Several ways of living for those who want to devote their life to the arts.

1. A person pursues his favourite occupation. In the remaining time he makes his living by simple physical labor that does not employ his art and skills.
2. A person limits his social requirements as much as possible and pursues his favourite occupation while living on alms.
3. A person divides his time between the favourite occupation and additional earning in the “art field” such as mass-media, TV, cinema, parties, bad productions, etc., understanding clearly that all those are just “hack work”.
4. A person pursues only his favourite occupation and, after spending years to achieve perfection in it, he reaches the time when his stage work allows him to survive in society ensuring him creative, financial and geographical independence.
5. A person understands that he won’t have enough time and energy to obtain independence through his favourite occupation, so in order not to sell himself he makes the decision not to pursue it or anything related to it, but instead to make money and pave the way for the creative independence and happiness of another person: Husband, Wife,
   Children, Friend.
6. A person finds a social structure or another person, which (or who) supports him, making it possible to be occupied only by his favourite art and not requiring “loafing”.
7. A person decides not to do anything at all and leaves for the monastery. He relies upon maintenance from a certain prosperous organization or person.
8. A person puts an end to his life.

It is necessary to assign names of people who you know well or of celebrities to each point of the list. For example: Bashlachev, Faulkner, Moguchiy, Nikitin, Makarevich, Modigliani, Maximov, Jodorowsky, before starting to tear your ass with a pike crankbait. The ways and methods of transition between the listed models are intriguing. Propose and try.

* Methodological blunders are commited in this text on purpose.

Original text: Anton Adasinsky.
Translation: Niki
English text editor: Jennifer Williams
Photos: Elena Yarovaya

I see my hands. They are stained with oil. Old cars are around me. Apparently I’m working in a garage. Alone.

There’s some annoyance in my sleep: should I change jobs? But there are obscure liabilities. This is not my dream. A sort of a junk movie.

I’m sure I’m handsome and manly. I search for a mirror and whistle something.

Powerful blows at the gates which open upwards slowly. Red-hot stripe of the sun-tide crawls the floor.

The customers are from the 30s. The blonde man remains in the car. The miniature girl comes out. She smokes a cigarette squinting in the sun.

Seems like I’m hearing jazz and realize – if the music stops I will be shot down. I know this pair. The girl is Bonnie Parker.

I know how they will die. She will turn 23.

One of my friends in St. Petersburg bought herself an old soviet government limousine. ZIM or something like that. Every little gap is filled with sand. Sort of bullet-proof doors.

It is possible to die in sleep. So I answer in good English that I recognize their faces; that I have no money in the garage but I point out the idea of car doors filled with sand. I’m showing them where I can put the sand in.

“Not bad”, says Bonnie (I will never be able to forget her voice),”but where would we get so much sand, my boy?”

“In a fire-protection bin” – I smile and want the blond guy to see that.

I’m going to the bin. Car’s door slammed. Maybe he’s got out. It’s hot in the car.

At last it’s summer.

Text: Anton Adasinsky
English text editor: Jennifer Williams
Photo: Elena YarovaYa, Roman Dubinnikov
Photo design: Elena Yarovaya

The 29th of August will come and we shall take seats in our bus and immediately visit everything: Loch Ness and the Sharmanka Theatre in Glasgow, and the House of Sir Walter Scott, and the Museum of Feathers and.. and… or so DEREVO thought to itself at the beginning of August. Then there were the twenty four performances of KETZAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. On August 29 the disciplined but half-dead of tiredness DEREVO approached the bus. The keys weren’t there. We searched for them but not really intensively and went back to sleep…

We dreamed five dreams, fragments I’ll try to tell.

Anton.
A doctor’s room. The right hand must be amputated. The question is – what should be left? They suggest some stump. I don’t like the idea. I don’t want to have anything at all up to the shoulder. So it would be much more theatrical. During the discussions I cannot stop myself gazing at the view behind the doctor’s back. There is a hole in the wall and there is a stage. I see KETZAL. Di is dancing in place of me. I weep.

