Tolokonnikova, Pavlensky, Loskutov and others - about why actionism is needed. Maximilian Aleksandrovich Voloshin - But they don’t understand him

When did actionism appear and what is it? Why do action artists strive to leave a mark on history and what do their traces mean in the Moscow Museum of Modern Art? Anastasia Baryshnikova spoke with the curator of the exhibitions “Right to Life” by Andrey Kuzkin and “Prosthetics and Replacements” by the MishMash group, Natalya Tamruchi.

Natasha Tamruchi

Andrey Kuzkin

Misha and Masha

What is actionism?

You can type this question into Google, there will be a million definitions. Actionism is, first of all, a symbolic action taken out of everyday context. However, this is not a theatrical depiction. An action usually has a script, but it retains an element of unpredictability, because it is always done for the first time, it is a kind of experience that is always associated with psychological risks. This is an artificially created situation that has some meaning for the actor, that is, the artist, it is lived by him, it is his unique experience of living the situation that lasts over time.

— Many perceive actionism primarily as a protest. How accurate is this perception?

- It is not right. There are protest actions, and there are non-protest actions. It’s like there is protest poetry, and there is lyrical poetry. Actionism is no different from other forms of art in this regard. A person creates this work from himself, is a kind of “violin”. It can be an in-depth, existential action, or it can be a political protest.

Artists making political art use actionism because it is an immediate, powerful language that can be public. Pavlensky, for example, speaks this language very well, with his very bright and impressive actions. It is clear why he does this: political protest is also located in the context of ordinary human life, and these events, no matter how hard they are experienced, are still erased from memory.

Of course, it’s difficult to forget the barricades near the White House, but some of the protests of 2011 and 2012 are already beginning to fade away, and Pavlensky’s protests are forever, this is a property of a work of art: it cannot be forgotten. This language is very effective, but that does not mean that it exists only for protest. It's just a language! After all, in Russian, for example, we can swear, sing songs, and confess our love.

The language of actionism is effective and exists not only for protest

— They say that actionism in Russia began with Osmolovsky’s action on Red Square in 1991 and therefore has a pronounced political character.

It is not true. Already in the 1970s, there were several groups of artists who were primarily engaged in actions: the “Nest” group, the “Collective Actions” group. It’s just that people who say that don’t know their history and culture. In addition, we must not forget about the actionism of 1910-1920, about Mayakovsky, Burlyuk, Mariengof, about the festive processions on the first anniversaries of the revolution, directed and decorated by left-wing artists.

Osmolovsky's action

— When did actionism originate?

If we dig so deeply into the history of actionism, we can get to the bottom of antiquity. No seriously! The burning of Rome is not an action?

This phenomenon has always existed, so it cannot be said that actionism was born at a specific time. The mysteries of the early Renaissance can also be considered actionism. It can take completely different forms. Actionism was born before the theater; for that matter, it preceded the theater.

In a way, anything that is unique and happens once outside of everyday context can be considered actionism. For example, there is a ritual church service, and there is everyday life. Medieval man, thus, lived simultaneously in two times: there was ordinary life, which was somehow rhythmic with the seasons, then with the advent of clocks - hours and minutes. And he also lived in eternity, when, getting into the temple, he found himself in a time that had no beginning or end. The whole story of Christ was endlessly repeated there: his holidays, birth and baptism. Eternity or sacred time is not separated by an impenetrable wall from current, everyday time.

In the temple, he was simultaneously in the same space with all the departed, with all the saints, who, like him, joined the choir of those praising God. Eternity was already here, and man came into contact with it in the temple. But when the mysteries began to take the form of a procession, pouring out onto the streets of the city, they left the sacred space in which eternity froze, but at the same time they did not fit into the everyday routine of life, into everyday calculation of time - it was a symbolic action taking place in real space, then yes, promotion.

Actionism preceded theater

About the exhibitions “Right to Life” and “Prosthetics and Replacements”

Both exhibitions are based on the actionist practice of Andrei Kuzkin and Mishmash, and this practice proceeded in parallel and jointly: MishMash participated in the actions of Andrei Kuzkin, Andrei Kuzkin - in the actions of MishMash.

Some of the items that ended up on the wall in the MishMash hall were brought by Kuzkin, MishMash found some items at Kuzkin’s rallies, all this is reflected in their texts. There are Machines, and Misha’s texts, and Kuzkin’s reaction to some events, his impressions. There is an action “Blindfolded” and a text about it. Here, too, it is very difficult to say who is the author, but this is the result of very fruitful joint creativity. The viewer can pick up all these texts and take them with them.

Of course, Kuzkin has more shares. This is a retrospective exhibition in which he managed to collect almost everything he did over 7 years, while Misha and Masha’s exhibition touches on the work of only the last few years.

One way or another, both exhibitions are about what remains of an event after it is over. MishMash and Kuzkin have a noticeably different attitude towards this. Masha and Misha do not want and do not even try to preserve the atmosphere of the event in its original form. For them, an event is a moment that has passed, and memories remain from it. Artists work precisely with these memories, which is why there is such an abundance of objects in which memories are preserved.

Objects are always “agents” of some event, materialized memory. It is not even the objects that participated in the events that are presented here, but their casts; in fact, memory as such is played out. The plaster cast is a reference to antiquity, which is the embodiment of the cultural past, materialized cultural memory. Besides, this is a trace. And if an object is a trace, then a cast from it is a trace of a trace.

These objects themselves seem to be suspended above semantic abstraction and classical expressiveness, because these authors cannot ignore form, they work with plasticity. The idea of ​​“MishMash” is that these “objectified” traces are detached from the event and independently generate some kind of associations among strangers. Like a breakaway piece of a star that flew away and became an independent comet. They represent an autonomous aesthetic phenomenon and can now themselves establish some connections, connotations without any footnote or reference to the lullaby event.

Prostheses

Substitutions

— And yet: should the viewer recognize the context in order to better understand the meaning that the authors themselves put into this trace?

It turns out that this is not at all necessary. The event gave birth to new objects and forms, and after that it disappeared: it is not here. But there are texts generated by this event, which are a response to it or precede it, and they also begin to pursue some kind of policy.

It is no coincidence that the texts in the hall are hung opposite objects; they are connected with these objects that may appear in the texts, that is, they have internal connections. And at the same time, texts can interact with each other and evoke some of their own associations in a viewer who is not familiar with the background. The result is absolute freedom of meanings that can float in absolutely any direction, and the viewer finds himself at the crossroads of these links, connections, and can himself evoke some new meanings, because he also has some reactions. The viewer can become the event himself through his personal life experiences.

