Modern forms of political protest (for example political happening)

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Modern forms of political protest (for example political happening)

Khoma N.M.

Doctor ІП political stiences, d

docent, Ivan Franko national university of Lviv

E-mail: khoma.nata@gmail.com

Abstract. Political happening is analyzed as a protest form of political participation. The happening is the direction ofthe promotional art (аctionism). It is shown that peculiarity ofpolitical happening is not just sight, but outside spontaneous action (provoked, improvised, unpredictable and similar), participants of which are not only actors, but also completely random people.

Key words: octionism, political happening, political game, postmodern.

Age of postmodern actualized study of the effectiveness of traditional forms of political participation and shifted the emphasis from traditional political practices (voting, meetings, etc.) to different form of social and political participation. In postmodern reality political action is fragmented and provocative; it is based on the play, and the range of social and political roles of a man is constantly expanding. It seems that modern political action can achieve efficiency by giving it emotional colouring. The ways of such «colouring» are art technologies of actionism (happening, performance, etc.). The goal of our research is to explore possibilities of aesthetization of political by means of actionism, and in particular via political happening.

Philosophical and methodological basis of analysis were studied by G. Arendt, J. Butler, S. Sontag, J.-P. Sartre, and others. Based on the understanding of happening as an art form, it is important to analyze its kind - political happening, and figure out the potential of these artistic and cultural forms of social and political life of modern society.

There is understanding of the nature of the action as an act underlies in the base of the various forms of actionism. Action is a planned artistic performance (often with ideological or social colouring), performed by an artist (a group of artists), that aims to achieve a specific, meaningful for the artist, goal.

The American philosopher post-structuralist J. Butler, interpreting events of «Arab Spring», wrote: «For politics to take place, the body must appear» [3]. But the political actionism is not all the diversity of bodily gestures; first and foremost, action is deed. Fulfilling any political tactics or realizing any artistic device, the action seeks its form and its meaning, focusing on the dynamics of direct links, rather than on institutional rules of the play. The action is a public act - or rather, it creates direct publicity through direct action. Actionist cannot always assume what will the action be, but s/he always knows what effect (outcome) s/he wants to achieve.

All practices of actionism are avant-garde; radical artist intrudes into the unprepared for this public area, and is followed by a public scandal, with this provoking government to react, and audience to think. «Provocative» nature is its distinguishing feature. Actionism is mostly asocial, but it is such for something common and higher; it is going over the limit of law or public morality, but actionists do this declaring something socially meaningful (for example, criticism of the government in terms of suppression of political opposition). Forms of life and forms of public actions of actionists challenge existing social order. For example, violent reaction is caused by actions of feminist punk-rock band «Pussy Riot», art group «War», the representative of the Russian radical art Pavlenskyy P., etc. The last, in particular, in his public art events («Carcass», «Fixation», «Liberty», «Separation») shocks Russian society and raises the question of its (society's) inability to resist the government; in the «Carcass» artist, naked and wrapped with barbed wire, laid in front of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg; with this symbolized «human existence in repressive legal system»; supporting sentenced participants of feminist punk-rock band «Pussy Riot», P. Pavlenskyy sewed his own mouth near the Kazan Cathedral.

With their actions actionists affirm the value of politics. Making public action (by G. Arendt) is politics [2, p.14-16]. This politics creates common world that lots will join. Political actionism can represent politics beyond its classical forms, and sees a political role of art in a new way. Forms of life and forms of public actions of actionists challenge state government, criticize imposed myths in the form of publicly performed acts as artistic events. In contrast they develop special community relations and public action practice in the eyes of many. The art community becomes political when the community itself becomes part of the political situation.

Representatives of actionist art believe that an artist should not create static objects, but organize events, processes, performances, and therefore in all actionists' forms main emphasis is made not on a specific artistic product, but the process of its creation. This artistic ideology encouraged artists to explore new means of artistic expression, namely - dynamics, processing, dramatization, intensification of play components, audience appeal.

Political happening (eng. Happening - event, occurrence, that takes place) is little- studied protest form of political participation. This form is often perceived as not serious because of its theatrical nature. Happening in the broadest sense is the direction of actionism; this is a certain form of acts, actions, works in which artists are trying to attract viewers to the play, scenario of which is outlined approximately. Happening (in art) is understood as a kind of theatrical performance, in which event and action are the aim themselves and not part of the plot; this is a type of movable work, a playful improvisation that gives out various unconscious impulses. This is a kind of view of life; happening is often defined as «active» («effective») pop art.

