New Wave Explosion
October 1990
The venue: Central House of Medical Workers (Центральный дом медиков).
Quantity of audience: 350 people
Quantity of participants: 14 people
During two weeks (every other day per two movies) was shown the most avangard and manifestative 15 movies from French New Wave filmmakers. Francois Truffaut “The 400 blows”, “Shoot the Piano Player”; Jean-Luc Godard “Breathless”, “Alphaville”, “The Little Soldier”, “It’s my life”; Claude Chabrol “The Cousins”, “The Unfaithful Wife”; Chris Marker “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Singer”; Alain Resnais “Hiroshima mon amour”, “The war is over”; Agnes Varda “Cleo from 5 to 7”; Louis Malle “Zazie in the Metro”; Jacques Rivette “Paris Belongs to Us”.
In the last minutes of showing the movie “Cleo from 5 to 7” the big image of cancer appeared on the screen. The movie was projected on this image the whole screening, but up to that moment it was hidden by lists of paper.
Happening “True fashion show” (got later the name “Armageddon”)
During showing the movie “Zazie in the Metro” at the end of the movie when there was a fight in a restaurant, the participants was restoring the situation on the scene. It was done in the spirit of the dadaist show. First, on the scene appeared two boxers fighting with each other, then came on traveling skiers, riding cyclists, and after that participants was threwing cakes into each other and poured with champagne. Hereafter action was transferred on the audience, on which participants threw cakes.
The hall was specially prepared for this event in advance. It was completely covered with a layer of MK newspapers, in which was written about this festival (G.Gusarov organized the announcements and articles about each event). There were dadaist graffiti hung on the walls, they were like the works presented later on the exhibition “The day of Knowledge”. Inflatable cylindrical balloons were strewn in the aisles.
Therefore, when throwing cakes in the hall started, the audience began to thrash each other with balloons and to bomb each other using crumpled newspapers.
Further, a brown bear (in the film was white) ran onto the stage with the trainer, who had a balalaika. He was trying to make the bear dance. As there was an atmosphere of total anarchy, the bear did not obey. The bear was attracted by common fun and he ran into the hall and began to wander in the aisles, and people pulled his hair and ears.
By the end there was thrown a big fishing-net on all participants. It was a huge tangle with cakes, bottles, cyclists, boxers, and other.
It was a dadaist happening, which involved the audience.