— We started with what is the fundamental difference between Kuzkin and MishMash. I noticed that Kuzkin, when recording his actions, really likes to pronounce the sequence of actions that take place...

This exhibition is in one way or another dedicated to what these actions leave behind, that is, it is not spectacular, not for contemplating some objects, it is for immersion. This is especially important for Kuzkin, because, unlike “MishMash”, which believes that the event is already over, for Kuzkin the event continues, he does not break ties with it. He writes about these actions without creating any distance at all, this is not analytics, these are exclusively experiences of the situation that the artist himself creates for himself.

The exhibition is dedicated to what actions leave behind

— It turns out that this exhibition is a kind of combination of two “logics”?

You can say that. They did a lot of actions together, there were a lot of shared experiences, but these are different artists. They have different conclusions, different priorities, different goals, but at the same time they are very close. Their communication was very fruitful for both.

It is very important for Masha that many people, her friends, participate in her actions, she wants these actions to be collective, she is not an individualist, unlike Kuzkin. Although Kuzkin also values ​​his friends very much.

It is very important that most of Kuzkin’s shares are not public. Basically, his shares are very closed, and the fact that they have now entered the public space allows us to look into the creative kitchen, because this was not done at all for an outside observer. Kuzkin didn’t even want to let a person with a good camera come to his shares, simply because he didn’t want to see a stranger at the shares. The vast majority of his actions were filmed by Yulia Ovchinnikova (head of the audio-video sector at the NCCA Media Library) or his friends. With them he can be liberated, there is no social game, no pretense.

— How difficult was it to put such intimate actions on public display?

They were born as a completely sincere, natural thing, this is an existential experience, it is very difficult to make it public. Kuzkin started working at the end of 2007, and in 2008 he did several strong things at once. One of his first events was “Space-Time Continuum,” where he spent 5.5 hours drawing a line with a pencil on a ten-meter wall without lifting his hand. At times he would sit down, remember something, mumble, and then, seeing his schedule, could remember what he was thinking about two steps ago. But in fact, these thoughts were two hours ago. Kuzkin came up with a special form of documentation for his shares. He writes “one person...”.

It is very important that the majority of Kuzkin’s shares are not public

One man

— Immediately the question is: why “one person” and not “me”?

Because this is connected with experiencing oneself, Kuzkin, as one of a number of people. It’s as if he has a long lens, and the focus constantly moves from personal life to a universal human situation associated with eternity, with some kind of total history.

Humanity has come a long way, and how many people have existed, and how many more will exist? They come, live and disappear. Kuzkin is very concerned about how a specific person - one of this innumerable multitude - can leave a mark. How can it indicate presence in this life? He is interested in this from the point of view of his own “mission”: he would not want to melt away, disappear without a trace, so he makes art. Otherwise you just live and die. He doesn’t want it that way, it scares him, because if you disappeared without leaving a trace, then why did you appear? He is concerned about this fragility, uniqueness and solubility of human life.

The entire project is structured in such a way that he, Kuzkin, one of billions of people, can capture his traces in this world, testify to his presence in life. And he testifies: he does something all the time, there are already 70 actions that fit into this exhibition - these are not even all of his works, but this is enough to say that Kuzkin does this all the time, because this is a way to record your presence in life, because everyday actions are erased and tomorrow absorbs yesterday: tomorrow it will no longer matter what time you got up today or what you ate for breakfast - these events have a momentary meaning.

Another thing is an action - it retains its meaning, you can’t throw it out of life. This event is no longer afraid of the ravages of time, it has already been recorded, published, and there is a video about it. It is disconnected from everyday connections, which means it can no longer be erased. Actions fall out of the chain of everyday events; they have a different logic, a different connection between the participants, between the action and the person.

— Can we say that every time Kuzkin becomes the center of the event?

No, this is completely optional. But he is an author. Are you asking if Kuzkin is the center of events? No, he is more of a material. All these promotions are an experience in itself. He really participates in them, but is not a goal, but rather a means, an instrument for clarifying some meanings.

In general, a connection with the past, a connection with ancestors, family continuity is very important for him, because it allows him to rely on something, this is a kind of “objectification” of time.

Kuzkin is the center of events in his actions

You don’t have to take me literally that Kuzkin does his actions to become famous: under no circumstances. Moreover, he acts as an anonymous person, inserting himself into an endless series of people, as if saying: “I’m just a person, just one of them.” This is very important for him; he constantly appeals to a common basis, a common genus. Here's bread for him too...

—Primary matter?

Well, yes, some kind of constitutional matter. Bread, which is connected with the earth, human labor, sweat. He has an event where he and prisoners make sculptures from bread crumbs. In his other work - the installation “Heroes of Levitation” - he made huge people from bread (4 meters high), so simple-minded, defenseless, and he didn’t stop there: he undressed and climbed into a hammock in the hall, as if saying: “I’m alone of them". This is a work that he dedicated to hard workers, their hard life, closeness to the simple basics of life. Kuzkin is very democratic.

Bread Man

Here is the iron cube in which he shouted, whispered, and walked. It was an internal monologue dedicated to the loss of connection between the inner person and the external environment, about the impossibility of being heard, about the futility of all efforts. Again, about why you live, and what will happen when you end this life of yours.

And Kuzkin had already completed it several times: he was engaged in... sublimation of suicide, let’s say. He placed a plaque on his father's grave with his name and date, as if he had died. In fact, he expected to die when his age was equal to his father's, and therefore he was in a hurry. Even in childhood, he realized that a person can die suddenly, and he lives all the time, negotiating with death, he does not look beyond the date indicated on the grave. He constantly tries on death in one form or another. I don’t know if he will do this in the future...

In the action “Everything that is is all mine,” he “put on” all these illnesses and lay down in a glass “sarcophagus” and lay there for about five hours. He thought about this action for a very long time, and eventually found the strength to carry it out. The connotation with Montaigny’s “Dead Christ,” which is obvious to an informed viewer, came about by chance. But the idea of ​​sacrifice, taking on someone else’s pain, irony mixed with slight self-irony (since an artist is a person who takes on someone else’s, in this case, someone else’s pain). His naked, completely Apollonian body, which knows no diseases, no signs of old age, imitates a corpse, since all these diseases together are incompatible with life, hints at the transparency of the body for the medical eye, which it acquires in the autopsy room.

Campaign “Everything that is is all mine”

There was also the action “Everything is ahead!” that everyone remembers, when he artificially drew a line under his biography and walled up all his property, personal belongings, passports, computer, phone and everything that was on him in boxes.

— Was it more death or renewal?

They are inseparable. To renew yourself, you need to bury your former self. The idea of ​​starting life again comes to us all. Everything is a clean slate, starting from Monday.

