“We are artists involved in ‘contemporary art’ which, in general, is no different from ‘art’ in particular. The only difference is that ‘contemporary art’ is using technologies and forms which emerged overseas in the 20th Century, such as photo, video and installation,” Aleksandr Shaburov explained.

Vyatcheslav Mizin and Aleksandr Shaburov

The Blue Noses say that they had to create video art from scratch. One of the challenges was to make contemporary art less high-brow and more comprehensible to the public, other than art historians and wannabes. “Video art used to be boring and unexciting even for professionals, and we wanted to figure out which direction is better to take. Competing with Hollywood blockbusters in terms of special effects was useless, so we have invented a way of producing ‘video art’ almost without any montage or a camera.”

The group, which got its name The Blue Noses when Mizin and Shaburov put blue plastic bottles covers on their noses after one of their first performances, has been working together for a decade.

For some reason, they have decided to make no secret of their cinematic ‘know how’, teaching “Video on the Knee” in universities across Russia and Europe.

Among their signature works remarkable for twist of black humor and irony, are parodies on popular Russian TV-series about “good and bad cops” as well as the so called “alternative” ads for Chanel, Swarovski and Absolut.

“The Era of Mercy”

Their recipe for “cooking” a spicy video art “sandwich” is made from three basic ingredients: clarity and simplicity of creative language; democracy of form, and social relevance. According to Shaburov, “If your message doesn’t get to the audience, it’s not a message, but rather dust – less than nothing! It should be interesting for both pioneers and pensioners!”

In other words, perhaps, you can catch more “art adepts” with honey than with vinegar.

The Noses made headlines in Russia and overseas in 2007 when their works were selected for a prestigious international exhibition – “Socialist-Art. Political Art of Russia” – held in Paris. However, all of a sudden, the then-Culture Minister of Russia, Aleksandr Sokolov, publicly disapproved of their work “The Era of Mercy”, which featured two kissing policemen.

Sokolov labeled it “pornography” and a “shame for Russia”, while the artworks by The Blue Noses’ were detained at customs to make sure that such “shame” never be exposed abroad. However, after a while the situation was resolved and “Blue Noses” did finally turn up in Paris.

Their “political and touristic” creations will be on display at the Marat Guelman gallery in Moscow until September 10.

Valeria Paikova, RT