The shamanic ideology is becoming more and more widespread: "at present almost everywhere there is an expansion and strengthening of the influence of mysticism, that mystical moods began to play a dominant role in the youth counterculture, that now there is an extraordinary revival of different forms of mysticism" (Balagushkin, 2008). These trends manifest themselves in various forms of contemporary occult movement such as New Age and Neo-shamanism that rely on traditional shamanic knowledge and rituals.

During my research into shaman symbolism, I discovered that my own art practice and my attitude towards it shows similarities to shamanic rituals, both from the visual standpoint and spiritually. The exploration of the shamanism is a continuation of my last research into postmodernism. My inquiry in shaman philosophy and rituals allowed me to further develop the understanding of such issues as: lies and imbalance, reality and imagination, subconsciousness and truth.

Most importantly, the exploration and integration of this topic in my art practice opens up new ways to talk about overcoming the problems of postmodern existence and searching the ways to communicate with the spiritual and the unknown.

Addressing the traditional art and theories of shamanism is important in order to explore the ways of establishing harmonious existence and overcome the complexities of the postmodern world and visualize this through art.

The line of video "Birds" has been heavily inspired by the traditional art of shamans that I discovered by reading science articles and books by foreign and Russian ethnologists. For example, works of Eliade Mircha and Mihai Hoppal provided me with rich visual material. Hoppal provides deep insight into the world of shamanic symbols, their significance and use in clothing and tambourine drawing (Хоппал 2015). Mircha provided me with comprehensive account of how the shaman journey is done and what effect it can have on a person (Элиаде 2019).

Several artists have worked with shamanism and served as inspiration for my work, including: Joseph Beuys, Anna Halprin, Jackson Pollock and others.

Shamanism has proved to be a valuable source of visual and spiritual inspiration. I practiced in the visualization of spiritual processes and explored connections between shamanism and contemporary reality. It helped me consider a number of theoretical topics and find correlation between shamanism and contemporary philosophy.

Video "Birds" shows relations between the world of nature and the world of humans. The postmodern society has distanced itself from the harmony of nature. Postmodern is centered on consumption and reproduction, it does not seek the life balance. Video reflects the pressure of the industrial society on nature.

Regardless of the era, people address the unknown to find answers to eternal questions: what is the meaning of existence, what happens after death, where does our world come from.

In the ancient times, shamans thought of themselves as birds who are able to fly to the spiritual world where they can find the sacred knowledge. These concepts and ideas exist to these days and influence our lives: postmodernist thinkers have defined that our mind is limited by hyperreality that is filled by simulacra. However, by radically deconstructing the familiar image of the world, we may open up knowledge not accessible to us and free ourselves from the untruthfulness.

Therefore, philosophers, scientists and artists, like shamans before them, keep trying to transgress the boundaries of our existence. This is why video's name "Birds" should be seen as a metaphor for the power of human mind and soul that lift us from material world. By doing this, we are able to establish communication with the unknown, break the limits and get closer to understanding the purpose of our existence on earth.