Voina - The Art of the Prank

January 26, 2012December 15, 2023

Toying with Authority

Submitted by Deborah:

Doll ‘protesters’ present small problem for Russian police
by Miriam Elder
Guardian.co.uk
26 January 2012

Police in Siberian city ask prosecutors to investigate legality of protest involving display of toy figures holding miniature placards

Russian police don’t take kindly to opposition protesters – even if they’re 5cm high and made of plastic.

Police in the Siberian city of Barnaul have asked prosecutors to investigate the legality of a recent protest that saw dozens of small dolls – teddy bears, Lego men, South Park figurines – arranged to mimic a protest, complete with signs reading: “I’m for clean elections” and “A thief should sit in jail, not in the Kremlin”. Continue reading “Toying with Authority”

April 9, 2011December 15, 2023

Voina’s Prize Winning Boner

Radical Art Group Wins Russian Ministry Prize
by Ellen Barry
The New York Times
April 8, 2011

Moscow “” The radical art collective Voina has won a contemporary art award sponsored by Russia”s Ministry of Culture and the National Center for Contemporary Art for a project that consisted of a 210-foot penis painted on a drawbridge in St. Petersburg, said Andrei V. Yerofeyev, a member of the jury that awarded the prize.

Mr. Yerofeyev said most members of the seven-member jury were initially against awarding the prize to Voina, whose leaders are awaiting trial on hooliganism charges that could bring a sentence of up to seven years. But during deliberations, three advocates of the group persuaded the other four that Voina”s work had artistic merit, he said.

Among the arguments they put forward was that the penis had already gained such a wide audience via the Internet that ignoring it would also be making a statement.

“No one wanted to look like a conformist,” said Mr. Yerofeyev, a prominent intellectual who has long championed Voina, which means war. Continue reading “Voina’s Prize Winning Boner”

March 30, 2011December 15, 2023

Fool School: The Art of the Perfect Prank

Update, April 3, 2011: You can now listen to this 30:00 radio show here.

The Artiness of Naughtiness, hosted by Toby Amies, aired on BBC Radio 4 on Friday, April 1, 2011. Until April 7, 2011, you can listen to it here.

The art of the perfect prank
by Toby Amies
BBC News Magazine
30 March 2011

As April Fools jokers hatch their plans, what’s the secret to a perfect prank, asks broadcaster Toby Amies. And how far do the very best tricksters go in preparing their practical jokes?

This article is not a hoax. I promise you. It’s a serious work about the practical joke.

How far would you go to pull off a prank? The dole queue? In 1987, a young British broadcaster called Chris Morris let off helium into the BBC Bristol studio, causing the newsreader’s stories to reach a higher and higher pitch. Chris lost his job. And started his career in satire.

Would you risk prison? Pranks are often protests, against unfairness or authority or reality. And protest is increasingly risky in the 21st Century.

As the film director Billy Wilder said: “If you are going to tell people the truth, be funny or they will kill you.”

Whether personal or public, the prank has a point to make, but if you’re planning on tricking someone, it’s best to ensure everyone gets the joke. Continue reading “Fool School: The Art of the Perfect Prank”

March 29, 2011December 15, 2023

Trials & Tribulations for Russian Art Collective Voina

Voina Art Collective Donates Banksy”s Money to Political Prisoners
by DJ Pangburn
Death + Taxes
March 28, 2011

When Voina Collective members were imprisoned for a prank involving overturning police cars, Banksy donated money for the cause. Voina then paid some of the money forward to other political prisoners.

Guerrilla art pranksters Voina are holding firm in their belief that high-concept, high-risk tactics are necessary, especially in a place as given to authoritarian tendencies as Russia.

When we last looked into the group in December, members Oleg Vorotnikov and Leonid Nikolayev had been imprisoned for a stunt in which several Moscow police cars were overturned. Banksy heard of their beatings and imprisonment, and donated $130,000 to the group from a print sale, then paid their bail of $10,600. Once released, they were followed and beaten by mysterious men who claimed to be police.

An unknown percentage of the sum donated by Banksy was then donated to Voina”s political prisoner friends, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. According to the Voina website, one of Vorotnikov”s cellmates, Old Man Serioga, was released on March 26th.

Read the rest of this article at Death+Taxes.

March 1, 2011December 15, 2023

Russian Art Collective Voina’s “Kiss Debris”

Update: According to ArtInfo, earlier this week Banksy bailed out two members of the Russian anarchist art collective Voina, jailed last year for “Palace Revolution,” a performance in which members overturned cop cars in protest of abusive authority.

Voina come back for kisses
by Tom Washington
The Moscow News
March 1, 2011

Police are reluctant to pucker up and play along with the latest provocative prank from art collective Voina (War).

To mark the first day of spring and the implementation of Russia”s new police law women in the group have been attempt[ing] to plant smacking kisses on female officers in Moscow metro stations.

The stunt, called “Kiss debris”, did not go down well with many officers, as images on a Voina member”s livejournal page attest.

Love for the law

The group, notorious for its antics in provoking the authorities, has promoted the latest campaign with slogans such as “˜Get out on the street and grab a police officer!” “˜My sexual orientation is a police officer of my sex!” And “˜A gay policeman and a lesbian policewoman are Medvedev”s avant-garde modernisation!”

Feisty females

The group”s twitter account suggests the kissing spree has been going on for two months and that several hundred officers have been targeted. Continue reading “Russian Art Collective Voina’s “Kiss Debris””