Monstings that are no longer there

For many years in Novosibirsk there was a tradition: to go out on the streets of May 1 with strange slogans. Artem Loskutov, who came up with the action, recalls how it was

20 years ago, on May 1, 2004, the first procession-monitoring was held in Novosibirsk. It was organized by Artyom Loskutov, at that time a student of the faculty of radio, electronics and physics, and the art group Contemporary Art Terrorism. The journalist of Novo-Europe, along with Loskutov, recalls what the monstrouss were-a symbol of pre-war Russia, which can no longer be returned.

- You conducted the first monstration in 2004. You were a Fiztekh student then?

- In 2004, I still studied in the specialty “Physical Electronics”, then it was renamed “Nanotechnology”. Fizteh seemed completely terrible. After the third year, I realized that I was no longer the physics in such quantities, and transferred to the operator - it was really easier to study there.

- How did the idea come to organize monstration?

- In 2003, appeared as a phenomenon of flash mobs. People from the Internet who have never seen each other in life, wanted to gather somewhere in offline, to do some kind of nonsense, to beat the point of passers-by and hold some kind of party in ten minutes. It rolled around the world and, it seems to me, quickly got to Novosibirsk. I suggested on the forum where the people who made flash mobs gathered to hold some kind of stupid action. 20 people came to her. There were no special expectations, but it became clear that the mechanism was working.

I was a student, public life began to interest me. In the first year, in the spring of 2003, a year before the monstration, my friends from the group and parallel groups went to rallies against the war in Iraq. We painted some American flags with swastikas-it was such an anti-war protest. Around the same company, we went to look at [demonstration] on November 7, at May Day-how it looks, whether there are any pretty people there.

In parallel, I made the website of the anarchist group on narod.ru, posted pictures where we glue anti-war leaflets, some other garbage. I was 16 years old. Through this site, I met Maxim Neroda, with whom we later made a monstration after some time.

We announced this Max and conducted a political flash mob on the anniversary of the beginning of the war (in Iraq) on March 20, 2004. I realized that there is a technology of flash mobs, you can make some political actions through it.

But what are political actions in Novosibirsk? You can’t capture a telegraph there, you will not come to the Duma, there are no so many cops as in Moscow,

And they don’t react to you like that, they don’t carry you in your hands-it’s hard to seriously hold some kind of political action, because no one needs it, you are just in a vacuum.

We tried to make a flash mob: we dressed up city advertising sculptures - there were figures like a family - in a NATO uniform and threw them with money. A fairly absurd action, as it seemed to me, countercultural - everyone wants to rave money, and we abandon our little things, throw it to American soldiers so that they do not touch Iraq. People came there, we saw this Max - before that we talked only by mail - they appreciated that it seemed to be the action.

We thought that it would be nice to continue the fun. Ahead, for example, May 1, is the concept of introducing into a column already familiar to us. I went to November 7 and May Day, I saw that the booth was happening there: grannies, nostalgiars in Stalin, for some reason carry icons, paper flowers, workers of shoe factory, who were expelled to support the director because he wants to become a deputy from the Communist Party, and 20 National Bolshes at best, which are close to you, and not very much in the slozunks. AMARDED radicalism: "Today we are with a poster, and tomorrow with an automaton." I cannot share such a scream, she seems ridiculous to me.

Discussing what to do in May Day in a format, which then began to be called monstance, we agreed on the following: to bring our own slogans to this event that the dofiga collects, and one way or another to get some attention.

At that time, the Internet appeared, I lived the life of a schoolboy, watched TV, MTV - for me it became a window in the world, on the Internet I learned about the Zaiti group (for anonymous and free art). They made a prototype of monstance on May Day in Moscow: they gathered a column of artists who joined the communist May Day.

There were some other forums, LJ, in my opinion, already partly existed. There was a newsletter of Kostya Scotnikov, a teacher from the architectural academy. We threw an invitation there-we wrote that our city needed an art injection, offered to take part in monstration. They described what she was, offered to bring some slogans, wrote examples. It got into the press. There were many announcements, because one of the news agencies caught on an example of a poster on which it was written: “Fuck”. “The Novosibirsk anti -Globalists will go to May Day with obscenities with deeply personal slogans,” there were a dozen such publications. How many resources in Novosibirsk are on the Internet, they wrote so much.

