Curated by Andrey Bartenev (Moscow)

Artists: Timofey Caraffa-Corbut (Moscow), Sasha Demin (Moscow), Ben Charles Edwards (Great Britain), Roman Frog & Masha Galaktika (Moscow), Alexandra Frolova (Moscow), Gio (USA), Florian Graf (Switzerland), Ida Grimsgaard (Norway), Aram Haus (Austria), Yuki Itoda (Japan — USA), Nora Jacobs (Germany), Sarah F. Jahn (Norway), Brian Kenny (USA), Yevgeniya Kuznetsova (Moscow), Annick Lavallée-Benny + Ieva Zule (Canada + Latvia/Norway), Alexander Lysov (Moscow), Daria Marchik (Germany), Inna Nebelyuk (Moscow), Björn Neukom (Switzerland), Ivan Onoprienko (Moscow), Jakob Oredsson (Sweden), Lovis Dengler Ostenrik (Indonesia — Germany), Patrick K.-H. (Moscow), Danila Polyakov (Moscow), Hanna Reidmar (Sweden), Gosha Rubchinskiy (Moscow), Maximilian Schmidbauer (Germany), Jon R. Skulberg (Norway), Maxim Smirennomudrenskiy (Moscow), Carlos Soto & Charles Chemin (USA + France — USA), Natalya Taranuha & Irina Voiteleva (Moscow), Andrew Terekhov (Moscow), Yakov Yermolaev (Moscow)

The infinite variety of erotic experience determines an infinite variety of visual expression of these experiences. Imagine that professional commitment to sculpture is a disguise used by an aficionado of group sex, or that a painter we’ve met is indeed a clandestine coprophagus. A panorama of printing pleasures presented in the «Kamasutra spoon» is not intended to tickle the nerves a brokenhearted libertine with a fresh offer of perversions by young experimenters. The curator notes from the start that there is a difference between the perception of sex as a physical-sensory experience and its perception as an ongoing flow of information of cultural bases and the ever-changing system of social orientation. Obscene details torn from the context will produce a erroneous interpretation of the scope of this study. For example, someone from among the curious spectators may isolate a certain frankness observed in the most superficial level, in order to diversify his slanderous skills and add color to his or her tasteless existence. Others may be tempted to strike a pose of a schoolteacher, arguing that this phenomenon is immoral and spiritually harmful, and that not even a hint of passion is to be tolerated in the visual arts.

The project suggests that you take a look at this laboratory selection as a study of intersections of actual sexual practices, and of the dynamics of visual language under the pressure of social dogmas. The artist focuses on the study of the acquired state of erotic ecstasy, and on the rejection of programmed behaviors. Sexual protest is a potential chance to develop a heroic and integral personality from the bleating society. Exceptional radical methods are required to fully awaken the consciousness under conditions of aggressive state programs. Yet this project is not a protest against all — its main task is to develop the spectators’ ability to integrate the set of presented symbolic systems, and to synthesize it with their personal experiences, to become an active part of the interactive effects of artistic mediation. Positions presented in this project are generated by the action that is taking place in the real world, rather than by techniques of intellectual abstraction. All these are video documents. Every artist is an acting hero of the sexual behavior model he champions. In an era when being an artist means being a brave inventor, there is no longer any common reality, there are only its fragments, as they are reflected in extravagant artistic examples. It is useless to try recompose the decayed reality, questioning each of its fragment: «Who are you?» Where do you come from?" Only silence will ensue in response.

Information partners: F5, MTV, Fashion Theory magazine, Minus 30 magazine