Andrei Platonov's novel Happy Moscow (1928) and Vladimir Sorokin's Norma (1982/2009) are dark sat... more Andrei Platonov's novel Happy Moscow (1928) and Vladimir Sorokin's Norma (1982/2009) are dark satirical novels where the biological needs and desires of the human body create a tension with the politico-ideological reality of the time. Through a comparative reading of the role of human waste in Andrei Platonov's Happy Moscow and Vladimir Sorokin's Norma, this paper examines how the entropy of the biological body, and in particular, the waste-product of the human digestive system, are absorbed into the ideological framework of the state. This paper examines how the reappropriation of human feces into the social fabric speaks to the dual desire of both the conquest of nature and fulfillment of human needs by socialism. There is a symbolic, historical affinity of shit to longevity and to the ritual of communion that this paper narrates, indirectly illuminating how the concept of shit has evolved through the grand political and moral disillusionment that was witnessed between Lenin's GOERLO plan and Andropov's tenure in KGB. This paper is in conversation with theoretical framework of Karl Marx, Alexander Bogdanov, Georges Bataille, Dominique Laponte; it draws from Boris Groys' seminar "Biocosmism" (NYU, Spring 2017).
This MA thesis argues that blasphemy can be a tool for institutional critique in political art ... more This MA thesis argues that blasphemy can be a tool for institutional critique in political art through the case studies of Oleg Mavromatti, Pussy Riot and Petr Pavlensky. The
celebration of artists such as Pussy Riot for their performance work in the global art discourse and the dismissal of the role of blasphemy as a conservative accusation by an oppressive state cannot adequately account for the construction of meaning around the events in Russian culture. Due to a particular formation of liberal Orthodox identity, which is informed by the affiliation of dissidence and religion in Russia and the Soviet Union, the accusation of blasphemy by Orthodox individuals or through federal law functions as a revelation of a larger truth behind a mask of hypocrisy. This thesis deconstructs the
presumed universality of the post-Enlightenment notions of institutional critique and constructs a semiotic structure that accounts for seeing blasphemy as a form of institutional
critique in the post-Soviet art and culture wars.
Blasphemy becomes a form of critique through the presence of the chronotope of holy foolery, an Orthodox ascetic tradition of institutional critique, anti-authoritarian behavior and a radical imitation of Christ. Artists that are appropriating the topos can be
defined by the behavioral and aesthetic characteristics of the historical practice, which are best exemplified in the vitae of St Symeon Salos, a holy fool who committed acts of sacrilege
in holy places and against clergy to reveal a larger corruption and feigned religiosity of Christians. The unification of church and state under Vladimir Putin’s presidency has fostered the revival of the tradition of institutional critique from within a religious tradition and a competing narrative over secular and sacred space among conservative and liberal Orthodox worldviews that have been defined by the post-Soviet art wars.
This paper provides a brief introduction of the relationship between dissidence and religion in t... more This paper provides a brief introduction of the relationship between dissidence and religion in the post-Soviet context through the figure of the holy fool and positions the behavioral paradigm of foolishness-for-Christ in relation to the signature work of three political performance artists- Pussy Riot, Oleg Mavromatti, Petr Pavlensky – each of whom was accused of ignition of religious hate by the Russian law. I attempt to convey the importance of blasphemy to the reading of this artwork through references to the hagiographies of St Symeon Salos and St Nikola the Fool - both paradigmatic behavioral paradigms of holy foolery.
The paper discusses problems in the translation of Pussy Riot across ideological paradigms, as e... more The paper discusses problems in the translation of Pussy Riot across ideological paradigms, as exemplified with the phenomenon of celebratory reenactments and protests in support of Pussy Riot in two case studies in Chicago. The paper brings to the table questions about context-specific nature of political art and activism and offers a comparative application of religious and protest aesthetics, through the discussion of anarchism within Russian Orthodoxy and the transfiguration of “sacrilege” into “revelation” in the performance of Pussy Riot. This paper is situated in conversation with issues in cultural, visual and contextual translation, as well as post-colonial discourse and the politics of representation.
