Piotr Pavlenski

Carcass, Piotr Pavlenski

In all these acts we see the subject of the impotence of man in the face of power, but especially in this one, which is called the carcass. That is to say, it is wrapped in wire or rather barbed wire. It was rolled up in barbed wire in March 2013. It is a performance to oppose the two laws against the promotion of homosexuality and offenses against religious feeling. Piotr said, "these barbed wire where I wound myself enclosing people in individual pens".

The body itself becomes the device for the art of Piotr Pavlenski. The images of nudity and solitude chosen by the artist for his actions play roles of the connectors with the eventual spectator. The body is shown as the symbol of humanity, a physical form associated with the individual and not with society. From this perspective we see that the artist does not address certain groups of society, but it is an individual message for everyone who can feel compatible with this drama played by the body.
The art of Piotr Pavlenski has two natures:
Actions begin with gestures comparable to speaking monologue, but always end with interventions in this speech of the authorities. These actions never escape service operations of the order. The artist anticipates these interventions and leaves an important place for the participation of the police or other services in his artistic performance. The scenario is always unexpected in such a way that the artist gives carte blanche to the agents of authorities to finish his work.
The metaphor that can be seen in Piotr Pavlensky's art is the sacrifice of the artist's body to save the spirit of freedom.
Piotr Pavlenski does not create objects of art, he does not try to enclose a meaning in a form. The object of his art is himself, and the controversy he provokes. Before him, art was a sum of collective currents defending big ideas. But Pavlenski opposes any form of community, any attempt to submit it to anyone's interests.