But you can dream about it, but he decided to make it happen. In today's retrospective, he is trying to evaluate the path he has traveled, to understand what it is worth, what he has managed to do. And in the campaign “Everything is ahead!” he simply walled everything up, delaying this analysis for 29 years, when he allowed these boxes to be opened.

Kuzkin: to renew yourself, you need to bury your former self

“I heard he invented his own language.”

Yes! This is quite interesting and strange. Andrey is always trying to achieve authenticity, such extreme sincerity in the transfer of meanings and experiences. But our everyday language is too worn out and stale, it has absorbed all the moments of the deceitful use of words, and this language began to irritate Kuzkin also because it cannot express everything, the language is not able to convey some genuine inner experiences, it is poor, limited and so on. Disillusioned with the language, Kuzkin took a vow of silence - for a week, in my opinion. But having stopped speaking, he still felt the need to express something and began to draw numbers. He realized that for him numbers are also a way of expression; they are not the same. Some numbers evoke certain emotions in him, and this has become his personal language.

Kuzkin, having completed his experience of silence, did not want to lose this acquired language and decided to preserve it. He created his own theory, his own system, made several actions where he explained to people using these numbers.

- But they don’t understand him?

And it doesn't matter. Effort, an attempt to understand is more important than knowledge.

Share

Actionism in art, a form of modern art that emerged in the 1960s.

The desire to erase the line between art and reality leads to the search for new ways of artistic expression, giving the dynamics of the work, involving him in some action (share).

Action (or art of action) becomes a general concept for artistic practices in which the emphasis is shifted from the work itself to the process of its creation.

In actionism artist usually becomes the subject and/or object of a work of art.

Forms close to actionism are happening, performance, event, art of action,art of demonstration and a number of other forms.

Jackson Pollock and his “dance” around future paintings

Yves Klein and his “living paintings”

During the same period, actionism reached a new level, turning into theatrical action, declares itself with declarations, justifying the creation of four-dimensional art, developing in time and space. Using the latest advances in technology to keep pace with the era, involves elements of many types of art, creating new forms of creativity - video art, environment, happening, performance.

Performance- a modern form of actionist art aimed at activating the archetypes of the “collective unconscious” of the public, a modern form of spontaneous street theater. This is a type of visual art in the twentieth century, in which the work is any action of the artist, observed in real time. Unlike theatre, in performance the artist, as a rule, is the only author.

• Purpose of the performance- attract the attention of the public, involving them, if possible, in joint action. What is most striking in all performances is the desire to shock and surprise the public, necessarily providing PR support from journalists and photographers.
• Performance c is closer to the poetic reading and performance of a musical work and can be defined as a public gesture (physical, verbal, behavioral, social, etc.).
• At the core performance lies the idea of ​​art as a way of life that precedes the creation of any material objects and even makes them unnecessary.
• Performance is radically different from a classical work of art, but it can emphasize different reasons for this difference - time duration, provocativeness, sociality, play aspect, so a performance can express completely different aesthetic programs.
• IN "conceptual" performance documenting the event and recording the gap between this document and reality is important; in the “anthropological” - the bodily participation of the artist, sometimes self-destructive, and the physical presence of the viewer, sometimes consciously made uncomfortable for him. However, elements of both aesthetics are usually present in each.

Happening(English: happening - happening, happening) - a type of actionism, most common in avant-garde art of the 60-70s. Happenings emerged in the late 50s as a form of theater. In the future, artists most often organize happenings directly in the urban environment or in nature. They consider this form as a kind of moving work in which the environment and objects play no less a role than the living participants in the action.

• Happening develops as an event, provoked rather than organized, but the initiators of the action necessarily involve the audience in it.
• Action happening provokes freedom of each participant and manipulation of objects. All actions develop according to a pre-planned program, in which, however, great importance is given to improvisation, which gives vent to various unconscious impulses.
• Happening may include elements of humor and folklore.
• In a happening Avant-gardeism's desire to merge art with the flow of life itself was clearly expressed.

Environment(English environment - environment, environment) - one of the forms characteristic of avant-garde art of the 1960-1970s. This is an extensive spatial composition that embraces the viewer like a real environment.

Installation(from the English installation - installation) - a spatial composition created by an artist from various elements - household items, industrial products and materials, natural objects, text or visual information. Installation is an art form widespread in the 20th century.

• Founders installations there were the Dadaist M. Duchamp and the surrealists.
• By creating unusual combinations of ordinary things, the artist gives them a new symbolic meaning.
• Aesthetic content installations it is necessary to look for semantic meanings in the game, which change depending on where the object is located - in the usual everyday environment or in the exhibition hall.
• Installation created by many avant-garde artists R. Rauschenberg, D. Dain, G. Uecker, I. Kabakov.

Bodypainting is the art of the body, an avant-garde movement that emerged in the 60s.

• Representatives body painting used their body as a material or an object of creativity, resorting to various, sometimes painful, manipulations: they covered their bodies with plaster, made incisions, performed grueling breathing exercises, and burned their hair.
• Special variety body painting— self-demonstration of the artist; some manifestations of body painting were of an erotic and sadomasochistic nature.
• Being a manifestation of actionism, body painting became close to a number of phenomena that arose in line with the counter-culture (tattoos, body painting, nudism, sexual revolution).

Video - art(English video art), a direction in fine art of the last third of the 20th century, using the capabilities of video technology. Art using television technology - video art,— precisely arose from a protest against the dominance of mass culture, the highest embodiment of which is considered to be television broadcasting.

• Unlike television itself, designed for broadcasting to mass audiences, video art uses television receivers, video cameras and monitors in unique happenings, and also produces experimental films in the spirit of conceptual art, which are shown in special exhibition spaces.
• With the help of modern electronics it shows, as it were, “the brain in action” - a clear path from an artistic idea to its implementation.
• Main Founder video art- Korean-American Nam Jung Paik.
• The “fathers” of video art, Nam Jung Paik and Wolf Vostel, each in their own way sneered at respectable citizens who sat down to relax in front of the TV every evening.
• In the 60s, Wolf Vostel organized happenings in which televisions were pelted with cream cakes, tied with barbed wire, ceremonially buried, and even shot with machine guns.
• Good art always has a strong impact on a person - it awakens feelings, thoughts, ideas, and actions in him. Video art has technical means of influence that are stronger than painting, graphics, sculpture.
• Perhaps, in terms of the severity of its impact, only life itself can compete with video art. It is no coincidence that this most believable of all arts was called by Wolf Vostel "escape to reality."

