Elections at puppets 1985

"Elections at Puppets" is a collage, by Sergei Parajanov, who's someone I see as the Matisse of assemblage. The whole piece seems to vibrate with a kind of manic energy, like a fever dream made of old toys and historical kitsch. The layers are so dense, you could almost reach out and touch the textures. Take, for example, the way he's layered those cut-out images of dolls and Washington on horseback, it's like a comment on power, a statement on society, or something. It's the kind of controlled chaos that makes you want to keep looking, trying to piece together some narrative, even if it's ultimately unknowable. There's a kind of freedom, like Robert Rauschenberg, but there's also some darkness in there. Ultimately, Parajanov reminds us that art is just a conversation, a way of seeing and feeling.