Flippables                                                                                                                                                            Tatiana L.Sougakova   

"Good any side up"
Flippable artwork or Flippables 
Some of Tatiana's paintings are wired with 4 wires on the back instead of the usual one, ready for any rotation and versatility in positioning on the wall.

..."I want the viewer to decide which side up he/she wants to see the picture today. Some owners of my art have commented on how much fun it is to choose a different side to hang up the painting when they feel like it. Some just have one favorite side, and they do not want to change it, but if they ever change their mind, the options are there"...

"Flippables" -  this playful term was suggested by Tatiana Sougakova to describe interactive art, that is designed for 4-way orientation. At every rotation a painting gives slightly different impression. The owner can interact with the painting and hang it any side up.  "Bringer of the water" on the photos above  is an extreme example of a "flippable", while most of Tatiana's paintings offer a subtler change in image. It can be viewed at any rotation, and has 4 wires on the back for any chosen orientation. It illustrates really well how at every rotation it is something different: creatures, faces, blue stick figure. It is deliberately made to engage the owner to physically interact with the image. 

Tatiana has started creating paintings in this style as early as 2004, with first modest exhibit appearing in 2009 , and a larger exhibit of Flippables in 2012. Out of all her paintings about 1/3 is flippables, some are designed as a 4-way flippables, some are 2-way flippables. There are  arrows and a description on the back of the paintings.

The idea of being able to hang a painting any side up is not particularly new, but the name and deliberate interactivity with the viewer is. There are examples as early as 16th century of artists trying to use it (Giuseppe Archimboldo). Most abstract art when not marked by the signature in the corner is a bit confusing, so the buyer might have hard time establishing where is the top and where is the bottom, although the artist may have a definite preference. The artist just takes it a bit further to let the owner be a more active participant in viewing the art.