State of Latitude (2024)

State of Latitude (2024) is a four-chapter audiovisual spatial installation by Ukrainian artist Khrystyna Kirik, created in collaboration with u2203 studio. Developed during the ∄'s Echoes of the Earth residency in Kyiv from October to December 2024, this work serves as both artistic expression and environmental testimony, documenting the devastating impact of Russia's attacks on Ukraine's southern and eastern landscapes.

The installation explores four distinct ecological environments, each representing a unique aspect of environmental vulnerability and destruction. Sviati Hory in the Donetsk Region features chalk fields of pure white now scarred by fortifications and bunkers, where invasive species have displaced native vegetation, creating uniform landscapes that have lost their natural uniqueness. Sivash Island in the Kherson Region demonstrates how controlled fire management traditionally preserved rare species like Hyacinthus pallasi and Scilla, though these tulip fields now lie in occupied territories. Velykyi Chapelsky Pod, a bowl-shaped biodiversity hotspot harboring endemic species found nowhere else, faces destruction from agricultural development while remaining under occupation within the Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve. Kamianska Sich presents a petrophytic steppe landscape heavily damaged by mining and shelling, where craters run deep through loose soil and wildlife has been killed, with contamination from heavy metals persisting in the earth.

The musical composition creates a tactile, spatial soundscape built around fragmented and processed voice, incorporating the traditional Ukrainian song "Ой, Боже, Боже, з такою годиною..." ("Oh, God, God, with such an hour...") from the 1996 collection Songs of the Ukrainian Steppes II. This melody, once naturally resonating across the steppe, now returns as a spectral echo woven with electronic textures and environmental sounds, reflecting the profound transformation of these lands and the voices that once inhabited them.

Through its conceptual framework, State of Latitude examines the magnitude and wide scale of destruction while addressing the defenselessness of natural landscapes against human intervention. The work evokes powerlessness in the face of devastation while inviting contemplation and connection to the history of traumatized lands, emphasizing the urgent need for expansive thinking and cooperation to restore and protect the environment. All ecological data was collected through interviews and expeditions conducted by ecologist Anna Kuzemko, ensuring scientific accuracy in this artistic documentation of environmental catastrophe.