Anatoli Osmolovsky

01:02 / Video

Performance
Marieninstitut, Kirchengasse 1, Graz
At Zonen der Ver-Störung, 27.9.–31.10.1997 

Anatoly Osmolovsky is considered one of the main representatives of 1990s Moscow Actionism, which was characterized by sometimes spectacular politically motivated performance art. Although this performance is open to various interpretations, it is primarily to be understood as a metaphor for the image of Russian citizens after the end of the Cold War as it was longed for in the West. In a room modeled after a Soviet government office, an official (Osmolovsky) moves up and down on an electric winch while incessantly shouting “Go, go, go danger!” (in reference to a Nick Cave song from the 1980s). The cabinets in the background are full of photos of government officials doing acrobatics on their desks. Works of this kind with a “message to the West” were not uncommon in the Russian art context of the time, as Alexander Brener’s performances, for example, also attest.