Theory and practice of happening are based on artistic experience of Futurism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Theatre of the Absurd. J.-P. Sartre calls A. Artaud's «theatre of cruelty» to be the forerunner of the happening, the basic tenet of which was the negation of theatricality as such in the name of real sense of the events in which (at the level of inner feelings) audience is engaged. Happening was born on the edge of modernism and postmodernism (founded in 1952), American musician and philosopher J. Cage (19121992) was the founder of the practice of happening, and his student - A. Kaprou (19272006) - author of the term (suggested it in 1958). J. Cages silent «musical» plays, A. Kaprou's choreographic composition were aimed at provocation viewer to act; art was the manipulation of objects and people in space.

Of course, the play is one of the fundamentals of human life and culture since archaic times [1, p.123]. «The whole world - theatre, and people in it - the actors» (Shakespeare). In this theatre a man is a permanent player with dynamic role rotation (voter, volunteer soldier, politician, bureaucrat, party member, volunteer, etc.). Play is a device of mastering certain socio-cultural experience and skills, a powerful force that actively creates social and political relations. It foresees free-expression rights and can be deployed in various ways, including political ones. Socio-political life of democratic society has a powerful origin of a play. Politics as a field of competition cannot exist without elements of a play.

Man of the XXI century, according to K. Stanislavska, is «a subject of visual representation, living his life in the atmosphere of total visualizing and feeling himself both as audience and as performer» [7, p.182]. Art involves (encourages participation in the action) viewer who consciously or unconsciously tries the role of co-author and co-creator. Modern public does not want just to watch - the viewer needs stronger impressions and feelings, and this «pursuit of emotions» ensures that he becomes a full- fledged member of the visual action.

Political happening as a kind of «action art» is based on improvisation, simultaneous coexistence of different artistic and non-artistic actions and spontaneous reaction of participants. It combines spaces of different kinds of art and artistic activity: music, dance, poetry, visual art, video, movie, direct environmental phenomena (weather phenomena, street noise, etc) [6]. Mixing various theatrical elements (use of colour, music and lighting effects when body movements, gestures and facial expression become the sense of separate compositions), and their combination with life objects and phenomena - is a distinctive feature of happening. There is no plot and logical connection between its separate parts. Happening is played in galleries, railway stations, squares and other places not designed for performances; emphasis is made on environmental conditions - and then breaks the stereotype of «audience - scene». Cultural specialists emphasize that city is an open platform for spectacular and playful, creative experiments in public space and enables communication between particular artist and viewer within contemporary street art [7, p.186]. Analysis of various happening shows: in all cases, artists offer to identify life and stage, spectacle and reality, preferring street to traditional auditoriums and halls. For example, «Pussy Riot» in their actions settled in underground, on the roofs of trolleybuses, in temples, on surface of railway transport tanks, etc, to address to the widest audience, and to break traditional ideas about the role of musician-artist. Architects emphasize that modern theatre tends to return to open urban space with specialized facilities; it can be regarded as a fundamental and essential element of creative public spaces of a city [9, p.207].

During happening positions of viewer and performer shift: authors-artists tend to erase the boundaries between them, therefore provocative actions to the public are normal in order to involve everyone into action. Space of the play is central in the happening, as everybody can express themselves in it that is action within the spectacle [8]. Stress behaviour of the public in the context of «accidental» rebuilds relations between people, between man and thing (including streets, shops, products, images of popular culture and urban folklore).

The purpose of art in happening is the political process itself, and artistic origin during its performance should manifest itself within all «players» - both author - artists and audience. For everyone - it is emersion of energy, awakening of sudden emotions, test of reaction to unforeseen events. In political happening significant emphasis is placed on the improvisational origin; there if no specific event scenario: development of storylines and situation is foreseen partially, and the results of the play are not always known. Events take place in real time, always for the first time and are never repeated. All the preparatory work in political happening is performed by artists themselves - those, who are invited to participate - directly appear within the «event». Peculiarity of political happening is not just spectacle, but outside spontaneous action (provoked, improvised, unpredictable, etc.), participants of which are not only actors, but also completely random people (such participation is mandatory in political happening).

American researcher of happening, S. Sontag identifies two features of it: 1) behaviour with audience (provocations towards public, which often go beyond allowable and decent limit, actionists expect to embarrass public - and via shock «drawn» emotional feedback from the viewer. It can direct the course of the happening in a different direction, and a viewer - can become co-performer); 2) behaviour towards time (it is impossible to forecast how happening will develop and for how long it will last, even experienced audience of happening does not always understand whether it is finish or not) [4, p. 37-45].

Organizers of political happening often unite into quasi-party organizations, activity of which is directed at disclosure of illusiveness of particular ideology. In particular, pioneers of political happening in Ukraine were considered to be «Rays of Juche» actions (since September 1990). «Rays of Juche» is considered to be the first (it originated in 1988 among Ukrainian Students' Union) parody(orange) type party (such organizations parody activity of political parties and movements, adopting the outward features of political parties, they make frankly ridiculous and absurd goals as program ones) in the Soviet Union after Perestroika. There took place symbolic M. Gorbachev's book burying, there also were round-dances around the monument of V. Lenin, editors of insufficiently communist newspapers were called to ideological fight, etc.

