Culver City,
California
x
"They Say it Helps..."
Date Made: 1990
Country: Soviet Union
Measurements: 70.5 cm x 100.5 cm; 27 3/4 in x 39 9/16 in
An old woman smoking a cigarette, with curlers in her hair, high heels on, and a wine glass next to her stool, watches television with her back to the viewer. She appears to be made of stone, with parts of her chipped off and littering the floor around her. The television, made of the same stone material as the woman, appears to be on and the screen is drawn with vibrant blues, greens, oranges, and pinks. The words, “They say it helps,” in Russian are written above the television. The man on the screen, parapsychologist Allan Chumak, is wearing black-rimmed glasses and gesturing with his hands mid-sentence. Chumak appeared on the the Soviet television show “120 Minutes” at a 7:15 am timeslot where he would attempt to practice “distance healing,” asking viewers to place jars of water or cold cream near the television set in order to use the static electricity at the curve of the screen to transmit his healing energy. His large viewership in the late 1980s could be attributed to the overall feeling of uncertainty during Gorbachev’s policies of perestroika and glasnost, sending Soviet citizens to look in unexpected places for any kind of reassurance about their own lives.
Accession Number: 2009.053.062
Item Name: Painting
Credit Line: The Ferris Russian Collection, Donated by Tom and Jeri Ferris
Collection/Series: The Ferris Russian Collection, Donated by Tom and Jeri Ferris