Flashmob(English flash mob - flash - flash; moment, moment; mob - crowd, translated as “flash of the crowd” or as “instant crowd”) is a pre-planned mass action in which a large group of people ( mobbers) suddenly appears in a public place, for several minutes people with a serious look perform pre-agreed actions of absurd content (scenario) and then at the same time quickly disperse in different directions, as if nothing had happened.

Kinetic art(from the Greek Kineticos - “setting in motion”) - a movement in modern art associated with the widespread use of moving objects, which is based on the idea of ​​​​movement of form. The dynamics of an object means not just its physical movement, but any change, transformation, in a word, any form of “life” of the work while the viewer contemplates it
Kinetic art originated in the 20-30s, when V. E. Tatlin in the USSR (model of the monument-tower of the Third International, 1919-20), and later A. Calder in the USA (the so-called mobiles), etc., giving rotational or translational movement of individual parts of their works, they tried to overcome the traditional static nature of sculpture, to give greater activity to its interaction with the environment.

Protokinetic trends existed in art already in the 20s, in the work of Russian constructivists (modernists) (A. Rodchenko, V. Tatlina, N. Gabo, etc.), as well as some West German Dadaists (M. Duchamp). The creative searches of these artists in this area paved the way for the flowering of kineticism, which became a relatively solid movement that made itself known through problematic exhibitions, manifestos, tests and projects starting in the 50s.

Thus:
In the 50s - 60s. art reaches a new level, turning into a kind of theatrical performance, performed both in special premises and in nature or on city streets and squares, and which included elements of many types of art and art practices (both static and procedural) .

In this way, POST-culture responded to the theoretical and practical tendency of many arts, which had already become quite traditional by the middle of the century, towards some kind of synthetic unification, towards the release of art from museum and exhibition halls into the environment (environmental approach to art), towards a more active inclusion of recipients in the process creativity (Happening).

Finally, it was a peculiar reaction of art practice to the achievements of scientific and technological progress (NTP and art), which showed, on the one hand, the desire of artistic thinking to keep up with it, and on the other, revealed the complete confusion of aesthetic consciousness in front of a huge and incomprehensible monster , which over the course of half a century led to almost the destruction of all traditional forms of art and methods of artistic expression.

Since the middle of the century, artistic manifestos and declarations have regularly appeared (in particular, the “White Manifesto” of L. Fontana, the calls of the composer D. Cage, etc.), which substantiate or declare the need to create four-dimensional art in accordance with new living conditions, developing in space and time, concentrating attention on specific life activities, using all the latest achievements of technology and technology to keep up with the times.

Unlike traditional theatrical or musical art (Performances) are, as a rule, irrational, paradoxical and absurd in nature and are addressed directly to the extraconscious levels of the recipient’s psyche. Gesture, facial expressions, pauses between actions and gestures are of great importance. The development of the art of action was significantly influenced by the passion of their creators for Eastern and primitive cults, shamanic rituals, Eastern philosophical and religious teachings, doctrines, meditation practices, etc.

About Starikova Yulia

Committing coitus with a dirty gypsy in front of people or nailing yourself with the sharpest things from the garden store, drawing a reproductive organ in the middle of a big city or organizing dances in churches - all this is merciless Russian actionism. Whether this can be called is debatable. My comrades, an operetta artist and a violin teacher at the conservatory, once scolded me for awkwardly equating actionism with art.

But another fellow director, foaming at his cracked mouth, argued that this is the best of the arts, since the artist’s self-expression cannot be subject to the evaluative framework of the philistine masses. Simply put, “you don’t understand anything, this is art.” But which one? Acutely social and political? Or can self-expression not be contained within these frameworks? But the actionists themselves do not hide the fact that this is a protest.

It’s just that the recent action of the legendary artist Pavlensky cannot be called anything other than “heroic madness”? What is this: a politically motivated artistic gesture or an attack by an “urban guerrilla” - this will be debated for a long time. Was the game worth the candle - Pavlensky himself will answer this question, giving a resounding slap in the face to perhaps the most powerful organization in the country. It is difficult to understand the artist, and his words immediately after his arrest: “I think that this act should be considered as a gesture in the face of terrorism. This is how I fight terror,” can be interpreted in any way you like. Therefore, instead of analyzing the actions, I suggest you plunge into the crazy history of actionism in the Russian land, full of idiocy, oddities and naked bodies.

Pavlensky as he is

Russia of the tenths is “War”, and Pavlensky. There is no fourth name on the list, but three is quite a lot. Three times more than one, and an infinite number of times more than zero.
– Oleg Kashin –

If we remember the group “War” and “pusek” with a kind word next time, then it would be a shame not to mention Pavlensky now. An outstanding personality, whatever you say. A man whose balls are literally steel. The most famous “artist” of Russia, before setting the FSB door on fire, became famous for the following actions:
“Seam” - On July 23, 2012, the artist, with his mouth sewn shut with harsh thread, stood at a picket near the Kazan Cathedral for an hour and a half, holding a poster with the inscription: “The Pussy Riot action was a replay of the famous action of Jesus Christ.” To the questions: “Sasha, what the hell!?” - he replied:

By sewing up my mouth against the backdrop of the Kazan Cathedral, I wanted to show the position of the modern artist in Russia: the ban on glasnost. I am disgusted by the intimidation of society, the mass paranoia, manifestations of which I see everywhere.

Then there was "Carcass". A strange public protest against the suppression of civic activity, intimidation of the population, the growing number of political prisoners, laws on NGOs, 18+ laws, censor laws, the activity of Roskomnadzor, the law on the promotion of homosexuality. Pavlensky, and with him millions of no-names, were ready to prove hoarsely that these laws are not against crime, but against people. As a result, against the backdrop of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, he found himself wrapped in a multi-layered cocoon of barbed wire. The poor police had to cut it with garden shears in order to get to the silent and immobilized Pavlensky. A quick mind will notice the allegory that from the barbed wire the artist fell into the prickly paws of the organs.

And then there was the legendary “Fixation”. A silent artist nailed a scrotum to age-old stones on the icy November paving stones. In a statement, the hero of the occasion wrote: “The naked artist looking at his eggs nailed to the Kremlin paving stones is a metaphor for the apathy, political indifference and fatalism of modern Russian society.”

