscopic life represented by architectural layouts—made of grains of sand or pieces of various materials imitating the development of organic life—is thus embedded into an established institute, such as the museum, and acquires a legitimate right to existence.