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Inside we are greeted by the unexpected: a quiet, muffled environment and an illustrated children’s book with which to embark on a journey back into the world without sadness of childhood. The theme of childhood is also addressed in I’ll Return on April 12…, a sky crossed by white clouds, a chair, and the clothes and shoes of the man who has just soared into the sky; “diving into that blue, shiny world I experienced once again the fullness of existence, just like in my marvellous past,” recounts the man, when, as a child, he used to watch the sea and the sky blending together indistinctly.
The figure of the angel recurs frequently in the Kabakovs’ work, whether as a guardian angel or as a fallen angel predicting the loss of spirituality and the domination of materialism. More than a religious figure, in the couple’s art the angel is the allegory of happiness and wisdom. On display, engaged in the everyday practice of self-improvement, is How to Make Yourself Better. “How can you make yourself better, kinder, more decent? You need to make two wings from white waxed canvas… you need to wear the wings, shut yourself away in your room and remain in absolute silence for 5–10 minutes, then get on with your usual occupations… After 2–3 weeks, the effect of the white wings will begin to manifest itself with greater and greater force,” the artists explain.