Andrei Platonov worked on the state electrification campaign in the 1920's, and electricity and e... more Andrei Platonov worked on the state electrification campaign in the 1920's, and electricity and electrification is a recurrent theme in his work. Played out through the metaphor of romance and marriage, Platonov's dark novel Happy Moscow concerns the unhappy relationship between solar energy and electricity - a certain incommensurability of voltage. Beneath the energetic and romantic incompatibility is a critique of the infringement of economic value into the rules of human interaction, and ultimately, an argument for the incompatibility of the ideology of utility in an economy of necessity with love. Like a socket without a voltage adapter, this tragic incompatibility is illustrated by the romantic relationships of the solar heroine of the novel, the libidinous orphan Moskva Ivanovna Chestnova, with her electrically charged suitors; they, having tasted her body, all fail in their conquest of her heart. Informed by George Bataille's conceptualization of the general economy and the principle of loss, this paper examines the symbolic exchange of energy in the novel through the construction of Moskva as the embodiment of solar, revolutionary energy of excess, and the resistance of this energy to containment in the economy of necessity.
Andrei Platonov's novel Happy Moscow (1928) and Vladimir Sorokin's Norma (1982/2009) are dark sat... more Andrei Platonov's novel Happy Moscow (1928) and Vladimir Sorokin's Norma (1982/2009) are dark satirical novels where the biological needs and desires of the human body create a tension with the politico-ideological reality of the time. Through a comparative reading of the role of human waste in Andrei Platonov's Happy Moscow and Vladimir Sorokin's Norma, this paper examines how the entropy of the biological body, and in particular, the waste-product of the human digestive system, are absorbed into the ideological framework of the state. This paper examines how the reappropriation of human feces into the social fabric speaks to the dual desire of both the conquest of nature and fulfillment of human needs by socialism. There is a symbolic, historical affinity of shit to longevity and to the ritual of communion that this paper narrates, indirectly illuminating how the concept of shit has evolved through the grand political and moral disillusionment that was witnessed between Lenin's GOERLO plan and Andropov's tenure in KGB. This paper is in conversation with theoretical framework of Karl Marx, Alexander Bogdanov, Georges Bataille, Dominique Laponte; it draws from Boris Groys' seminar "Biocosmism" (NYU, Spring 2017).
This MA thesis argues that blasphemy can be a tool for institutional critique in political art ... more This MA thesis argues that blasphemy can be a tool for institutional critique in political art through the case studies of Oleg Mavromatti, Pussy Riot and Petr Pavlensky. The
celebration of artists such as Pussy Riot for their performance work in the global art discourse and the dismissal of the role of blasphemy as a conservative accusation by an oppressive state cannot adequately account for the construction of meaning around the events in Russian culture. Due to a particular formation of liberal Orthodox identity, which is informed by the affiliation of dissidence and religion in Russia and the Soviet Union, the accusation of blasphemy by Orthodox individuals or through federal law functions as a revelation of a larger truth behind a mask of hypocrisy. This thesis deconstructs the
presumed universality of the post-Enlightenment notions of institutional critique and constructs a semiotic structure that accounts for seeing blasphemy as a form of institutional
critique in the post-Soviet art and culture wars.
Blasphemy becomes a form of critique through the presence of the chronotope of holy foolery, an Orthodox ascetic tradition of institutional critique, anti-authoritarian behavior and a radical imitation of Christ. Artists that are appropriating the topos can be
defined by the behavioral and aesthetic characteristics of the historical practice, which are best exemplified in the vitae of St Symeon Salos, a holy fool who committed acts of sacrilege
in holy places and against clergy to reveal a larger corruption and feigned religiosity of Christians. The unification of church and state under Vladimir Putin’s presidency has fostered the revival of the tradition of institutional critique from within a religious tradition and a competing narrative over secular and sacred space among conservative and liberal Orthodox worldviews that have been defined by the post-Soviet art wars.
This paper provides a brief introduction of the relationship between dissidence and religion in t... more This paper provides a brief introduction of the relationship between dissidence and religion in the post-Soviet context through the figure of the holy fool and positions the behavioral paradigm of foolishness-for-Christ in relation to the signature work of three political performance artists- Pussy Riot, Oleg Mavromatti, Petr Pavlensky – each of whom was accused of ignition of religious hate by the Russian law. I attempt to convey the importance of blasphemy to the reading of this artwork through references to the hagiographies of St Symeon Salos and St Nikola the Fool - both paradigmatic behavioral paradigms of holy foolery.