Sitting naked on the fence of the Institute of Psychiatry named after. Serbsky in Moscow and cutting off his earlobe in protest about the use of psychiatry for political purposes seems secondary, after Van Gogh.
Questions arise: was there another way to show his protest, and how did he not die, it’s cold, and he’s always naked. But if the second can be explained by courage, then the first can only be explained by the artist’s vision and mental disorder.
The most interesting thing is that the artist himself does not classify actionism as art:

I don’t think at all that actionism is directly related to modern art. Contemporary art contrasts itself with traditional, classical art. Actionism cannot be classical or modern. Diogenes masturbated in the square - Brener also masturbated. According to Christian mythology, Jesus was nailed to the cross - so Mavromatti nailed himself to the cross. These gestures are timeless... any art is, in principle, political, because the artist is aware of what regime he lives in and what he should do or not do in this regard. And actionism, that is, political art, implies that a person consciously begins to work with the instruments of power. And the purpose of art is liberation practices, the struggle for the embodiment of free thought.

Of course, the word “hero” in the context of what was done seems too strong even for the radical opposition. It's just a phenomenon. Very specific and bold. But if Pavlensky had not asked to change the article of charge from vandalism to terrorism, then his actions would have made sense, and there is enough posturing in ordinary life.

Both those and "E.T.I"

I think it’s very good that there is such a type of contemporary art as actionism. And it’s good that it causes rejection among broad sections of the population, because in general the task of the avant-garde and contemporary art is not to be transparent. In this world of total speeds, absolute transparency and endless chatter there must be some kind of “hardcore”, a core. Contemporary art is this core, and not everyone can handle it. And that's how it should be. And then we need to raise the temperature even more.
– Anatoly Osmolovsky –

Before all sorts of Pussy Riot, NBP and other delights of Russian protest, in the late 80s there was a quite bright group with the characteristic name “E.T.I.” According to Osmolovsky, the movement was invented rather as a model of a youth subculture. The name was chosen from everyday speech, although it stood for “Expropriation of the Territory of Art.” It was famous primarily for its heroes. Osmolovsky is still considered one of the most prominent Russian artists and the leader of Moscow Actionism. Among other things, he starred in the role of a captain who fell victim to the violence of Vladimir Epifantsev, who impregnated his mouth and gave an unforgettable lecture about Pearl Harbor with elements of the bullseye dance. Mavromatti was the producer of this film, and made his mark with his own shares.
Dmitry Pimenov, who tried to visit the mausoleum in knightly armor, but instead visited the madhouse.

Their most striking action took place in the distant and critical year of 1991. The bodies of the participants on the “sacred paving stones” of Red Square laid out the very same three-letter word starting with the letter X, which is not “dick” or “hoy” at all. 14 bodies, there were rumors that the line above the letter “Y” was Shenderovich himself, but Osmolovsky rejected this.
It would seem, what’s wrong with that? There are worse things on schoolchildren’s Instagrams. But the fact is that it was still the Soviet Union, and what is most blasphemous for anyone faithful to the precepts of Ilyich, the action was carried out on the eve of Lenin’s birthday and was interpreted as an attack on his memory.
Although formally the action was timed to coincide with the recently issued law on morality, which, among other things, prohibited swearing in public places.
Osmolovsky argues that the idea of ​​the action (besides its obvious protest meaning) was to combine two signs of opposite status: Red Square as the highest hierarchical geographical point on the territory of the USSR and the most prohibited marginal word.
As for the meaning of the protest, it was a protest against rising prices and the almost physical impossibility of existing and working.
In addition to the well-deserved rays of glory, E.T.I. were charged under Article 206 part 2 “Malicious hooliganism, distinguished in its content by exceptional cynicism or special insolence.” It sounds like a monologue from a movie in a “goblin” translation.

Mavromatti crosses

Coming from those who are “E.T.I.”, the graceful Greek of actionism Oleg Mavromatti in the early 2000s brought moral guardians from the Prosecutor’s Office to white heat, who accused him of inciting interethnic and interreligious hatred. Since then, Oleg Yuryevich has lived in New York and tells extremely interesting things in his unique nasal manner (for example, what substances he dabbled in in the 80s) on his YouTube channel.
What made this intelligent, although not without some oddities, young man so mad? Not by creating the film “Breaks,” in which the genital organ was pierced into an icon and a baby was fucked, but by the action “Don’t Believe Your Eyes.” Held in a place special for such an event - on the territory of the Institute of Cultural Studies of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. First, he was tied to a cross made of boards, after which assistants nailed his hands with 100-millimeter nails. On Mavromatti's bare back, the words "I AM NOT THE SON OF GOD" were carved with a razor. Unlike Jesus Christ, Mavromatti could not stand the torment, and after hours of groaning and suffering he was taken down from the cross.
Mavromatti explained to journalists:

I don’t know a single artist in world cinema who would naturally play pain. This scene symbolizes real suffering, real sacrifice, on which art has long been speculating.

Then, when the authorities began to bring charges against him and confiscated his materials, he left for his wife’s homeland - Bulgaria. By the way, his wife is also an actionist who advocates for women’s rights. Rossa, by the way, is the author of the “Last Valve” campaign. Predicting a society free of gender restrictions, she sewed up her vagina. Such a nice woman.
In exile, Mavromatti remained true to himself: either he would rewrite the Constitution of the Russian Federation with venous blood, or he would invite people who agree that the artist deserves criminal prosecution to shock him online. And recently he edited all the videos of the “Orthodox gay, patriot, your friend and comrade Astakhov Sergius” into one whole film “No Country for Fools,” for which he received many prizes. In Europe they love Russian fools.
By the way, flagellation in the name of protest is a long-forgotten act. One crazy Serbian Marina Abramovich (emphasis on the second syllable, and this is important) endlessly castigated herself in front of the people. During the performance "Thomas's Lips" (1975), Abramovich ate a kilogram of honey and drank a liter of red wine, broke a glass with her hand, cut a five-pointed communist star on her stomach with a razor, whipped herself, and then lay down on a piece of ice in the shape of a cross, pointing it at herself. belly heater.

Actionism is logically developing in the harsh realities of the 21st century, doing the same thing that everyone does that is inaccessible to a simple brain: trying to overcome form and color, the very idea of ​​artistic technique, art has moved on to taboo subjects, and therefore to the body. It is logical that the next step is to overcome the body itself. Only the authorities do not see this as a continuation of the traditions of buffoonery, but see only a threat and direct appeals.
We (except for Dima Enteo, German Sterligov and a good half of the Russian government) understand what benefits, for example, come from scientists who defend new radical hypotheses, or innovative entrepreneurs who risk capital for the sake of vague prospects. Political activists or action artists also have their own function - to question the established order and the magical power of authorities.
But what are these shares worth if they are rejected by the majority? We'll deal with this in the next part.

Various protest actions by action artists every now and then cause a wide public response, after which everyone forgets about them until the next such performance. A striking example of this is the recent incident at Lubyanka. However, this and other incomprehensible to most ordinary people are not the only performances staged in our country. There are other actionists in Russia, and this post will tell us about their most memorable performances.

