Detachment Trilogy, Part I: Proof and Argument
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.
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.