Jacob's Ladder

In the same room as the video of the young man listing the characters of the Old Testament and their ages, Zolotko presents another biblical story – this time presenting it as a wall text and a series of photographs. The story is about the post-flood patriarch Jacob. The one who deceived Isaac to receive the blessing of the firstborn and who fought with God, demanding his blessing. In the wall text, Zolotko focuses on young Jacob’s dream of the ladder to heaven with angels, and God confirming his favour to him. In the series of photographs, Zolotko resists the biblical text: a young and handsome white man is using an axe to break a wooden ladder, the symbolic connection between heaven and earth, until it no longer exists.

This video and photo installation, which concludes the exhibition, is perhaps Jevgeni Zolotko’s most obvious work referring to the Old Testament. For those who know the Bible, it is far from final, because they know that the mankind in the Old Testament is controversial and constantly sinful, and God, whose paths are unpredictable, repeatedly shows his favour to Jacob and his descendants.

In the present day, with people feeling quite indifferent to religion, Zolotko’s source of inspiration may seem archaic and emotional, but the artist’s ability to relate it to the stories of the people living alongside us gives these stories an impressive epic depth. This creates quite a direct connection with the Prinzhorn artists, for whom religion was an integral part of their lives and feelings of guilt and hope. Explaining their relationship with God is more than a matter of their social responsibility.

“I am hopeful that if we remain silent and cannot say or do anything anymore, and we don’t have social relations, then this is where we will find hope – on the other side of that border. Hope may be where we have nothing else, but it is difficult to explain, because it is beyond the border, outside the bubble of our social communication,” says Zolotko.

“Shtum” – the phrase that has been used to describe the impact of Jevgeni Zolotko’s works – accurately expresses the unbearable burden of silence that accompanies these works.