Bratkov photographed the participating artists and added an image of a frog to his display, implying that the artist had never gone anywhere. Installation view: Russian Pavilion, Venice Biennale, 2003 2003. Series of approximately 10 photographs. C-print. Dimensions variable

Bratkov’s video installation Vagina is My Motherland , filmed in the industrial city of Dnipro, represented Ukrainian contemporary art at the Venice Biennale in 2007. (Four years earlier, the artist had participated in the Russian Pavilion.) Metallurgy, a major Ukrainian export, was filmed as a kind of sexual act. The installation also included portraits of workers in light boxes. Installation view: Ukrainian Pavilion, Venice Biennale, 2007 2007. Mixed-media installation

Every act of destruction contains a decision about the future In 1519, Hernán Cortés landed with his men on the shores of Mexico, and the expedition faced a question that allowed no neutrality: retreat or advance. Aware of his soldiers' fear and hesitation, Cortés — according to legend — ordered the ships to be destroyed, making return impossible. This gesture became a symbol of the point of no return: the moment when a decision can no longer be undone, and action demands ful