</How much is your soul worth?: performance “Auction of American Souls” by the art-group “Gnezdo”>
Author: Elizabeth Okuneva
Edited by Andrei Savenkov
Edited by Andrei Savenkov
The performance art of the Moscow informal school, which emerged in the 1970s-1980s, occupies an exceptional place within the conceptual art of this period, and also has its own characteristic features. Due to the Soviet ideological culture, artists' performative practices were carried out in a clandestine format such as by holding actions in studio flats or out of town. It is for that reason that in many cases there is a shortage or a complete lack of documentation and records of some of the Soviet performances of that era. Secondly, unlike Euro-American performance art of the same period, where there is an overabundance of sterility and oversaturation of goods on the market, one can observe the character of cruel and violent action by artists over their bodies; in the domestic version of performance art of the 1970s and 1980s there is a lot of self-irony and absurdity, which is a specific reaction of artists to stress and experienced pain. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, artistic actions, particularly of the Moscow actionist movement, gained more popularity and publicity in the 1990s.
The art-group “Gnezdo”. Performance “Auction of American Souls”. Workshop of M. Odnoralov. 1979. Photo. Komar and Melamid Archive. Courtesy Breus Foundation
In the 1970s, Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid were one of the most notable unofficial artists in Soviet Union, often credited with being the founders of Sots Art. Initially focusing on creating mainly objects and slogans, they subsequently transitioned from the publication of visible objects to performances and actions. Their apprentices - the Gnezdo group (Mikhail Roshal, Viktor Skersis and Gennady Donskoy) worked with everyday life, trying to connect art and life, and life with art, which was seen as a ‘working’ mechanism. Addressing Soviet ideology, they constructed their own metaphorical world, being ironic about its meanings and representation in life.
In 1978 in New York, Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid created their first “capitalist” project – a corporation for buying and selling souls: “Buying and selling souls is not a new idea; we know about Faust, Mephistopheles. Chichikov - there is a long tradition. It was paradoxical to take such a religious story and turn it into a business. It is not the devil who buys souls by seducing people, but simply a business venture. A person sells his soul for a certain amount, and artists resell it.”
In 1978 in New York, Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid created their first “capitalist” project – a corporation for buying and selling souls: “Buying and selling souls is not a new idea; we know about Faust, Mephistopheles. Chichikov - there is a long tradition. It was paradoxical to take such a religious story and turn it into a business. It is not the devil who buys souls by seducing people, but simply a business venture. A person sells his soul for a certain amount, and artists resell it.”
The performative action was featured in media, which allowed the artists to gather a large number of people: “They printed a lot of advertisements in Art in America magazine, the New York Times, there was also a scoreboard in Times Square. They placed an announcement as an insert in the Artforum magazine, where readers could fill out a form and sell their souls as well” [1, p. 130.]. So, Andy Warhol sold his soul for $0, and Norton Dodge for 70 cents. Some people asked for up to 1 million dollars for their soul.
The art-group “Gnezdo”. Performance “Auction of American Souls”. Workshop of M. Odnoralov. 1979. Photo. 155 x 240 mm, 101 x 178 mm. Moscow, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art
In May 1979, in Moscow, the students of Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, the art-group “Gnezdo” (Roshal, Skersis, Donskoy) held their own auction, where they sold American souls. The performance sort of completed what began across the Atlantic Ocean a year earlier.
The artistic action was accompanied by an invitation, which explained the concept of artistic action:
“From November 1978 to May 1979, Komar and Melamid bought souls from the American people for subsequent resale in Moscow. A simultaneous happening - an auction of American souls - is planned in Moscow and New York. The souls will be sold in Moscow while the public gathers at the Ronald Feldman Gallery in New York to participate in the auction.
We as artists believe, the soul of the creator is present in every work of art. Thus, the opposite can also be assumed: every object that contains the soul of an individual is a work of art. Consequently, we are holding the first open sale of American art in Moscow in order to further expand Soviet-American trade relations.
The sale of souls will be carried out by Donskoy-Roshal-Skeris on May 19, 1979 at 19:00 Moscow time in the studio of the artist Mikhail Odnoralov at the address: Moscow, st. Dmitrievsky, 10, apt. 13 (entrance from the courtyard, from the end of the building).
Komar and Melamid, New York.
DON’T MISS! AUCTION OF AMERICAN SOULS IN MOSCOW” [1, p. 131].
The artistic action was accompanied by an invitation, which explained the concept of artistic action:
“From November 1978 to May 1979, Komar and Melamid bought souls from the American people for subsequent resale in Moscow. A simultaneous happening - an auction of American souls - is planned in Moscow and New York. The souls will be sold in Moscow while the public gathers at the Ronald Feldman Gallery in New York to participate in the auction.
We as artists believe, the soul of the creator is present in every work of art. Thus, the opposite can also be assumed: every object that contains the soul of an individual is a work of art. Consequently, we are holding the first open sale of American art in Moscow in order to further expand Soviet-American trade relations.
