“Unfinished dissertation” by Boris Mikhailov: structural and narrative analysis of the photo series
The article considers the socio-cultural context of the art works of B. Mikhailov in the first half of the 1980s. The philosophical statements in the photo series “Unfinished dissertation” were analyzed. The philosophical foundations of the art work of B. Mikhailov were revealed and analyzed. The basic aesthetic principles of artistic creativity and artistic techniques of B. Mikhailov were revealed.For B. Mikhailov, the 1970-1980s were an attempt to bring photography in various ways to the field of culture using viriating, coloring, working with texts, the method of parallel associations, etc. The desire to destroy (deconstruct) the traditional art form through various artistic techniques lead to the creation by B. Mikhailov of the concept of “New Photographicity”, and also the first handmade albums - “artist's books”.The source base of this research is the photo series of B. Mikhailov, presented in the form of photo books, archival documents, as well as recordings of biographical interviews published in specialized media that study the theory and history of culture.Structural-narrative analysis as a research methodology can be used to analyze and interpretation artistic narratives, including photo series. The content of a photo series expressed in the form of a philosophical narrative is always philosophical. However, a photo series may not have a narrative structure.