Part II: The New Cynicism or Nailed-up Video | <<<
In 1999 four Siberian artists organized a sham "art festival" that parodied the state of today's contemporary Siberian art, far from the cultural centers and devoid of viewers. They closed themselves up in an old air-raid shelter, put blue caps from mineral water bottles on their noses and devised 14 short video performances. The artists combine traditional Russian buffoonery and foolishness with their take on dada and the absurd. They approach their subjects with an exceptional brazenness - whether it is art history or world politics. Today, the three participants in the first Fourteen Performances work on their own reuniting from time to time for collaborative activities. In 1999 Viacheslav Mizin, one of the authors of this video, founded the popular art group The Blue Noses together with Alexandr Shaburov.