Kollektivnye Deystviya (Collective Actions Group) was founded in 1976 in Moscow, Russia, by Nikita Alexeev, Georgy Kiesewalter, Andrei Monastyrski and Nikolai Panitkov. Other members have joined the collective’s actions, installations and performances, although the distinction between artist and spectator is often blurred. The collective’s function as described by Monastyrski: “The only positive definition would be a dynamic definition: the event’s action emerges through the joint effort of authors and spectators, aiming for a shift in the subject of perception from the demonstration zone (‘art’) through the border area (‘strip’) of the indistinguishable–into the zone of scattered everyday perception (‘life’).”
Slogan, 1977
Slogan-1977 by Kollektivnye Deystviya (Collective Actions Group) is a representation on the island of Jeløya of a previous work by the collective. The work consists of a banner which features a text in Russian and Cyrillic characters that reads: “I DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT ANYTHING AND I ALMOST LIKE IT HERE, ALTHOUGH I HAVE NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE AND KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS PLACE.” The banner forms part of the collective’s many performances, which are documented in a series of publications called, Trips Out of Town. The work has different meanings based on the site and the participants. Slogan will be installed when the Kollektivnye Deystviya complete the performative and participatory part of the work.
Image: an installation photo of Kollektivnye Deystviya’s Slogan.
Photo: MOMENTUM. Courtesy of the artist
