PROGRAM Olivie 9 september -11 october 2010 REAL ART Сurators: Bogdan Mamonov, Sergey Popov Vladimir Salnikov, Nina Kotel, Bogdan Mamonov, Sasha Leech, Boris Smelov, Nikolay Kasatkin, Ivan Lukinyh, Olga Chernyshova, Sasha Sokolov, Tasia Korotkova, Alexander Pogorgelsky, Katya Rogkova. Gruntovka 9-20 september 2010 GOLDEN POT Petr Maslov Curator - Bogdan Mamonov   15 march -3 april 2009 ARMS & INSTRUMENTS The name of the exhibition 'Arms and instruments' is a timely issue of today. Contemporary art — is it an arm or an instrument? This issue appeared a bit less than hundred years ago during the era of the origin of the historical and cultural Avant-garde. Since then the functions of Art are widely discussed. This question is related to the general historical argument: is the New world being born out of revolution or by evolution? There were various answers to these questions during this century. Let us recall Mayakovsky's 'I want the pen to be on a par with the bayonet…'. However, at that time there were many people who were aginst the author of 'The cloud in trousers'. Tatlin and El Lissitzky – the heroes of Russian Avant-garde — saw their activities as the process of building new consciousness, and Art is an instrument for this. Today we can hear the echo of those discussions. NBA (New British Artists) or Moscow actionists of 1990-s — aren't they a 'thermonuclear' art-weapon? At the same time there appear some alternative practices aimed at carrying on a dialogue with the audience and guiding it on the bounds of art. For instance, the 'ESCAPE' group, whose former leader, Bogdan Mamonov, took the lead in the 'Weapon and instruments' project. Within the 'ESCAPE' group Mamonov built the instrumental relationship with the audience. However, in his new pictorial works he adheres to the position, which is more 'masculine' and more agressive. The revolver's fragments with the gaping chambers drawn from peculiar perspectives remind us of monstrous meat grinders. On the contrast, Ekaterina Rozhkova, Mamonov's partner, exhibits huge black and white images, illustrating instrument fragments. Although it seems there is a typical dichotomy — masculine-feminin, everything appears to be more complex. There is a sense of hidden threat in Rozhkova's monochrome works as a reminder of the fact that not all the instuments are harmless. At the same time Mamonov's revolvers are associated with steel plants. It may be due to this fact that there appears a citation: 'Better than the flowers is the revolver'. We mentioned that the exhibition is a timely issue of today. How can we prove that? In the era of global crisis contemporary art looses its market context and reverts to its own nature and origin. It shows us the complexity and discrepancy of the world-model. And it is not a coincidence that famous artists who have a chance to be exhibited in best galleries of Moscow and museums choose a specific 'Factory' space. The latter carries the genetic code of Avant-garde and Revolution. Despite the fact that the factory «October» reduced the amount of paper it used to produce, it is more important that it gives rise to various new senses. This is its core and original product. The artists who open up the basements and hangars of the Factory — they form the new proletariat that can struggle with the crisis. According to the artists, the solution is to change and transform the world around, yet not to try to overcome the financial collapse. So will Art be a weapon or an instrument?