On the post-Soviet territories to such pseudo-organizations belonged following: «Dictatorship of Pluralism Party», «Orange Alternative» movement «Subtropical Russia». As examples of political happening can be considered activity of following: 1) Party of Beer Lovers (for example, sending remedies to relieve hangover effect as a birthday present to B.Yeltsin in 1995); 2) «Dictatorship of Pluralism Party» (celebration of third anniversary of miraculous escape of B.Yeltsin from unknown river, that took place on September 28, 1992 on Pushkin Square in Moscow, and where two participants of celebration officiated the ceremony of «Yeltsinization», during which they were thrown into the fountain with sacks on their heads); 3) movement «Violet»( declared: «Violets will come - lots will go!», «The future is either violet or there is no future at all», etc.); 4) «Subtropical Russia» (improvement of political climate by increasing minimum temperature of the environment to +20 ° C and reduction of the water boiling point to +50 ° C).

2014-2015 predetermined conduction of series of political happenings to support Ukraine. In particular, activists of Russian movement «Blue Rider», who were popular because of a row of outstanding actions, one of which was held to support Ukraine (Moscow, November 2014). The happening was held with the participation of two participants (O. Basov, E. Avilov): one, covered with Ukrainian flag, was lying on the ground at the pedestal of the monument to the city-hero of Kyiv, and the other one with a can of red liquid offered to sample «Ukrainian blood». Flag reminded that protesters, killed on the Square, were wrapped with it and blood imitation symbolized protest against those who rejoice at deaths of Ukrainians. On August 6, 2014 Petersburg activist Kado went on Nevsky Prospect as «blind Russia with blood on her hands». Woman dressed in the colours of the Russian flag and blindfold, uttered loud crying on one note and fell on the asphalt. On November 21, 2014 political happening to commemorate the anniversary of the beginning of Euromaidan with burning of the stuffed animal with the face of Putin took place near Moscow Kremlin.

Playfulness and humour of happening border with horror to social reality and at the same time help to overcome it. Political happening gives possibility to laugh over the fact that in everyday life has features of the highest formality and seriousness, and in such way helps understanding of the conventionality of many phenomena in social and political life [1, p.127].

Political happening embodies communication model «artist - viewer»; it is an interactive form of artistic practices with social and political orientation. In the form of happening the idea of erasement of boundaries between artist and audience is very clear [7, p.183]. Happening is a good example of how the play (the embodiment of the freedom of human spirit) obtains aesthetical look and becomes a spectacle. «The desire for spontaneity, direct physical contact with public, increased efficiency of art has resulted in the concept of life carnivalization» [5, c.486] - unity of fear and laughter ambivalence of life and death, rebirth through self-destruction.

Despite some frivolity of political happening, we emphasize the need for scientific understanding of this form of political activity, as well as other forms of postmodern political actionism, because contemporary art is politics of freedom. Various forms of actionism can provide politics beyond its classical forms. Actionism allows a new answer to questions about the political role of art.

political happening actionism postmodern

Citations

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Хома Н. М., доктор політичних наук, доцент, доцент кафедри теорії та історії політичної науки Львівського національного унверситету імені Івана Франка (Львів, Україна), E-mail: khoma.nata@gmail.com

Сучасні форми політичного протесту (на прикладі політичного гепенінгу)

Анотація. Аналізується політичний гепенінг як протестна форма політичної участі. Гепенінг розглядається як напрямок акційного мистецтва (акціонізму). Доводиться особливість політичного гепенінгу як не просто видовища, а зовні спонтанного (спровокованого, імпровізованого, непередбачуваного і под.) дійства, учасниками якого стають випадкові люди.

Ключові слова: акціонізм, політичний гепенінг, політична гра, постмодерн.

Хома Н. М., доктор политических наук, доцент, доцент кафедры теории и истории политической науки, Львовский национальный университет имени Ивана Франко (Львов, Украина), E-mail: khoma.nata@gmail.com

Современные формы политического протеста (на примере политического гепенин- га)

Анотация. Анализируется политический хэппенинг как протестная форма политического участия. Хэппенинг рассматривается как направление акционистского искусства (акционизма). Аргументируется особенность политического хеппенинга как не просто зрелища, а снаружи спонтанного (спровоцированного, импровизированного, непредсказуемого и под.) действия, участниками которого случайные люди.

Ключевые слова: акционизм, политический гепенинг, политическая игра, постмодерн.

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