Sigmund Freud in his essay Unheimlich, written in 1919, studies the etymology of the word heimlich, whose meaning goes from domestic, usual, secluded to hidden, secret, and almost merges with its opposition — unheimlich, sinister. Freud concludes that it is something common, every sinister day.

Looking at the tragic events of the last year in the post-Soviet area I'm questioning: where do all these national-patriotic ideas that provoke wars come from? Where is the nostalgia of the lost grandeur hiding? Probably, one should follow Freud and search for the sinister (unheimlich) in the domestic, usual, secluded.

Pavel Otdelnov. Installation for the exhibition "War museum", Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art

Pavel Otdelnov. Unheimlich. 2015, installation. Private collection

Pavel Otdelnov. Unheimlich. 2015, installation. Fragment

Pavel Otdelnov. Unheimlich. 2015, installation. Fragment

Pavel Otdelnov. Unheimlich. 2015, installation. Fragment

Pavel Otdelnov. Unheimlich. 2015, installation. Fragment

Pavel Otdelnov. No flights today. 2015, oil on canvas, 160x230. Private collection