1985 – 1989

"Artists, gallery owners, critics, and the public throng to wherever 'something is happening.' But the reality of this 'something happening' is the reality of money. In the absence of aesthetic criteria, it is possible and useful to determine the value of works of art on the basis of their profitability. This reality reconciles everything, even the most contradictory tendencies in art, provided that these tendencies have purchasing power."

The Necessity of a Method as a Basis for Forming a Culture of Left-Wing Opposition

It is widely known that from its very origins Moscow radical art (so-called "Moscow actionism") defined itself as left-wing art, following the great political tradition of the 20th century avantgarde. The absolute majority of texts, collective and individual declarations, manifestos, and interviews by almost all the main proponents of this movement contain an unmistakable left-wing political message. Almost no art critic took these political assertions seriously when they were made; instead, they were understood as rather obscure manifestations of artistic whimsy. In analyzing this strange tendency from today's perspective, it does not seem to be a great exaggeration to admit that a will towards method lies at the very basis of left-wing political choice, a wish to make one's own practice understandable and reproducible by others. In the past decade, this idea has passed through a thorny path of trial and error. At time, it has deviated from its main goal, but at other points, it has hit its mark, defining some of the central artistic events of the 1990s.