Part I: The New Lyricism or Nostalgia for Grand Style | <<<
The "Escape" program operates as both an artist-run gallery and an art group. Pursuing a strategy of "non-spectacular"* art, the artists reject the spectacular without abandoning visuality. In this work, four musicians are seen playing a Beethoven quartet (Op.18 No.4) while the viewer hears the sound of a Shostakovitch quartet (No.8). The realisation of this is possible only through an individual's own exceptional effort, which is the responsibility of the viewer. For the correct appreciation of the work the difference between the performance and the sound must be noticed, for it is in this gap that the artists locate the meaning of the work.
"Non-spectacular art" is a movement within Russian art, founded in 2000.