Julia Borissova, About men floating in the air, 2015

In Greek mythology there was Icarus who, after being given wings by his father and learning to fly, flew too close to the sun and died. J.B. about men floating in the air is inspired by the story of two Lithuanian-American pilots who tried to set a new world record by flying across the Atlantic to Eastern Europe in the early 1930s. Unfortunately, like Icarus, these two aviators did not achieve their goal and perished in the process. Later Joseph Brodsky wrote a short piece about their attempt; …over the Baltic wave, I hum just like that monoplane, like some Dario and Girena, though not as vulnerable. Which inspired Borissova to artistically create her own “parallel world.” “My story is about the dream of every person to escape from the grip of all kinds of prohibitions and fly away to a distant unknown in search of unlimited freedom and find there his true homeland and home.” This little book is another brilliant body of poetic work by Borissova and a fascinating mashup of photographic material made, staged and found. The unhinged design of Leporello’s book allows the reader to start at either end of the book and create multiple stories, as it may seem that one side of the book with the introduction is the beginning of the book, but not necessarily. Sewn into the book are numerous multi-page folds that reveal and conceal various aspects of Borissova’s layered narrative. A truly delightful read. Borissova reminds us that at one time or another in our lives we’ve probably wished we could fly away and leave the complicated messes of life behind and perhaps, if not start over, at least get a temporal break from current events. We also need to consider the potential consequences if we were to fly too close to the sun or beyond our capabilities in doing so.