A hundred people came to monstance. We brought a pack of slogans there - probably 80% of what was, prepared in advance. They distributed slogans, someone also handed out-he himself printed a pack of his statements on A4 pieces, they were glued to their clothes. It seems to me that this was repeated for several years - one person composed a hundred slogans, distributed to those in need, who did not come up with anything. There was a dude who went to the Communists, he read the newspaper “Tomorrow”, but saw that we had more fun, went to us. After the action, photo reports were released, people realized that they had missed a funny thing, and decided to join the next year. Max was detained - he was elegant, with a pipe. In general, it seems to me that he was somehow preparing to confront with the cops.

Inside the group, the question arose: repeat monstance or not. Moscow story with May Day passed twice: in 2000 and 2001. And in Novosibirsk, this became a repeating story, almost a tradition that stumbled about the “crown” and the subsequent political situation in the country.

- What was your first slogan then, in 2004?

-I walked in the tail of monstance, carried a red-white banner with diagonal stripes, like a fencing ribbon. He printed his portrait in the image of Che Guevara, in which, of course, to my disappointment, no one recognized me - they simply wrote that they carried a portrait of Che Guevara.

It was such a collective sketching, quotes from Masyani: “Y-I-IT”. We gathered for some time, shared finds with each other, then chose something, painted in the workshop of Scotnikov. For the second monstance, I already participated more in preparatory drawing. Then, however, the cops were taken almost the entire pack, because in the second year I was accepted immediately, in the beginning, the slogans were also carried away. There were: “promising slogan”, which is a “artistic slogan”. We tried to beat everything. They tried to call us anti -globalists - Okay, we will make an “anti -globalist slogan”, let's see how it is quoted. “The slogan calling for the overthrow of the constitutional system” - it was just taken and took a picture.

Now I don’t want to play such games with the police. It is clear that if there is an opportunity to interpret something as terrorism, it will happen. Then it seemed that it was fun, that it was impossible to seriously start some kind of business for doing such nonsense. I understand that he was a teenager and a wild person whom life has not yet normalized.

It was a daily carnival of mockery, trolling of the mayor, cops, some communists with trade unions.

Like, you have reacted to us so much, we will do something now, we will see how you will behave, what nonsense you say in response, we will quote them with pleasure. We wanted to engage in contemporary art. So modern that it was not interesting to draw at all. Some other forms were needed.

In parallel, I had a musical group. Nobody really knew how to play-it was such a parody, probably for punk rock. But we quickly played at all sites in the city, which, in principle, could play a group of our level. The second concert was in the main club, in which everyone performed: “Civil Defense”, Zemfira and everything in the world. What to do next is incomprehensible. You will not go on tour to Omsk or Tomsk, because it is terribly far away, not pay off, there is no money for the road. And in general, much further, who needs it, it is not clear how to move with it. And with art it seemed that for some reason there were more chances. We were not sure that now we would build a career, but it seemed that this was generally the most interesting activity from what we could afford.

- How did the police react to you at first? As I understand it, they were very confused until 2010 and actually acted somehow randomly and inconsistent?

- They reacted carefully enough, as, in principle, in Novosibirsk almost always this happened. The cops came, saw our company, they say: “You have antisocal slogans here, we saw the announcements, let's guys go aside and see all your slogans.” I did not want to move aside, it was clear that it was some kind of wiring. We called the press, we say: "Let's see what we have on the slogans, we will check." There was “Tanya, do not cry” - this is an antisocial slogan. What is so outrageous there? They did not find anything. We looked the next, they said: "Okay, go at the end of the column." We did not bother anyone there, we walked behind the nationalballs, I was in the tail and missed the moment of detention. Five people took away, and the rest went to help them out somehow. We were explained that we need to agree with someone, to receive some kind of permission.

Next year I tried to get this permission. In general, it was probably gone about three years in principle to get to understanding how this is done.

They detained in 2005-2007. In 2007, we agreed with everyone. I went to a meeting with all parties, someone was disheveled, the Communists supported us, they say, let the young people walk. We went through the column, realized that no one disperses us, no one runs from the cops along parallel streets, like a year ago. And what to do, where is the fun? They began to walk on the column on one way on the blocked street, then back, then to the park. We were written out for this that we violated the route. In principle, fair. Two organizers were assigned 1000 rubles a fine.

