Revzin against Vrubel

[SergeiSK]

The special correspondent of Kommersant newspaper Grigory Revzin a new national formula of Russia and the artist's desire to get in the face

I wrote about the verdict Samodurov 
 and Erofeev (see Artchronika »№ 7-8, 2010) and has caused great dissatisfaction blogger under the moniker dmitrivrubel c deciphering" Dmitry Vrubel and Text as image kissing Brezhnev and Honecker, painted sometime artist Dmitry Vrubel at the Berlin Wall. Because the artist is known among other things his habit 
 apply to the court for the publication of it, I emphasize: I do not know whether this blogger this artist. I think it was him, but it's my opinion.
So, the blogger wrote the following. «We have to do galleries Exposing modern art, private, the type of private clubs: admission by invitation only or recommendation. <...> In the silence, colleagues, teachers and students, it is easier to achieve the desired result than trying to put their experiments on the circus arena, "the whistling and jeering crowd. Look, Mr. Revzin and other "intellectuals" in modern art reminds me of the position of "national academician" Lysenko about "Weismannists Morganist. Academician Lysenko in genetics are not understood, but their views have wanted and we're always cursed the geneticists sectarians, charlatans and parasites (http://dmitrivrubel.livejournal.com/...l#comments) ».

I am in no way expressed solidarity with the sentence Samodurov and Erofeev, treat him as a wild, uncivilized. However, it is revealed unenthusiastic way of thinking with regard to contemporary art, and this blogger reminded of Lysenko.

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With the artist Dmitry Vrubel (unlike blogger) I was introduced to long and very successful. It took place at his dacha in Kratovo at the wedding of my friend. The artist turned to me with a suggestion: "Give me a slap in the face! Give me a blow that I am an artist! Give me a blow that I was Jewish! Give me a slap in the face for what you want! "I could not accept such a proposal, and he was very insistent. From the side it looked like he had aggressive intentions, and my other friend, now a professor and doctor of science, man of decision, quickly came to us and greatly moved the artist in the face. He flew over some furniture, fell to the ground and stuck with a beatific smile on his face. Then it to me and introduced himself: "This is Dima Vrubel, do not worry, it's always like that."

Every criticism of his cockroaches, and one of my personal desire was not only literally, but also in the metaphorical sense, never give in the face painter Vrubel. I never wrote about him, expecting that he will treat this as something in its own way.

Even now I'm not saying anything about the artist, and express pro blogger. In his words, I see a certain contradiction. On the one hand, he proposes to create a modern art closed community, ie, in some sense a sect. And offers a purely positive sense. On the other hand, Academician Lysenko, he blames the fact that he cursed the sectarians geneticists. And this in a purely negative sense. So here there is a cognitive dissonance axiological. I remind him of Lysenko, who called geneticists sectarians, moreover, that they were not sectarians. And artists do not just remind geneticists, because, according to Wrubel, should form a kind of cult. And so I like the academician Lysenko. Somehow I can not comprehend it. Or similarities in the fact that I, like Lysenko speaking because I want to have their own opinion. But this is also a false likeness and even a kind of nonsense, because to believe that Lysenko denounced geneticists solely from the desire to have his own opinion, can only be a misunderstanding. I assure Wrubel, there was much more complex set of reasons, and sufficient at least something to read on the history of genetics in the Soviet Union, to verify this.

I write all this not because he had received from the bloggers in the face in the metaphorical sense, and I want to somehow win. " You do not, because Vrubel not the case. He does not, and gets. I turned to this episode in the theoretical sense. Gogol, in his essay about Bryullova questioned whether Carl I. "universal genius" or all the national railway did. He came to the conclusion that universal. Perhaps, I confess, that actually I'm delighted that the artist does Vrubel, I find it emotional and witty (which is terribly rare), very resourceful, and probably most important - meaningful to a human master, nobody alias. I thought a lot about the artist Vrubel and came to the conclusion that he was a genius in his national and kissing Brezhnev and Honecker had established a national symbol of great strength. But I could not manage to explain what is now the national genius, yet that's not made by the blogger.

I remind the reader that came up with a national formula Russia Minister of Education of the Emperor Nicholas I, Count Sergei Semenovich Uvarov, and it sounded like "orthodoxy - autocracy - Nation» . This formula, many abused, but she did not exactly canceled, but rather evolved. At the beginning of last century, any statement about the specifics of Russia (Berdyaev, Ilyin, Trubetskoy, Lossky, etc.) takes place in three coordinates: «Russian faith - Russian Revolution - 
 Russian avant-garde» . This could be explained mainly by one another, faith is defined features of the revolution and the avant-garde, the revolution was interpreted through the connection of Orthodoxy and avant-garde Russian avant-garde became clear only at the intersection of the revolution and orthodoxy.

Today's artistic process is difficult to describe in these coordinates. If we take the vanguard, he stayed, but in a specific form. Let us feel taste of some of fundamentalism, the relationship to the ideas of the avant-garde as to the commandments given to us by the prophets and not discussed. I would call it conservative avant-garde.

The Revolution ... Well, let's inherent to our artistic circles leftism somehow connected with the Revolution, but hardly with the Russian. It is more likely to adopt the value system of the Western intelligentsia: they mostly left, then we try. And faith - seem to be definitely not. The process Yerofeeva - Samodurov was like just like about it.

Just then, I would like to draw attention to sectarianism. That is the proposal blogger. Sectarians divide the world into insiders and outsiders, convinced that they are carriers of the truth, and the rest are wrong, they believe that the persecuted for the truth. And the fact that they suffer is for them, indicating that truth with them, otherwise why would they pursue? And they are willing to suffer, to get in the face - is proof that truth with them. Received, they calm down with a blissful smile.

This ideal may be close to artists, as corresponds to the romantic myth of the master, which no one takes in life, and then everyone will weep bitter tears and sell it for big money. Here are found the community perspective of those whom no one understands, there do not understand your associates, someone who understood.

And this set of features - dividing the world into friends and foes, the feeling that you are the bearer of truth and persecuted for the truth that you do not like and continually harm - it's nothing like you? This is a typical set of ideas Orthodox inchurched average person.

There are priests of the officers with combat experience, with good skills to work with personnel (flock), and this is actually what is called a salt of the earth, they are worth the Russian society. But as soon as there is a theme of people of faith, nationality, social status and citizenship, as it turns out that all of them rallied to hurt, steal or cheat, and all because genuine faith is always unpopular, and the Russian people - God's chosen. Sometimes it even develops into a kind of hysterical form such as "People's Cathedral", which pursued Samodurova and Yerofeeva as persecutors of Orthodoxy, but most people keep it to yourself and do not express. But is there in the depths of the soul have no doubt that it is. Russian patriot almost always - being hurt, which resides in the belief that someone is going to hurt him. And even he is inclined to force the issue, as if he thirst, that he gave someone in the face, and then it can be deployed in the entire expanse of talent.

That's me to make a different look at the desire of artists to sectarianism. I think it is wrong to see this as only a desire to somehow isolate themselves from society. On the contrary, it is this quality, they express the deepest essence of the contemporary folk-soul.

In place of "orthodoxy - autocracy - nation, I believe, should be put" sectarianism - leftism - conservative avant-garde. And this is a national formula for Russia, and expresses its artist - the national genius. Well Dmitry Vrubel.
Grigory Revzin
(ArtChronika http://www.artchronika.ru/item.asp?id=2083)