Boris Missirkov / Georgi Bogdanov
Boris Missirkov and Georgi Bogdanov’s photographic depictions of hyperreal everyday situations are considered documents combining of the knowledge of general experience and incalculable psychosocial occurrences. The two photographers have demonstrated this phenomenon in numerous works in both an art and an advertising context, and also in their 2004 documentary film Georgi and the Butterflies on the psychiatrist Dr. Georgi Lulchev, the director of a treatment facility near Sofia for people suffering from mental illness. This unique physician is ready to resort to bizarre business ideas, such as founding an ostrich farm, in order to ensure the continued operation of his financially troubled institution. Missirkov/Bogdanov’s work generally deals with irreal situations in everyday life, which are reminiscent of psychical borderline situations and pose questions regarding moments of experience that exceed our imagination of normality. The hyperreality that Missirkov/Bogdanov have formulated in numerous films is also found in this scene with its strange doubling, which shows two almost identical women gazing toward a burning building. Photographed in Venice, the situation appears to be reminiscent of scenes from the last James Bond film, in which the agent seeks to free his nemesis and lover from a sinking house in Venice. While the film scene was created in the studio, Missirkov/Bogdanov are interested in real occurrences, which in their visual depiction seem somewhat exaggerated and are reminiscent of extreme mental states.