The paper discusses problems in the translation of Pussy Riot across ideological paradigms, as e... more The paper discusses problems in the translation of Pussy Riot across ideological paradigms, as exemplified with the phenomenon of celebratory reenactments and protests in support of Pussy Riot in two case studies in Chicago. The paper brings to the table questions about context-specific nature of political art and activism and offers a comparative application of religious and protest aesthetics, through the discussion of anarchism within Russian Orthodoxy and the transfiguration of “sacrilege” into “revelation” in the performance of Pussy Riot. This paper is situated in conversation with issues in cultural, visual and contextual translation, as well as post-colonial discourse and the politics of representation.
Andrei Platonov worked on the state electrification campaign in the 1920's, and electricity and e... more Andrei Platonov worked on the state electrification campaign in the 1920's, and electricity and electrification is a recurrent theme in his work. Played out through the metaphor of romance and marriage, Platonov's dark novel Happy Moscow concerns the unhappy relationship between solar energy and electricity - a certain incommensurability of voltage. Beneath the energetic and romantic incompatibility is a critique of the infringement of economic value into the rules of human interaction, and ultimately, an argument for the incompatibility of the ideology of utility in an economy of necessity with love. Like a socket without a voltage adapter, this tragic incompatibility is illustrated by the romantic relationships of the solar heroine of the novel, the libidinous orphan Moskva Ivanovna Chestnova, with her electrically charged suitors; they, having tasted her body, all fail in their conquest of her heart. Informed by George Bataille's conceptualization of the general economy and the principle of loss, this paper examines the symbolic exchange of energy in the novel through the construction of Moskva as the embodiment of solar, revolutionary energy of excess, and the resistance of this energy to containment in the economy of necessity.
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celebration of artists such as Pussy Riot for their performance work in the global art discourse and the dismissal of the role of blasphemy as a conservative accusation by an oppressive state cannot adequately account for the construction of meaning around the events in Russian culture. Due to a particular formation of liberal Orthodox identity, which is informed by the affiliation of dissidence and religion in Russia and the Soviet Union, the accusation of blasphemy by Orthodox individuals or through federal law functions as a revelation of a larger truth behind a mask of hypocrisy. This thesis deconstructs the
presumed universality of the post-Enlightenment notions of institutional critique and constructs a semiotic structure that accounts for seeing blasphemy as a form of institutional
critique in the post-Soviet art and culture wars.
Blasphemy becomes a form of critique through the presence of the chronotope of holy foolery, an Orthodox ascetic tradition of institutional critique, anti-authoritarian behavior and a radical imitation of Christ. Artists that are appropriating the topos can be
defined by the behavioral and aesthetic characteristics of the historical practice, which are best exemplified in the vitae of St Symeon Salos, a holy fool who committed acts of sacrilege
in holy places and against clergy to reveal a larger corruption and feigned religiosity of Christians. The unification of church and state under Vladimir Putin’s presidency has fostered the revival of the tradition of institutional critique from within a religious tradition and a competing narrative over secular and sacred space among conservative and liberal Orthodox worldviews that have been defined by the post-Soviet art wars.
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celebration of artists such as Pussy Riot for their performance work in the global art discourse and the dismissal of the role of blasphemy as a conservative accusation by an oppressive state cannot adequately account for the construction of meaning around the events in Russian culture. Due to a particular formation of liberal Orthodox identity, which is informed by the affiliation of dissidence and religion in Russia and the Soviet Union, the accusation of blasphemy by Orthodox individuals or through federal law functions as a revelation of a larger truth behind a mask of hypocrisy. This thesis deconstructs the
presumed universality of the post-Enlightenment notions of institutional critique and constructs a semiotic structure that accounts for seeing blasphemy as a form of institutional
critique in the post-Soviet art and culture wars.
Blasphemy becomes a form of critique through the presence of the chronotope of holy foolery, an Orthodox ascetic tradition of institutional critique, anti-authoritarian behavior and a radical imitation of Christ. Artists that are appropriating the topos can be
defined by the behavioral and aesthetic characteristics of the historical practice, which are best exemplified in the vitae of St Symeon Salos, a holy fool who committed acts of sacrilege
in holy places and against clergy to reveal a larger corruption and feigned religiosity of Christians. The unification of church and state under Vladimir Putin’s presidency has fostered the revival of the tradition of institutional critique from within a religious tradition and a competing narrative over secular and sacred space among conservative and liberal Orthodox worldviews that have been defined by the post-Soviet art wars.