VASYARUN. Seagull

In their Seagull performance the VASYARUN group states the problem of elitism of the system of (contemporary) art, which confirms the exclusivity of the artwork and its accessibility only to a selected circle of people.

Seagull performance is a conveyor, organized by means of bodily plastics and rhythmic movements. Young people, hiding their faces under the masks, interact with each other as parts of the production mechanism. Their collective effort is aimed at creating figures of a seagull from the foam plastic sheets. The seagull serves as a symbol of high art. Each performer diligently performs the assigned task. But when it begins to seem that the image is about to form and the figure of the seagull is completed, the sculpture crumbles and turns into foamy dust. The production process does not stop there and lasts as long as the necessary materials are available.

VASYARUN is a laboratory of self-knowledge addressing ‘Vasya’, the archetype of a modern-day Russian teenager. Young members of the group have relevant personal experience marked by subculture markers (rap, street art, and so on) and life on the periphery of the metropolis. They are motivated by the search for lively communication and discovery of new types of interaction in the era of post-office, when the previous ways of identification are excluded. The key characteristic of the laboratory is procedurality. Its structure includes trainings and rehearsals, held several times a week based on a so-called ‘workbooks’, mental and psychological exercises as a way of spiritual practice, as well as periodic events – performances that depend on those involved in the project, the degree of their involvement and intensity of internal work.