In 2008, eshniki appeared, approached our square in civilian clothes, tried to pull me somewhere. I began to resent, resist, say: “Comrade Major, this is an agreed event. Two hours should be guarded. We are detained by some unknown people. React somehow? " He says: “Probably, journalists want to talk to you. We will not interfere. ” While I was fighting off, they detained someone else, promised that if they were engaged in nonsense, they will find all drugs all. No one seriously took, because this is a standard scarecrow about drugs - the woman will come and find drugs. A year later, drugs were found with me. We took away the territory where we drove monstration, and made an useless baton there.

We said that we would come to United Russia, which will rally on the main square. We will enchant the city hall and raise it into the air with the power of thought.

We must act symmetrically: to take the territory from the city hall, to conduct while it hangs in the air, its round dances, and then put everything in place, do not break anything and disperse.

That year I was detained two weeks later, so on May 1, instead of monstance, I went to the Center E.

- In 2010, when you were detained, drugs were thrown out, a lot of people stood up for you, noize MC released the song. How do you think such support spoke about the state of that civil society?

- I remember this moment very well - how I was sitting in the Mentovskaya car. They just issued an exemption that I did not expect-I thought that maybe we would finally discuss my hairstyle, but our slogans, maybe look for some kind of composition. It even seemed interesting to me. But I did not expect such a resonance.

Why this happened is difficult to judge. Maybe there was a time-May, there is no news, I want something, awakening after the winter. Maybe the monstance was already important for the city at that time, the press loyally perceived the events in which the journalists themselves took part. Perhaps that is why there was attention, a bunch of people came to take off, not all were fitted into the hall, the city was sealed with stickers, stencils. I went to look at this, I thought that usually such stencils in our city hang when they killed someone from Antif, and then I live in this. Some guys from Murmansk, with whom I was at the event just a couple of months before the arrest, held a concert. Someone in Germany spent two evenings about Siberian art, raised money for lawyers. Someone took signatures from the Nobel laureate in literature. In general, the circle of artists outside Novosibirsk, who had never paid attention to himself, drew attention to himself - we were not in this context. And then suddenly you are entered in this context and say: "This is our man, you need to support."

On the other hand, probably, monstrium then used a language in which one could describe their thoughts, emotions and feelings. This is a fun event, it is enough to be pleasant enough, to feel that you are standing in the middle of the city with your stupidity, but no one can do anything to you.

In part, you achieve your right to exist at this particular point, collecting the same fools around you in a good sense of the word.

You think that there is nobody in the city, but it turns out that there are: hundreds of people, a thousand, or even more with whom you are on the same wave and somehow survive in an unfavorable environment in which you walk along the streets, are afraid that you are not bewitched that you are dressed somehow or some kind of hairstyle. It was probably important from some kind of psychological point of view. An attempt to speak through a joke, to have a protective story in reserve: this is monstrition, what are you, we are not seriously doing this to all.

On the other hand, it still turned into some kind of struggle and confrontation, a battle for nonsense. When the authorities say: “It is impossible, we will have a relay,” we answer: “As you can’t? We have a constitution, 31st article, you must provide us with a different territory, we will not want everyone yet, because you are sending us somewhere to the forest, to the embankment. Have you seen this embankment, what does it look like? You put it in order first. ”

- Did people from other cities come specifically on monstrous?

- I came from Moscow: in 2013 I moved and took a vacation for six years, went to Novosibirsk. Some other people came from neighboring cities for sure. And Muscovites were. The German once came to us, a journalist, made a firing for German radio for 40 minutes.

The Moscow Helsinki group at some point ripened and issued me a prize for protecting human rights by means of culture. Well, in principle, it is. Among other things, we sought this right to meetings as in Novosibirsk and not only nobody did, we gathered more people there than anyone. It once seemed that in 150 years we would be more than the grandmas of the Communists. In 2010, we were already going separately - there were enough people to collect our column.

- In 2015, Amnesty International recognized you with a political prisoner. What did it mean to you?

