Detachment Trilogy, Part I: Proof and Argument

Proof and Argument, 2022. Game engine simulation, speculative archeology 3D models, essay, video, sound.

Continuing Astarhan’s work on themes of invisibility and abstraction, a game engine software simulation traces personal history related to the artist’s Khazar lineage, modernist abstraction, and tensions between faith and reason. An oracle walks the Western Eurasian Steppe, where a multiconfessional Jewish kingdom flourished before disappearing under river mud. The work includes 3D objects modeled after 2021-2022 excavations from a sought-after archeological dig near the city of Astrakhan in southern Russia, unearthing the lost Khazar capital, as well as a conglomerate of personal, literary, and encyclopedic texts.

Proof and Argument, 2022. Installation view at Washington Galleries, Chicago

khazar.land, 2022. Text, website, url
Link to work at khazar.land

Dirty Ring with Gem, 2022
3D model, engraving on museum glass, hardware

khazar.land, 2022. Text, website, url
Installation view at Washington Galleries, Chicago

Khazar Golden Camel Head, 2022
3D model, cyanotype on Arches paper mounted on paper

Installation view at Washington Galleries, Chicago

Pillar of Text, 2022
PC Game, game controller, gamer chair, custom hardware

Bibliography (partial)

  • Klingberg, Sylvie. Revolutionary Yiddishland. VERSO Books, 2017.

  • Brook, Kevin Alan. The Jews of Khazaria. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018.

  • Malevich, Kazimir. "Suprematist Manifesto" In Anthologie Kulturpolitik: Einführende Beiträge zu Geschichte, Funktionen und Diskursen der Kulturpolitikforschung edited by Martin Tröndle and Claudia Steigerwald, 673-680. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 2019.

  • Maçães, Bruno "On the trail of Europe's last 'lost city': A forgotten empire lies buried beneath the desert on Europe's easternmost border." Politico. Accessed 7/23/2023 https://www.politico.eu/article/on-the-trail-of-europes-last-lost-city-russia-astrakhan/

  • “HE THINKS THE WAY WE DREAM.” The New York Times. Accessed July 23, 2023. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/pavic-khazars.html.