Translated material
Simple as a moo
Austrian voyage of Georgy Litichevsky and Georgy Ostretsov
Few people today remember that many of the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart were created to complement the gastronomic pleasures of a secular society that knew how to live and have fun with taste. And life in the estate was generally subject to the special regulations of great hedonism. And architecture, and entertainment pavilions, and collections of paintings, precious things, and a theater with an orchestra - everything glorified the blooming and joyful world of leisure in the lap of nature. And no one, you know, was sad about the lack of efforts in this culture to solve all the universal problems at once. The ingenious meanings of “leisure aesthetics” remained with her. And hedonism only embellished this culture.There are only two artists in Russia who are capable of giving with their art happiness comparable to a walk on a hot summer day along the cool alleys with surprises and witty jokes of an old estate. Zhora Litichevsky and Gosha Ostretsov are responsible for the summer joy today. Last year they turned to the genre of estate theater and staged a small “gesamtkunstwerk” with happenings, dances, and songs to gothic music at the estate of a famous art manager.
This year we turned to the summer theme of wanderings in the aura of deep ancient legends and bucolic hexameters glorifying the creative power of nature. At the invitation of the Resanita center and the Intro-Graz-Spection foundation, the artists traveled to Graz, Austria, for ten days. There, in their words, “the archetypes of the Graz culture were addressed.” As a result, two films appeared, which today can be seen at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art on Ermolaevsky Lane. One film - by Ostretsov - is called “Austrian History” and is a sequel to the beloved fairy tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in countries where there are mountains with coal. The other one - Litichevsky's - is called "Drawing Lesson - Cow Waltz" and plays along with the Rousseauist idea that first nature, and then art. (Karamzin also asked: “Isn’t art the most shameful monkey of nature, when it wants to compete with it in greatness?”) Both the one and the other plot are nurtured by the estate culture and preserve the memory of it. Figures of gnomes from fairy tales greet guests in dacha gardens. Cows graze on farm pastures, read - estate farms.
Both films are made absolutely artlessly. And, in general, the language of cinema reveals the soul of a hand-drawn comic book. Ostretsov's fairy tale is about how Snow White (played by the artist's wife Lyuda Konstantinova), being the leader of the left wing of the Democratic Party, helps save a miniature dwarf who has become a victim of racial discrimination by Ostretsov's textbook heroes - the ultra-right New Government in latex masks. The performance was performed in the same way as plays are usually played at children's parties. Or maybe the way Ed Wood, who received the title of the worst director in the world, shot his films. Here are miniatures with green masked faces resembling cones, living together in cardboard houses. They drink beer. Songs are sung. But the New Government kidnaps one and, in dungeons, trashily covered in blood and covered with graffiti with the words “NP - bastards,” puts the gnome into a “Procrustean bed” - a folding bed and slams it shut. This is so that the poor guy (played by Georgy Litichevsky) will stretch to “normal” size. Here the elongated miniature werewolf attacks his brothers, who came under the leadership of Snow White to defend him with posters to the doors of the Graz city hall. And a second later we see Snow White conjuring a magic pie with berries and a huge fly agaric fungus. The miniature giant ends up in Snow White's house. Eats the pie. Then the couple spins in a love dance, dragging the bed with them. The werewolf suddenly shrinks rapidly. But the spell has consequences. He cannot get out of bed, because he is prevented from suddenly growing what in the final credits of the film is designated by the word “end”.
However, lovers of fine literature will also enjoy watching the film. The film is accompanied by songs sung by the Litichevsky-Ostretsov-Konstantinova trio in non-operatic (to put it mildly) voices. I’ll quote from my favorite song: Pour it up! Pour it up!!!/ You're going to die quickly!/ Pour it up! Pour it in!!/ You’ll die quickly! / Although he is not broad-shouldered / And there are acne on his face, / But he is crystal clear, / Like mountain streams.
Gosha Ostretsov’s film came out as crystal clear as village moonshine, a provincial portrait, folk crafts or a performance staged by summer residents.
Litichevsky lands in the history of art. There is opposition: Duchamp’s “mad artist” echoes Rousseau’s wise nature. Zhora wanted to overcome the conflict. To do this, I went to a farm in the vicinity of Graz to teach how to draw cows. First in the human form of a painter. The cows showed keen interest. But they refused to take a pencil and notepad. Then, in order to get used to the environment, to finally become one of his own, Georgy put on a cow mask and resolutely went into the herd. Seeing a monster with horns and two legs, the animals were seriously frightened and ran away in all directions. And the artist lay down on the grass and, saddened, like the hero of a sentimental story, sang: Cow, cow, cow, / The hour has struck, the foundations have shaken. / The old volcano has come to life / And the ocean of feelings / Has swallowed up the deception of prejudice. The infantilism of this video sketch is crafty. The film parodies a rich cultural tradition: not only the Age of Enlightenment, but also the art of the recent past. I remember that in 1965 Joseph Beuys distinguished himself with the performance “How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare,” where the artist addressed the carcass of a hare, covering the head with honey and gold foil. And in 1974, Boyce shared a room with a live coyote for three days. Fresh impressions about Oleg Kulik’s cow-themed installations.
And in the archive of Litichevsky himself there is a performance that can be considered a prologue to the “Drawing Lesson”. It took place in 1990 at the Moscow Zoo and was dedicated to the rehabilitation of the creative abilities of animals in the eyes of people. Georgy Litichesky and Farid Bogdalov (now a famous painter) walked around the zoo with art objects (paintings, sculptures). We stopped in front of each cage and demonstrated art to the animals. The reaction of the four-legged, pinniped, furry, and feathered spectators was recorded on camera by artist Andrei Filippov.
Those who know how to be serious about themselves and their creativity can bring down the pathos in relation to some “archetypal themes” of art. The oldest artists: Georgiy - Litichevsky and Ostretsov.