-It seems to me that the “memorial” reacted first, I was definitely somewhere in the lists of political prisoners. Other organizations interceded in one way or another - they transferred money to lawyers. I don’t know a prisoner of conscience ... It's good when you are sitting in a isolation ward in Novosibirsk, listening on the radio that works in your cell, that the mayor or governor says some kind of nonsense about you, and you cannot even answer them. And you wait ten days.

In general, it seemed that monstance from 2010 to 2014 was going even, it was very calm. After the arrest in 2011, I was given the Innovation Award - it became such a trump card to butt with the locals. They do not perceive you in any way, you say: “But look, in Moscow the Ministry of Culture gave the“ Innovation ”award. We have Dmitry Anatolyevich Bear for innovation, and are you against innovation? ”

And about Amnesty-not that it is something supervised. Well, they recognized and recognized. You are still a bully and sit for a day.

- By the way of "innovation." In 2017, your banner “Not Moscow is not Moscow” was exhibited in the Garage. How was it possible that, on the one hand, you are haunting you, and on the other hand, some bonuses, exhibitions?

- Different people do it. The garage was not afraid, as I understand it, the “garage” is a private story. It seems to me that the first time I went there for some discovery, it was 100 years of performance or something, the pavilion ended with monstance, Pussy Riot and, it seems, Pavlensky. This is a normal approach, in my opinion, a normal assessment of what is happening.

Если вы делаете в «Гараже» триеннале русского искусства и едете искать какое-то искусство за пределами Москвы, приезжайте в Новосибирск. У меня не было ни малейшего сомнения, что они обязаны взять Монстрацию на эту выставку. Может быть, это самонадеянная позиция. Но мне кажется, если вы ищете новосибирское искусство, то вы не можете игнорировать Монстрацию. Это самая массовая история, больше в России не найти подобных вещей.

Когда была премия «Инновация», напомню, главный приз в категории «Проект года» взяла группа «Война», которая только вышла из тюрьмы.

«Войну» попытались тогда снять с голосования, были подписавшиеся участники, и я среди них, которые сказали: «Если вы убираете “Войну”, нас тоже убирайте, мы не хотим принимать участие». Те, кто подписались и выступили в поддержку «Войны», в итоге получили премию. Наверное, люди, работающие в сфере культуры, проявили свое недовольство таким образом, что поддержали группу «Война», поддержали Монстрацию, тех, кто так или иначе высказываются при помощи, не знаю, члена на мосту или при помощи лозунга «Ы-ы-ыть». Why not?

— Монстрация потом вышла за пределы Новосибирска и проводилась в других городах. How did it happen?

— После первого ареста. И после второго. Как бы это ни было банально, но это именно так и работает: сидишь эти сутки, на следующий год пять или семь городов делают Монстрацию у себя.

— С вами организаторы этих монстраций как-то связывались, спрашивали, или это всё происходило стихийно?

— Не всегда связывались — потом мы собрали чат, где было большинство организаторов, но тоже не все. Скорее, это всё организовывалось автономно.

— В каких обществах вообще возможна Монстрация?

— По опыту получилось, что в постсоветских. Она была в Риге пару лет — в основном на русском языке. Это были 2010–2011 годы. Была в Молдове в Кишиневе. В Украине в каких-то городах — в Симферополе, Кривом Роге, что ли, в Киеве. Большая Монстрация была в Хабаровске, на удивление. Я ничего не знал про Хабаровск, а потом у них случилась история с Фургалом. В Хабаровске под тысячу человек собиралось — это много относительно размеров города. Где-то в последние годы это инициировали политические активисты — движение «Весна», но, мне кажется, они не особо собирали людей.

— Какие были ваши самые любимые лозунги, может быть, самые яркие за все монстрации, которые вы видели?

— Мне кажется, хорошо зашел лозунг «Здесь вам не Москва». Он и на эту выставку (в «Гараже») попал. И в целом ее чуть не назвали именно так. Мне кажется, он очень универсальный, объединяющий российские регионы.

Это цитата чиновника, который хотел мне сказать: мол, уехал в Москву, у тебя там эта гомосятина происходит, нам это не надо, не Москва у нас тут.

Оказалось, что очень хороший лозунг. Люди хотят такую одежду носить, у меня потом купил этот баннер музей.

— Когда Монстрация может потерять свою актуальность? Сейчас они, очевидно, не проводятся.