Movement E.T.I., “E.T.I. - Text"

1991, Red Square

The pioneers of what is commonly called Moscow actionism, created by Anatoly Osmolovsky “Movement E.T.I.”, lay out the word beginning with the letter X with their bodies on the paving stones of Red Square. Formally, the performance was timed to coincide with the adoption of the law on morality on April 15, 1991, which included including a ban on obscene language in public places. It is this action that many art critics consider the starting point for Moscow actionism because of the public resonance it caused.

Oleg Kulik, “Mad Dog”

1994, Yakimanka,
Marat Gelman gallery

In November 1994, Kiev artist Oleg Kulik showed Moscow for the first time his famous dog man, one of the symbols of Russian radical art of the 90s. A naked Kulik on a chain jumped out of the doors of Marat Guelman’s gallery on Yakimanka, while the other end of the chain was held by Alexander Brenner, another prominent Moscow actionist. Then Kulik showed his “dog” performances everywhere: in Zurich, Stockholm, Rotterdam and New York. According to the artist, he realized that the “dog cycle” had exhausted itself when he began to be invited to perform in this image at closed events for money.

Alexander Brener, “What David Didn’t Finish”

1995, Lubyanka Square

The artist Alexander Brener, who in the 90s explored the relationship between man and legislation, crossed the flow of cars on May 11, 1995, stood in the center of Lubyanka Square, where the monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky used to stand, and shouted loudly: “Hello! I am your new commercial director! Brener carried out the second of his most famous actions a few months earlier: he went out onto Red Square wearing boxing gloves and shouted: “Yeltsin! Come out, you vile coward!” In 1997, the artist left Russia forever.

Anatoly Osmolovsky, Avdey Ter-Oganyan,
Konstantin Zvezdochetov and others, “Barricade”

1998, Bolshaya Nikitskaya street

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the French student revolution, a group of Moscow actionists blocked Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street with empty cardboard boxes, chanting slogans such as “It is forbidden to ban!”, “You are being deceived!” and “All power to the imagination!” This is the largest art event held in Moscow: about 300 people took part in it. The authors of "Barricade" - artists and friends of the magazine "Radek" - defined their act as a test of unconventional technologies of political struggle in contemporary Russia.

Avdey Ter-Oganyan, “Young Atheist”

1998, "Manege"

The famous performance by Avdey Ter-Oganyan at the exhibition “Art-Manege-98”: chopping with an ax the icons “The Savior Not Made by Hands,” “The Mother of God of Vladimir” and “The Almighty Savior.” According to Art Manege curator Elena Romanova, in this way the artist contrasted his vision of the world with orthodox Christianity. The performance was stopped at the request of indignant spectators, and a criminal case was opened against Ter-Oganyan under the article “Incitement of national, racial or religious hatred,” which was closed in 2010, presumably after the statute of limitations had expired. Ter-Oganyan left Russia in 1999.

Oleg Mavromatti, “Don’t believe your eyes”

2000, Bersenevskaya embankment

The most famous performance by actionist Oleg Mavromatti: in the courtyard of the Institute of Cultural Studies of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, he was tied to a wooden cross, nailed to it, and the words “I am not the son of God” were carved on his back with a nail. This action was supposed to desacralize pain and physical suffering. A criminal case was also opened against Mavromatti on charges of inciting ethnic and religious hatred; in the 2000s he had to leave Russia.

Group “Bombily”, “Motor Rally of Dissenters”

APRIL 2007, Pokrovsky Boulevard

The “Bombily” group was created by students and employees of Oleg Kulik’s studio Anton “Madman” Nikolaev and Alexander “Superhero” Rossikhin. On the day of the “March of Dissent” on April 14, 2007, a “seven” drove through the streets of Moscow, on the roof of which a man and a woman made love. Thus, the artists wanted to say that control over society is similar to control over sexual life. Many consider this action to usher in a wave of new Russian actionism.

Group "Bombily", "White Line"

MAY 2007, Krymsky Val

In the same year, the “Bombs” organized another well-known action - referring to Gogol’s “Viy”, they drew a circle with chalk along the line of the Garden Ring. The circle closed on the Crimean Val, and the artists themselves declared that they wanted to cleanse Moscow of the evil spirits that had filled the center.

Group "War"
“***** for the heir of the bear cub”

MARCH 2008,
Biological Museum named after Timiryazev

An action that for a long time defined the image of the main actionist group of the late 2000s, among people far from contemporary art: the simultaneous sex of several couples in a biological museum on the eve of the 2008 presidential elections. According to activists, at the moment when Vladimir Putin announced that his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, unknown to anyone at that time, “the country was really fucked,” and they translated this into the language of modern art.

Group "War"
“Lyonya ***** is protecting the feds”

2010, Kremlin embankment

On May 22, 2010, Voina activist Leonid Nikolaev, better known as Lenya *** (Crazy), jumped onto an FSO official car with a flashing light not far from the Big Stone Bridge. For this action, Nikolaev was charged under the article “Hooliganism”, which provides for a maximum penalty of arrest for up to 15 days.

Group “War”, “Lobzay Garbage”

2011, Kitay-Gorod and other metro stations

Activists of the Voina group celebrated the entry into force of the Law “On the Police” on March 1, 2011 with an action in the Moscow metro: Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samutsevich kissed police officers. Tolokonnikova later noted that women were more shocked not by the fact that they were being kissed, but by the fact that representatives of the same sex were doing it.

Pussy Riot, “Mother of God, drive Putin away”

2012, Cathedral of Christ the Savior

It seems that even in the most remote corners of Russia they heard about the “punk prayer” of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and there is no need to say anything about it. After the performance, two of its performers - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina - were sentenced to two years in prison under the article “Hooliganism” and released in December 2013 under an amnesty, two months before the official end of their prison term. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova later repeatedly recognized the action in the KhHS as a failure.

Pyotr Pavlensky, “Fixation”

2013, Red Square

The first Moscow and at the same time the most famous action of the St. Petersburg actionist Pyotr Pavlensky: the naked artist nailed his scrotum to the stone paving stones of Red Square. Pavlensky himself later explained that the action became a metaphor for the apathy and political indifference of Russian society. Many actionists of the 90s praised Pavlensky’s action, but Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky recommended that all fans of Pavlensky’s work visit the Museum of the History of Medicine and Psychiatry.

