The Russian artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid (aka ‘Komar and Melamid’) began their art careers generating state-sanctioned Socialist Realism – that is to say, the kind of reverent, red-tinted imagery that comes to mind when you picture Soviet propaganda posters. Soon, however, they found themselves enmeshed in a subversive underground art movement, creating ironic, subversive and often tragicomic imagery that resulted in one of their exhibitions being literally bulldozed by their totalitarian government. Created on the occasion of a retrospective of their work at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University in New Jersey in 2023, this short film tells the story of how the duo rose to prominence in the early 1970s before ultimately falling out over artistic and philosophical differences. In doing so, the US-based director Sam Vladimirsky explores how two rather self-serious institutions – the Soviet government and the US art world – responded to their provocations, and the irrepressible nature of creativity and expression.
Director: Sam Vladimirsky
Websites: State of the Arts, Whimsy
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Family life
The precious family keepsakes that hold meaning for generations
10 minutes
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Archaeology
What did the first people who entered Tutankhamun’s tomb see?
5 minutes
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Information and communication
Coverage of the ‘balloon boy’ hoax forms a withering indictment of for-profit news
17 minutes
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Childhood and adolescence
Marmar is living through a devastating war – but she’d rather tell you about her new dress
8 minutes
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Meaning and the good life
Wander through the English countryside with two teens trying to make sense of the world
10 minutes
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Computing and artificial intelligence
The ‘cloud’ requires heaps of energy to stay aloft. Could synthetic DNA be the answer?
12 minutes
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Art
A puppeteer makes sense of an overwhelming world by shrinking it down to size
5 minutes
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History
There are fragments of Romani Gypsy history all over the UK – if one knows where to look
3 minutes
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Biology
Brilliant dots of colour form exquisite patterns in this close-up of butterfly wings
3 minutes