Not too long ago, a competition was held in which artists were invited to create sculptures commemorating President Boris Yeltsin's years in power. Entries were many and varied, but the winning sculpture does not resemble Yeltsin no matter what angle you observe it from. In fact, it doesn't seem to resemble anything at all: it's a big, distorted mess of black polymer cubes, waves, and tiny white figures (mostly upside-down).

The exhibition at the Popoff gallery is all in the same unmistakable chaotic Kawarga style. Sculptures are made of white polymer, and represent Kawarga's thoughts. It's hard to see what sort of thoughts take shape of the masses of strands, cube grids and voluptuously-shaped blobs, looking like a mutated, disproportioned internal organ cut from a corpse, but the artist claims that he can form these images with crystal clarity in his mind.

Altogether, the overall effect is that of slight unease. On the one hand, there is nothing recognizable that might disturb the viewer, but on the other, the sterile quality of the sculptures is unsettling. Kawarga not only gives his thoughts physical forms, but he also literally dissects and splays them out, sticking rows of very long pins (rather like those that pin down butterflies, but longer and nastier-looking) and quite a wide variety of medical instruments into their sides. It's the sort of thing you might have found in David Parker Ray's "toybox" after the police had carried out its raid.

A couple of the exhibits have a sound dimension also. Composed by Georgy Beloglazov, the tracks played in the gallery are suitable for the pieces they accompany, carrying the same cold quality.

Kawarga revealed to The Moscow News that Beloglazov had actually spent many months in preparation for this exhibition, and recorded sounds ranging from those made by insects to those that are heard during autopsies in morgues.

There are also a number of interactive installations on display. One features three transparent cylinders hanging on the wall with tiny elements of the sculptor's work inside. All three have two thin metal rods sticking out at each end, and claim to change their tune according to the thoughts and emotional states of the person who touches them.

It's a confusing and slightly unpleasant exhibition, and while it is, as they say, something else (and whether that's a compliment or not is difficult to discern), it's definitely not for the average visitor

Until January 26 - Pop/off/art gallery - Radio, 6/4 (entrance off of Kazakova Street or Elizavetinsky Pereulok)

By Olga Yakimenko