Pyotr Pavlensky. "Branch"

2014, Serbsky Institute

Simultaneously with the psychological and psychiatric examination of the Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who was not allowed to see the Ukrainian consul and lawyer, Pavlensky carried out the following action “Separation”: he cut off his earlobe with a kitchen knife while sitting on the roof of the building of the Serbsky Institute of Psychiatry. The purpose of the action, according to the artist’s lawyer, was to condemn the psychiatric labels that are attached to people who do not fit into the framework of public opinion

“The Blue Rider”, “The Exorcists. Desecration of the Mausoleum"

January 2015, Red Square

On January 20, 2015, members of the Blue Rider group Oleg Basov and Evgeny Avilov doused the Lenin Mausoleum with holy water shouting “Get up and leave.” After the action, the activists, who saw the meaning of their action in cleansing modern minds of the Soviet legacy, received ten days of arrest.

Katrin Nenasheva, “Don't be afraid”

June 2015, Red Square

A 30-day action by performance artist Katrin Nenasheva in support of imprisoned women, which also ended on Red Square. Nenasheva walked around Moscow for a month only in a prison uniform, and on the final day, her colleague Anna Beauclair shaved Catherine’s head bald two steps from the Kremlin. Before they could finish the performance, the girls were detained and placed under arrest for three days.

Pyotr Pavlensky, “The Threat”

November 2015, Lubyanka Square

“The threat of imminent reprisal hangs over everyone who is within reach of external surveillance devices, wiretapping and passport control borders. Military courts eliminate any manifestations of free will. But terrorism can only exist due to the animal instinct of fear. An unconditioned protective reflex forces a person to go against this instinct. This is a reflex of fighting for your own life. And life is worth starting to fight for,” Pyotr Pavlensky commented on the arson of the doors to the main FSB building. In the Tagansky Court of Moscow, where the verdict in the artist’s case was pronounced on November 10, Pavlensky demanded that he be tried for terrorism - like “Crimean terrorists”, director Oleg Sentsov and anarchist Alexander Kolchenko. However, the court refused to reclassify the case and sentenced Pavlensky to a month in pre-trial detention.

Anatoly Osmolovsky (one of the founders of Moscow actionism): I think it’s very good that there is such a type of contemporary art as actionism. And it’s good that it causes rejection among broad sections of the population, because in general the task of the avant-garde and contemporary art is not to be transparent. In this world of total speeds, absolute transparency and endless chatter there must be some kind of “hardcore”, a core. Contemporary art is this core, and not everyone can handle it. And that's how it should be. And then we need to raise the temperature even more.

Pyotr Verzilov (civil activist, member of the art group “War”): It seems to me that actionism is a secret tool, a weapon or something, like a howitzer or some kind of artillery installation.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (member of the Pussy Riot group, served almost two years on charges of hooliganism): Oh my god, I can't hear it.

Verzilov: That is, such a complex installation that you still need to learn how to use. And people’s rejection of it is explained by the fact that they simply do not understand how this tool works. For example, the classic accusation: they say, you do everything for PR. But this is said by people who consume media products from a sphere where in general everything is done for PR. Channel "Russia-1" in terms of PR is much more sophisticated than any other actionists.

Tolokonnikova: I absolutely disagree that contemporary art is a particularly difficult area. Any area in which a person is involved professionally becomes complex simply because he thinks about this range of problems for a long time. Nuclear physics is much more complex than modern art. And the art that we call classical, I think, is no less complex than modern. In addition, as far as I know, a huge number of actions are carried out by artists in narrow circles; no one is told about this and videos are not posted on the Internet. Therefore, I would not call the main feature of actionism its media orientation.

Osmolovsky: Contemporary art is also a very simple thing in the sense that anyone can draw a black square. That is, you look at Rembrandt’s painting and go nuts: “I’ll definitely never be able to do that.” And then you look at the “Black Square” - and you understand: I can do it. And then the conclusion follows: if you think that you can draw a “Black Square”, draw! Start tomorrow! In this sense, the task of modern art is for the entire population of the earth to become artists, and the whole world to become art. And Pussy Riot is for performance as Malevich’s “Black Square” is for painting. Although performances are indeed not necessarily media and famous. In the 70s, conceptualists, the group “Collective Actions,” went into the forest, and from five to fifteen people were present at their actions.

Artem Loskutov (founder of the Novosibirsk annual art event “Monstration”): The media were different back then. Now the media provide information about what is happening right now, in the next 15 minutes it will be interesting, then something else will happen. And the artist is forced to compete with this flow of information. Hence the scandalousness. You are trying to participate in a global dialogue, express your point of view, and you need to make sure that you are heard. Some people have to go to jail for this. If there is a picket in a big city like Moscow and there are no arrests, newsmen are not interested. Detentions are a necessary component for activists’ civil message to be heard. The same thing happens with people who make not political statements, but more artistic ones.

Osmolovsky: The scandalous nature of the performances comes from the fact that there is no roof. Let’s take, for example, the performance of Avdey Ter-Oganyan, who chopped Sofrino handicrafts with an ax (typical icons produced by the Sofrino enterprise. - Ed.). For this he was threatened with a prison sentence, and he emigrated. But why exactly did the repression vehicle run over him? After all, literally a month before this there was a performance by the group “Metal Corrosion”, which, from the point of view of the Orthodox, is engaged in absolutely satanic sabbaths. There they show Jesus Christ upside down and everything else. But “Metal Corrosion” has a roof. And this roof’s name is Bryntsalov (Russian entrepreneur and politician, in 1995–2003 he was a State Duma deputy. - Ed.).

Tolokonnikova: And who is the roof of the Gas Sector? I just got great pleasure when I sat at the sewing machine in the prison workshop, convicted of religious hatred, and several times in this place where I was supposed to be re-educated, the song was played on repeat: “Opa, opa, green fence, / Girls ... [ fucked] butt - that’s what he needs!”

Osmolovsky: Don't know. But artists are people who speak out without any roof. And this causes monstrous hatred among the powers that be. When Pussy Riot climbed out onto the soleya, there was a wild outcry because of this - but Kirkorov also performed at this soleya, and Putin gave some kind of speech there, and no one felt any negative emotions about this.

Pyotr Pavlensky (actionist artist; the loudest action took place in November 2013: Pavlensky undressed and nailed his scrotum to the paving stones of Red Square): I don’t think at all that actionism has a direct relationship to modern art. Contemporary art contrasts itself with traditional, classical art. Actionism cannot be classical or modern. Diogenes masturbated in the square - Brener also masturbated. According to Christian mythology, Jesus was nailed to the cross - so Mavromatti nailed himself to the cross. These gestures are timeless. A person goes out unprotected because he cannot help but go out. He is pushed by surrounding circumstances, and by his action he indicates the political situation. Any art is, in principle, political, because the artist is aware of what regime he lives in and what he should do or not do in this regard. And actionism, that is, political art, implies that a person consciously begins to work with the instruments of power. Intimidation of people, trials, the psychiatric system, garbage, ideology, media propaganda - these are all instruments of power. And political art sets the task of seizing these tools and using them for their own purposes. And the purpose of art is liberation practices, the struggle for the embodiment of free thought.