Shtyck.
She’s lying sideways in a puddle. The water is soft and oily. She doesn’t dare to raise her head, because her face will remain in the water.

Buda.
She’s flying down towards a green field. It’s starting to rain. She
flies amidst the raindrops and with the same speed.

Di.
Di is driving some airplane. The gunner is pressing his back against the back of Di. They are like Siamese twins. They fly somewhere in the night. Suddenly – it becomes very bright all around – they are caught in a ray of light. Then – waiting for the shot. The back of the fellow becomes warmer.

Ga.
It’s bright and noisy. Lots of everything and everything is very fast. There are five suns in the sky and the clouds are swiftly flying over in circles. Several faces are approaching – all have small evil moustaches. I need a flag – thinks Ga, of course a flag! It’s not good – going to the Pole without a flag…

Alisa fell asleep in a bath, frozen and remembers no dreams.

Max was looking for the keys.

Photo - Anna Bogodist, Di, Alisa and/or DEREVO

On August 12th 2006 in Edinburgh an Awards of The Herald were presented. Already awarded with the Herald Angel back in 1998 for the “ONCE…” DEREVO now has got The HERALD ARCHANGEL for the performance KETZAL.

Text: Anton Adasinsky
English translation editor: Jennifer Williams
Photos: Elena Iarovaia

A witness’s description:

An interview for the “Russian Voices” newspaper.

(Usually Adasinsky only reluctantly lets himself be interviewed but this time he liked the name of the media.)

“Nice to see you in wonderful physical and emotional form.”
“Thank you.”
“How did it happen that you returned to the legendary actions of DEREVO?”
“I don’t know, never thought we returned to it.”
“Never thought?”
“Never thought and therefore we did it.”
“It is hard to deal with you, Anton. You’re joking all the time”
“It’s easy to deal with me. I’m always joking. No, wait. I say it the other way. I want to hold my darling in my arms, all the darlings. To rock them to sleep… no, to sickness… till they will scratch and bite trying to break loose. You wanted the warmth and caress, didn’t you, bitches? But where is the limit of your shrieks? Do we measure it on the swollen ear of a neighbour? What’s your name, the newspaper? What f*cking shit do you ask?”

Then the strange thing happens.

Adasinsky swiftly unzips his pants and puts his penis on a table next to the mini-disk recorder.

“He’s somewhat deaf and somewhat blind. But rhythmic. And if you’re a ‘mouthpiece of the public’ then I’m a public, and I have something to knock-knock-knock on heaven’s door.”

The journalist grows pale but doesn’t make a move. Not because of the penis. It’s clear that she has seen a variety of them: beachy-scratching, sheety-boring, officy-listening. No. It’s not good at all here. Adasinsky is mumbling something like “…with this wonderful mini-disk device named after the great Stalker it’s possible to record not the spoken words but the words you hear… my pink sausage knocking… isn’t it funny? Naked Jango Edwards shouting from the stage – ‘Smile, smile! F*ck you very much!’ – isn’t it funny?”

The journalist is being walked off. Anton locks himself up in a studio.

An interview wasn’t published at all.

DEREVO performs a lot of special actions in the year 2006.

“Wolves Tango” in Kronstadt near St. Petersburg,
“In the Stream” at the Elbe in Dresden,
“Hermetics” at the Goethe-Institute in Dresden,

and many more.

In September DEREVO will appear on the stage of a Music-Hall in St. Petersburg with an action “Just like this” as part of the festival VERTICAL 2006.

An “action” is a performance from a “short” to the “long” which only exists at one particular place on that particular day.

An invitation list for a wedding and a funeral turned out to be different. How interesting.

You may be interested to take a look on an new photo project “Meeting our Ancestors” at our web-site

Please note, that currently DEREVO performs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

We perform KETZAL from 4 till 28 August. You’re welcome.

Tickets are here.

Wir treten mit dem Stück KETZAL vom 4. bis 28. August auf.

Karten sind hier zu kaufen.

Мы показываем “КЕЦАЛЬ” с 4 по 28 августа.

Билеты здесь.