Submitted by Kate McCamy:
Why Russian Art Group Voina ‘Dicked” a St. Petersburg Bridge
AnimalNewYork.com
June 16, 2010:
… St Petersburg”™s renegade art-group of political pranksters – Voina (War) – turned a historic bridge into one giant “Fuck You!” to the Russian federal agencies. Here”™s how they pulled it off.
Over the years, Voina staged many actions: police station take-overs, anti-homophobic faux-lynchings in malls, stray cat throwing into swanky restaurants, anti-Medvedev public orgies and all kinds of ruckus. Their most recent target: the headquarters of FSB, the offices of Russia”™s KGB incarnate Federal Security Service. Our source: Voina themselves.
In the early morn of Che Guevara”™s birthday, the group psyched out bascule bridge guards and made their way onto Liteiny Bridge. In 23 seconds flat, Voina painted a 213-feet-tall, 89-feet-wide phallus dubbed “Giant Galactic Space Dick.”
Voina”™s President (a.k.a. Bucket Man) was captured and roughed up by the guards after painting the right testicle-orb. Unfortunately, the activists who were to write out an acronym directing the obscene gesture specifically at FSB got left behind, but as the bridge rose at 1:40 am directly in front of the FSB headquarters”™ windows, the symbol could be seen across the city.
At 2:00 am, the Galactic Dick stood as high as the bridge would go, threatening the FSB as planned. Brigades of firefighters assembled below. Citizens happily made their way to the bombed bridge for photo ops and cheers.
The group did not release their hilarious, culturally un-translatable statement until their President was freed from jail. As the water hoses fired at the Galactic Dick, representatives were on hand to shout “They destroyed a spectacular work of art by the group Voina!”
And that is how it”™s done.
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