Untitled Action
/5
- Untitled Action
- Акція без назви
- 2005
- video, color, sound
- 3min, 12sec
At sunset, the R.E.P.s gather in an empty field near Kyiv for a political manifestation. The parliamentary election campaigns, which are in full swing downtown, take no notice as the group enthusiastically waves banners bearing terms like “culture” and “sports” … and black-and-white flags. A drummer leads the way, with the R.E.P.s shouting out slogans as well as fragments of verbiage and rapped lyrics. The group calls for a different understanding of culture, of sports; their concern is freedom as well as their opposition to the hollow rhetoric of the election battle. The effect is to situate art in a new understanding of the political. What is being staged here is a powerful and enthusiastic game of countercultural self-empowerment: “We Are Your Children.” “For Cultural Liberty and Drunkenness!” “Spirituality 5 Times a Week! Marijuana! R.E.P. Goes On!”
R.E.P. intended for “Untitled Action” to function as a commentary on and countermodel to Ukraine’s elections: an election is understood to be a democratic instrument, but this instrument is of no significance if the available selection of parties fails to offer a serious alternative. H.S.
R.E.P. intended for “Untitled Action” to function as a commentary on and countermodel to Ukraine’s elections: an election is understood to be a democratic instrument, but this instrument is of no significance if the available selection of parties fails to offer a serious alternative. H.S.