— Вице-мэр Новосибирска (Анна Терешкова) — я видел ее какую-то цитату в этом году — как-то так аккуратно сказала, что сейчас не время.

У нас же интересное произошло: у меня пыталась отжать Монстрацию «Молодая гвардия». It was like that. После 2014 года — после плаката «Ад наш», кажется, — немножко испортилось отношение к нам местной власти. Плюс еще в 2014 году была история с так называемым маршем за федерализацию Сибири. После этого меня немного записали во враги народа. В 2015 году меня задерживали — стало понятно, что будут проблемы. А в 2016 году власти пытались провести Монстрацию самостоятельно, ужасно переименовав ее во «Всешествие», пригнав туда работников муниципальных учреждений, новосибирских волейболистов.

Параллельно Жириновский с трибуны вещал в Думе, произносил какую-то речь про Монстрацию, про Лоскутова: мол, он физик, физики самые опасные люди. Движение НОД активизировалось, какие-то кургиняновцы — у них у всех, мне кажется, один текст был на всех. Тогда совпало с Пасхой, в итоге аргумент властей был такой: у нас православные сейчас лютуют, требуют, чтобы мы ничего не разрешали. Если разрешат, будут протестовать против мэрии, требуют крестный ход по вашему маршруту. И я не понимаю, как мне быть, потому что мне не согласовывают мою автономную акцию, а передавать это вот этим людям я не хочу. Это будет опять какой-то муниципальный креатив, за который стыдно.

Компромисс, которого мы с властями достигли, выглядел так: Терешкова вписала Монстрацию в ежегодный план. Мне теперь не надо было подавать заявки, ничего согласовывать — это всё проходило типа под эгидой мэрии, но мэрия при этом ничего не делала, мы договорились так. Нас оцепляли не менты, а какие-то волонтеры, выданные мэрией.

Но важность вписанности к 2024 году уже растаяла, теперь всех можно заново закрывать и сажать, репрессировать, все твои заслуги уже не считаются. Всё было в той России, которая кончилась. Почему Монстрация сейчас невозможна? Терешкова сказала, что сейчас мы живем в историческое время, у нас проходит СВО. Мы во время СВО не можем собрать такие акции, потому что к ним относятся неспокойно, там могут возникнуть разные провокационные лозунги. В прошлом году она сказала, что поступил указ — откуда, она сказать не может, — что не надо ничего проводить.

Сейчас можно легко получить по семь лет за переписанный ценник или за неправильные плакаты.

Это уже игра с заранее известным результатом. Ты понимаешь, что кончится это всё для тебя гарантированно плохо, ты просто сделаешь подарок властям, которым нужно найти каких-то врагов.

К сожалению, последние пять лет с последней Монстрации ситуация в стране мне видится так. Может быть, у меня искаженная эмигрантская оптика, но мне кажется, что это сейчас просто слишком опасно, бессмысленно опасно.

— Как вы думаете, при каких условиях в России вновь будет возможна Монстрация и какие бы там могли быть лозунги?

— Мне кажется, что уже прошло ее время. В 2013 году у нас был лозунг «Вперед в темное прошлое». Уже чувствовался какой-то разворот назад. Я приезжал с ощущением, что ты просто продолжаешь выживать в неблагоприятной обстановке. Уже тогда настроение немножко сменилось, мы собирались посмотреть друг на друга, [убедиться,] что всё еще живы.

Многие, кто тогда жил в Новосибирске, принимал участие, теперь разъехались по миру. Сейчас мне прислали анонс Монстрации в Сиэтле. Я не знаю, что там будет, но это такой экспорт сибирской культуры. Кто-то был в Китае, анонсировал Монстрацию в Пекине. Наверное, там собралось пять человек: один новосибирец, его друзья. Женщина, которая работала в полиции, как я понимаю, чуть ли не майором, уволилась на фоне Крыма, уехала жить в Болгарию, анонсировала Монстрацию. Это просто сибиряки, которые воспроизводят то, к чему они привыкли. Наверное, мы рано или поздно вымрем и всё это уйдет в историю, забудется. Может быть, будет какой-то revival… Но сейчас, по крайней мере, мне непонятно, зачем он может быть. Контекст сильно поменялся.