Osmolovsky: I completely disagree with you; I would not reduce everything exclusively to the political. There may also be existential problems. In this sense, your performance on the paving stones of Red Square is both political and existential. And speaking in a historical context, in Russia there was a tradition of holy fools who did various performances and actions. For example, when Nikola Salos gave Ivan the Terrible a piece of raw meat. Ivan the Terrible then defeated Novgorod and went to destroy Pskov. But this blessed one met him at the entrance to the city and began to give him meat: “Eat, Ivanushka.” And it was Lenten time, and Grozny said: “Are you throwing meat at me?” He replies: “Well, you eat human meat.” After that, Ivan the Terrible turned around and left. And this was a feat, because Ivan the Terrible was a real ghoul. And if we look at medieval Western European culture, then there was a fundamentally different tradition - court jesters. A jester is a person who can also afford something, but he always exists under the king or under the duke. It's a more conformist culture. No one is behind the holy fools.

Vladimir Ovcharenko (founder of one of the oldest Moscow galleries - “Regina”, where more than one artistic event was held): It is interesting that one of the patriarchs of Russian actionism, who started this art in Russia in the 90s, and representatives of the new generation are present here. In the period between the second half of the 90s and the end of the 2000s, there were no significant artistic actions left in the history of Russian art. Apparently, actionism is a form of art that tends to appear and disappear depending on the emergence of some need to conduct this type of artistic dialogue with society. Now in politics and economics we see the movement of some gigantic layers. And therefore, young people have a need to speak out. We will probably see new artists and new promotions. I don’t know whether their degree will be higher or lower. We can only say that we live an interesting life.

Loskutov:“Monstrations” are also a kind of civil gymnastics. Five thousand people are coming with us. We give people a super-primitive form of expression - participation in a walking exhibition, a happening. Just take a stick, glue paper to it, write something - and you can still dress up. It's easier than taking a combo, guitar and mask and going somewhere to play. Therefore, this statement is reproduced.

Osmolovsky: You need to create a tradition of "Monstrations" in all cities. And then, at one fine moment, everyone would take out the LGBT flag. So there will be gay pride parades for you.

Ovcharenko: Why are you so interested in this topic, Anatoly?

Osmolovsky: And I am for the rights of minorities.

Verzilov: All this leads us to the conclusion that art is a camouflaged preparation for an uprising.

Osmolovsky: If Russia had a full-fledged system of contemporary art institutions, museums, festivals, this and that, fifth and tenth, I think that this energy would have other manifestations. But our prospects, as Arkady Severny sang, are very gloomy. Absolute madness is happening in Russia - this obscurantist chauvinistic propaganda, this character named Putin, who, in my opinion, has completely left somewhere. So, I think the degree of reaction from artists will increase. When I started making my shares, I was not ready to go to prison. Now people are ready to go to prison. And in this sense, we have great traditions - the same people's will... It can come to God knows what.

Tolokonnikova: It seems to me that this became especially noticeable after Putin was inaugurated for a third term. We were imprisoned the day before, and in this sense this question is more likely for Petya Pavlensky than for us. We still acted in that admiring era of late 2011 - early 2012, when the slogan “Down with Putin” was, in fact, conformist for our environment. The thought of prison punishment was certainly there, but it did not prevail when crowds of hundreds of thousands took to the streets next to you.

Pavlensky: This fear that you will be closed, that there will be repressions, is a management tool that you need to work with. If you stupidly give in to it, it turns out that you are a conductor of the will of power. Of course, the goal is not to get you imprisoned. If I just wanted to get locked up, I would go and blow up the store. And for me the greatest success is to bring the authorities to a standstill. Create a situation so that the instruments of power become agitated, begin to work against themselves, and thus become drawn into the artistic process. Then the victory of art occurs. Pussy Riot brought in a huge number of people.

Osmolovsky: I believe that an artist has no right to go to prison. In this sense, the fact that Pussy Riot went to prison is a failure. Because the distance is lost. When a person is sent to prison, it is impossible to say anything objective about his art, it is impossible to criticize someone who is in prison.

Tolokonnikova: If an artist has enough inner strength to continue to behave with dignity in prison and not become a victim, then I believe that he has the right to do so. What did Masha Alekhina do? She turned her back to the camera and disputed the violations. They discussed in court for days that she got up 10 minutes later than the official rise. She just... [fucked] them all there. In my opinion, this is great. This is art. And if a person is able to do this, then he can go to prison. For me there is another unresolved question. This is a rather Tolstoyan theme - do you need to be understandable to people, go among the people, grow a beard and dig the earth with them? That is, given that we set political goals for ourselves, should we, “cutting off our balls,” come to some kind of pop culture and become understandable? Or should we think about those issues that are interesting to us, at our level of professionalism? Moreover, this will be absolutely incomprehensible to most.

Ovcharenko: There is the general public, and there is the elite. To present art in an elite area, there is a museum. The museum holds exhibitions and collects collections. It’s interesting to know if any of you young guys want to go to the museum?

Tolokonnikova: I see the museum in my comments every day.

Pavlensky: There is an information field. The artist or activist creates a precedent in this information field. And then you need to leave it freely available to absolutely everyone. If someone wants, so to speak, to take a photograph of the action and hang it on the wall in the studio where pornographic films are shot, then you are welcome. If he wants a vodka label, please. Let this evidence of the political situation exist freely. Something else is important to me. I spoke about political art, but there is also the opposite category - design art. Art as decoration. This is exactly what I would like to avoid in my life. It doesn’t matter whether it decorates an institution, an interior, or some kind of regime. If art has a customer, it is prostitution. Political art is the opposite of prostitutive art.

Osmolovsky: If art is genuine, it never engages in decoration. I am for all types of art - painting, sculpture and for performances, actionism. But actionism is the work of young people. Here you need to be in shape - moral, physical. There are a huge number of things in actionism that are difficult for a person like me. For example, I was hit very hard in the 90s. You do this for seven or eight years, and then your entire nervous system is in pieces. The people who were involved in actionism in the 90s are all either crazy or on antidepressants. You know, if a terrorist operates for three years, then an actionist lasts seven years. Therefore, at some point I decided that I was retreating to previously prepared positions. And I advise you all - after a while you will have to think about this topic. Because a person is a thing that wears out.