The Dead Surface Won’t Move

A minimalist stack of used cartridge cases visualises the fragilities and fortitudes of the LGBT+ community. 

The work is an homage of the tragic story of an activist from Odesa, who was the owner of the one, a legendary Odesa nightclub. He went to the frontline as a volunteer when the military actions started in the East of Ukraine in 2014, and never came back.

The constituent cartridges have a tendency to scatter upon firing — chaotically covering the ground, trudged upon, left to rust. In vertically piling the cartridges, Karabinovych transforms something deemed expendable into something intrinsic. Casualties assume a new, vertical, towering formation. Though each cartridges are cast from the same mould, they each retain subtle differences in color and texture.

In short, each cartridge has its own skin — a skin that shines, a skin that camouflages, a skin that catches the light just so.