Recently, the trial of the War art group took place in St. Petersburg. The imprisonment of the group members Oleg Vorotnikov and Leonid Nikolaev was prolonged until February 24. They were accused of hooliganism and inflaming hatred towards the police as a social group. The reason for arrest was the “Palace overthrow” protest action, during which War had turned over a police car in St. Petersburg.
War is a Muscovite art group, famous since 2007 for its radical street actions. The group’s ideology is developed by the Moscow philosopher Vorotnikov. The practical side of the actions is supervised by the group’s coordinator, Oleg’s wife Natalia Sokol. The direct performer of the most risky performances is Nikolaev. The text and concepts are developed by the philologist Alexei Plutser-Sarno. The group does not cooperate with any curators, galleries and other art institutions. There were 15 criminal cases initiated against War. “Palace overthrow,” which the police first qualified as a petty crime, was unexpectedly considered a much more serious offense. As a result, Vorotnikov and Nikolaev have been jailed since November 15, 2010, being accused of hooliganism and inflaming hatred towards the “police” through art. Natalia Sokol and Alexei Plutser-Sarno escaped from the police. The famous British street artist Banksy organized a special sale of his works in order to provide financial help for the imprisoned artists.
Plutser-Sarno recently visited Kyiv. The Day took this opportunity to ask him a few questions.
What is going on with War’s case, at what stage is the investigation?
“Leonid Nikolaev and Oleg Vorotnikov are charged with paragraph 213 of the criminal code: hooliganism, motivated by hostility and hatred towards the police, as a social group, through conducting art actions. Five years in jail. I’m incriminated for the 210th paragraph: organizing a criminal community, the War art group — from 12 to 20 years in jail.”
Was there a need to conduct the “Palace overthrow” action exactly in that form?
“An artist needs to create, needs to express his position, to create a full image. Form can’t be separated from content. The meaning of the ‘Palace overthrow’ action was a total overthrow of Russian delirious reality. The form is as insane as life in Russia. That’s what the harmony in our masterpieces is. An overthrown upside-down police car and cops is a clear and understandable symbol. And this street installation was performed near the entrance to the Russian museum.”
War is charged with “extremism” in the form of “hooliganism, motivated by hostility and hatred towards a social group.” Yet many of your past actions could also have led to criminal charges and arrests. How did War manage to avoid imprisonment, with such daring behavior (particularly, the rock concert in the courtroom)?
“The group pays a lot of attention to the question of security. During the punk concert in the courtroom, when the group had performed a song called ‘All cops are bastards!’ the activists consciously misled the court and the police with exclamations like ‘Svetlana Yurievna! We’ll drop in for the money later!’ or ‘What are you doing! We are Kremlin rabble!’ Given Russia’s total corruption, the cops were disoriented and couldn’t immediately take a decision about an arrest. And in a few seconds, the group vanished without a trace.”
Why did the government respond so severely to the “Palace overthrow”? What happened?
“The government responds cruelly to all our actions, simply because this government is cruel and inhumane, a corrupted band of gangsters. We have 15 criminal cases, and the count for imprisonment is more than 100. Already after the action in the Biological museum, they initiated a criminal case against me under paragraph 242 — distribution of pornography. We were charged with paragraph 282 — inflaming hostility, and many others. It’s just the first time the mafia has managed to catch us. After the action ‘Leonid F***ed up the Federals’ roofs’ our president Leonid Nikolaev was charged for vandalism and material damage to the car of Fe-deral Service (within the public campaign against ‘flashers’ on officials’ cars, Nikolaev ran over the roof of one of such cars with a blue bucket on his head).”
What are the grounds to condemn you as leading a criminal organization?
“It will be based on the media, calling me an ideologist and curator of the group, based on the fact that I’m older and my beard is longer. And because I’m the public face of the group, I publish actions, communicate with media. That will be enough. The mafia is not going to prove anything. They need blood and victims to frighten others.”
How did Banksy’s support help you, or how will it help, and what exactly is it?
“With his radical gesture, Banksy has first of all attracted the attention of the entire world’s art society to police lawlessness in Russia. He deserves respect for this.”
Did you contact the artist himself?
“Banksy was contacted by Natalia Sokol, Oleg Vorotnikov’s wife and our group’s main coordinator. Our commander in real ‘hostilities.’”
Why did he decide to help you?
“Because he is fed up with impudent cops, just like other honest people. The cops prevent everybody to live! These are real werewolves in straps and bloodthirsty vampires, who get paid for torturing people and ruining civilization. Only the economic expanses for the maintenance of the multi-million army of cops and other guards are counted in trillions of dollars each year. I don’t even speak about the moral damage and totally ruined capital of trust. There’s no need to talk about the tortures and executions that are going full steam in Russia, everybody knows that.”
The members of War may well go from artists to political prisoners. Don’t you think this could cause the disappearance of the art component from your activity and turn War into one of the many protest groups fighting for survival instead of organizing actions? In other words, you would dissolve into the political landscape.
“Let’s be direct. Do I look like a person that can be dissolved in a crowd of imbeciles? All of War’s activists — Oleg Vorotnikov, Natalia Sokol, and Leonid Nikolaev are creators and heroes by their nature. War can be only dissolved in history.”
Does radical art protesting have prospects in present-day Russia?
“Before War’s appearance, one could still doubt it.”
You said in one of your interviews that you left Russia irreversibly. Under what circumstances could you go back there of your own will?
“I’ll go back there again and again. Just, living and going to work at the place of registration — it won’t work. So I have to lead an underground life.
Nothing is heard about new actions. Will War continue to fight?
“The government’s assault on War, arrests and attempts to destroy us physically, this is also the continuation of our fight. The government’s reaction on our actions is a part of the art context. The fact that palace inhabitants have attacked us shows that the palace overthrow has succeeded. And it goes on.”