The sale of souls will be carried out by Donskoy-Roshal-Skeris on May 19, 1979 at 19:00 Moscow time in the studio of the artist Mikhail Odnoralov at the address: Moscow, st. Dmitrievsky, 10, apt. 13 (entrance from the courtyard, from the end of the building).
Komar and Melamid, New York.
DON’T MISS! AUCTION OF AMERICAN SOULS IN MOSCOW” [1, p. 131].
Ultimately the auction took place at the above address. Surviving photographs indicate that it was held in a small room, where “sellers” of American souls - Donskoy, Roshal and Skersis sat at a table, surrounded by “bidders”; above the table there was a rope carrying small boxes resembling animal cages with signs “S.O.S.”, meaning “Save Our Souls”. The object of the performative action was American souls, and their sale is a conceptual gesture that explores the material value of the human soul. The artists were the subject of the performance. They posed such questions as “Is it possible to sell your soul?”, “But buy someone else’s?”, “How much does a human soul cost?”. At the Moscow auction, Alena Kirtsova and Natasha Kolodzei acquired souls of Andy Warhol and Norton Dodge.
The art-group “Gnezdo”. Performance “Auction of American Souls”. Workshop of M. Odnoralov. 1979. Photo. Komar and Melamid Archive. Courtesy Breus Foundation
Playing with concepts is one of the characteristic features of conceptual art, in this case, the salvation of the soul occurs as a result of its purchase. The authors are also ironic in that this auction “expands” Soviet-American trade ties.
Pic 1. The art-group “Gnezdo”. Performance “Auction of American Souls”. Workshop of M. Odnoralov. 1979. Photo. 155 x 240 mm, 101 x 178 mm. Moscow, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art
Pic 2. The art-group “Gnezdo”. Performance “Auction of American Souls”. Workshop of M. Odnoralov. 1979. Photo. Komar and Melamid Archive. Courtesy Breus Foundation
Pic 2. The art-group “Gnezdo”. Performance “Auction of American Souls”. Workshop of M. Odnoralov. 1979. Photo. Komar and Melamid Archive. Courtesy Breus Foundation
The performance “Auction of American Souls” in 1979 by the art-group “Gnezdo” gave participants ground for reflection on the “value” of the human soul, thereby a conceptual work of art explores a philosophical problem, calling into question the significance of the human soul.
Thus, we can draw appropriate conclusions about the performative art of the informal school of the 1970s-1980s:
- the main components of action art are subject, object, space, time period, photo or video documentation, which serves as an artefact of the visibility of a perfect artistic statement;
- being under the conditions of the conformist regime, performative practices, unlike the Western art scene, were carried out in an underground format, as evidenced by performances held in studio flats and on trips out of town;
- due to clandestine format, actions and performances in the Soviet Union often had no viewers;
- unlike Euro-American performance art of the same period, where the artist's body was subjected to physical violence and cruelty, in the domestic version of performance art of the 1970s and 1980s one can observe self-irony and absurdity, likening it to spiritual exploration, which is a specific reaction of artists to stress and pain.
Thus, we can draw appropriate conclusions about the performative art of the informal school of the 1970s-1980s:
- the main components of action art are subject, object, space, time period, photo or video documentation, which serves as an artefact of the visibility of a perfect artistic statement;
- being under the conditions of the conformist regime, performative practices, unlike the Western art scene, were carried out in an underground format, as evidenced by performances held in studio flats and on trips out of town;
- due to clandestine format, actions and performances in the Soviet Union often had no viewers;
- unlike Euro-American performance art of the same period, where the artist's body was subjected to physical violence and cruelty, in the domestic version of performance art of the 1970s and 1980s one can observe self-irony and absurdity, likening it to spiritual exploration, which is a specific reaction of artists to stress and pain.
Customers after the auction (members of the artist collective Nest are crouched in the foreground). 1979. Photo. Komar and Melamid Archive. Courtesy Breus Foundation
The performative art of Moscow conceptualists of the 1970s and 1980s, synthesising various artistic experiences and genres of art, declared its independence as an art form. The actionist practices of the Moscow artists were developed partly because they were realised by collective experience. ‘Collectivity‘ that shaped the artistic associations of performance artists was most likely due not only to the commonality of the participants’ ideas, but also to the Soviet ideology of collective labor.
Literature:
Elisabeth Okuneva is a curator living in St.Petersburg. She is a cofounder of an art group Iriy @iriy.union
- These strange seventies, or loss of innocence: essays, interviews, memoirs / comp. G. Kizewalter. - M.: New Literary Review, 2010. - 432 p.
- The turning point of the eighties in the unofficial art of the USSR: a collection of materials / comp. G. Kizewalter. - M.: New Literary Review, 2014. - 683 p.
Elisabeth Okuneva is a curator living in St.Petersburg. She is a cofounder of an art group Iriy @iriy.union