Сascade
Blue Soup

Cascade is part of a series of architectural works by the group Blue Soup, which also includes Vestibule (2003) and Exit (2005). In Garage Atrium the video becomes a screen reflection of the opposite staircase, while the minimalist coffered ceiling points to a typical Soviet public building of the 1960s: the café Seasons of the Year, which is now home to Garage, opened in 1968.

An indeterminate liquid resembling murky water, mercury or oil flows down the steps. Its movement obeys the laws of physics, although algorithmic patterns reveal the artificial nature of the imagery. Accompanied by the increasing tempo and volume of a percussive noise composition, the majestic descent of the liquid could be either the cause or the conse- quence of some catastrophe. Its scale cannot be gauged, but the artists’ chosen mode of narration evokes a sense of passivity in the face of disaster.

The dynamics of this piece recalls the famous scene from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980), where a torrent of blood bursts from the hotel elevator in slow motion. Here, the tension is likewise pushed to the limit. The video can be described as an anti-narrative slow burner—a gradually developing horror film in which the viewer’s sensations matter more, and are more intriguing, than their cause.